Is there a difference between light blue, sky blue, shad blue, minnow blue or blue craw? Is blue just blue or do all the micro shades matter when it comes to fishing lures? How about white versus bone white, pearl white, cloud white or white lightening?
I personally believe that color choices are geared more towards the fisherman than the fish, but there is some truth to shades of colors.
I have a theory that I teach in my seminars that to start with color options, always be prepared with baits that cover three categories. Light, bright and dark. Light colors being your whites, light blues, yellows, pinks and grey. Brights being neon colors, chartreuse, hot pink etc. Dark colors would consist of black, dark green, brown, purple and others that are very saturated darker colors.
Different water depths and clarities will call for different color baits. The brighter more realistic colors such as silver, light blues, reds, oranges and whites are great for clear or shallow water since those colors show up better in those conditions. Stained or murky water will show the darker colors better such as black, brown and purple. But the light-stained water, which usually covers most of the inland lakes, I prefer to use the realistic colors in shallow and the brighter colors in the deeper less visible waters.
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Different Colors That Fish See
Most fish have pupils with a fixed diameter. This makes consistent calm light their best friend. This is why they will seek shade on super bright days and feel more comfortable at dusk or dawn with light is present but dim. Ever hear that fishing is best as the sun is coming up? This is why. The fish will venture out and hunt for food when they can see the best and be the most comfortable.
Most fish have very similar corneas to humans with being able to see color and light. But since their vision is greatly diminished being underwater and having light available only at certain depths, some studies show that their vision is 80% less vibrant than ours. So,can they really tell the difference between every shade of bait that is made? Honestly, I don’t even know if most fisherman can tell the difference of some of these colors.
My tip is to use life like colors in line with what they are naturally feeding on in clear and shallow water and go with brighter colors when fishing deeper or darker waters. “Match the hatch” is a common saying when matching bait colors to what the fish naturally eat.
Wheel Of Colors
The most common question about baits is what color to throw. The best answer is to look at the bait in the boat of water you are fishing and if the water is clear or lightly stained, try to match the color of the baitfish, craws or whatever the target species is feeding on. Another option is to use whatever bait color has become your confidence bait and see if it works or not and adjust to lighter or darker if better results are needed. I know that sounds like spinning a wheel on colors, but I am surprised how a hot pink will work at times that I would assume a black colored bait would work best. Sometimes you must just cast and see what happens.
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Pro tip: Always start with a chartreuse/dark mix on soft bait or a bluegill/shad color on hard baits and see what you can accomplish. Those are the two options that I get the best results with around the country for most species.
