Hot Pink Minnows

Have you ever seen a hot pink minnow or baitfish? Probably not, so why is it fishers buy hot pink lures?

It has been said by a lot of fishers that the fishing lure color is more to attract the fishermen and not the fish, but in some cases color is an important aspect to consider when trying to catch gamefish. Most fish can either see a broader spectrum of color than humans or can’t see color at all. This fact means that color has to be taken into a least slight consideration when trying to catch fish.

Choosing the right color really depends on water clarity, water color, and time of day. Again, color is not the most important factor when trying to catch fish, but it can mean the difference between catching a few fish and catching a lot of fish.

On a sunny day in a clear-water lake, color is up to the fish since all colors will be visible at various depths. As you get deeper into waters, even on a clear day, colors will start disappearing. Red is the first to go, followed by orange, yellow, green, blue and lastly purple. This does not mean to retire your red lures. Since red is the first color to go in deeper waters it will appear as a dark shadow and some types of fish look for shadows in the water to strike at.

If the water is murky the colors that first disappear first seem to be the blues, purples and greens, therefore your brighter lures work better in murky waters. In this case, using a hot pink minnow type lure might be the most effective even if there is no such thing as a hot pink minnow. Oddly enough, black seems to work with heavily stained and murky waters as well.

As the day wears on, switching to darker colors may be helpful. As the sun sets, there is less light hitting your lures. The less light that hits a bright colored lure, the less visible it is. Darker colored lures will stay visible longer then bright lures. At night using a black lure is the most effective. Black or dark lures will give the best shadows and since at night all we see is shadows, these lures will work best.

To learn more about color and get some tips on choosing the right color lure, keep an eye out for our newsletter. Coming soon…