Why pick Red?

Enquiring Anglers want to know…

What are they talking about? Listen in to this conversation.

Posted on December 17th, 2008 by laura from KIKO Lures (PEETZ brand)

Now that you know a bit about color and how it can effect lure choice from the articles ‘Does Color matter?’ and ‘The Science of Color’ here are some useful tips on what colors to choose and why to choose those particular colors.

To increase visibility: Patterns and colors are created for high contrast in certain situations. The more visible your lure is; the more fish will attempt to bite at it. For example very dark colors are used for night baits because they provide the best shadow in the water and therefore are the most visible.

Match the bait: Basically what this means is the lure is colored to duplicate baitfish that gamefish normally feed on. Fish are used to feeding on a certain look, so they will strike if they see something that looks like what they normally eat.

Something different: Sometime when matching the bait does not work, offering a fish something they have not seen before will cause them to strike. This is why anglers will choose to pick up that bright pink minnow colored lure.

Dark colors at night: Always go for a darker pattern at night, as previously stated, dark colors create the best silhouette and will be the most visible to fish underneath the lure.

Winter no-so-wonderland: When there are more particles in the water, the first colors to be filtered out are the reds and oranges. The best solution is to use fluorescent yellows or lures with plenty of green.

On bright summer days, it is best to go with what the fish tell you. If they are not biting at a particular color – even though it makes perfect sense for them to – then use the color they seem to be striking at.

The only time changing color will not affect how many fish you are catching and how fast you are catching them is when you are deep trolling or when you are fishing skimming the surface of the water. If you look at a lure in these conditions it will appear black, so as long as you have good action and can create a flash, you can catch a fish.

Red, orange and fluorescent colors are best in stained waters.

Always remember to chose a lure based more on what kind of action it has and if it can produce a flash. If those two factors are not working, then change up your colors. The only time you have to stop and think seriously about color is when you are fishing in shallow waters on a clear day. Always go with what the fish seem to be striking at. If your fishing buddy is succeeding more with a blue lure and it does not make sense, use the blue lure.