Tip # 16 – Use Colors That Attract Bass
Biologists are well aware of the fact that bass can see colours. It is belieived that there are certain colours that bass can see probably even better than humans can. Of all of the senses that a bass possesses, including smell, taste and even their lateral line, sight is probably the one sense that plays the largest role in their feeding.
Bass prey on a number of different aquatic animals. The main one are probably smaller bait fish and cray fish. Others include aquatic insects, leeches or blood suckers, frogs etc. The most abundant are the former two – bait fish and cray fish. Bait fish are easy to imitate, but the colour of the lures you choose will play a key role in how much action you see when you are out fishing. On brighter days when the water is crystal clear, you’ll probably be best off to choose lures with a little bit of flash such as small spoons and spinners. Gold and silver are good choices as they’ll mimic the flashes produced by bait fish as they dart around below the surface. When the water is just slightly stained I like to switch to yellow lures. I’m not sure why, but it never seems to fail when I put on a yellow lure of almost any type, I start getting strikes immediately. Red spoons and twister tails also seem to trigger strikes when nothing else is working. Its almost as if the fish begin to strike out of aggression rather than as though they are feeding.
Another great method you can use when the water clarity is really bad is bouncing a lure or jig on the bottom. Do this with something heavy and dark in colour. The idea is to make it look like a cray fish is scampering around on the bottom. Be aggressive and kick up the dirt on the bottom, making sound as well while you are jerking the bait around. This technique often will help draw bass in closer as they are attracted to the sound and commotion knowing there is an easy meal to ambush in the dirty, off colour water.
No matter what the conditions of the day or the water are, be sure you are playing around with many different colours when bass fishing to figure out just what colour the bass are attracted to on any given day. Don’t stick with just one lure or colour!
I have to agree with everything you say. Color makes a big difference when it comes to bass fishing. I’m a local Pittsburgh Fisherman and I can say that the color Red is one of the best color in my box. Thanks for the article.
Not sure why, but yellow has always been my colour of choice for smallies up here in Ontario.
You have a great website. Looks like you have put in a lot of work on it. Here is one of my favorite fishing sites.Fishing East Texas