Q&A AI
What colors do bass and bluegill like?
Choosing the right lure colors to attract both bass and bluegill can be quite effective if you consider the natural forage and environmental conditions of the waters you're fishing in. Based on the insights from the Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource, here are some recommendations:
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For Bass:
- Natural Forage Imitation: If bass in your area are feeding on baitfish like shad, using lures that mimic these in white, silver, or shad patterns can be very effective. For forage like bluegill or crayfish, opt for more natural colors such as green pumpkin, watermelon, or patterns that blend black and blue.
- Water Clarity: In clear water, subtle, natural colors like green pumpkin and watermelon are ideal as they blend well with the environment. In murkier waters, brighter colors or those with strong contrasts like black and blue or black and purple are preferable as they stand out more to bass.
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For Bluegill:
- Color Variations: Bluegill are often attracted to colors that include chartreuse, yellows, and greens. Lures that incorporate these colors can be very appealing. For instance, a soft plastic with green and purple flake or a tube jig in brown and gold can be effective.
- Visibility and Attraction: During different times of the year, especially in spawning seasons, brighter colors like chartreuse, white, or pink can be more effective as they are more visible and provoke protective or curious bites from bluegill.
When targeting both species, consider using lures that have a primary color suited to the prevalent forage in the area, with accent colors that can attract bluegill. For example, a green pumpkin jig with chartreuse accents could be a versatile choice, appealing to both bass and bluegill, especially in areas where these fish are known to coexist and share forage preferences.
Always remember to adjust your lure selection based on the specific conditions of the day, including water clarity and light levels, as these can significantly influence the visibility and effectiveness of your chosen lure colors.
Related videos
Transcript
Video00:00
01:14
Choosing Lure Colors | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → You know, a question I get all the time is,
"How do I choose the right lure color?" Well, that's a really broad question and there
are a lot of answers to that. But let me give you a few tips on how to help
refine that down a little bit. Here's how I start off every day that I fish
and every lake that I fish. First I find out, what are the fish feeding
on? Are the fish feeding on shad or are they feeding
on bluegill and crayfish? That's the very first thing I figure out. Because if they're feeding on shad, then I'm
going to fish with baits that imitate a shad, your white baits like your white buzzbaits,
your white swimbaits, your white crawdads, your white swimming jigs, your white colored
crankbaits, anything shad pattern. That's a very simple way to figure that out,
right? Now, if they're feeding on bluegill and crayfish,
a lot of times in the spring when these fish are up shallow feeding on bluegill and crayfish,
I'm going to fish with more of my natural colors, your watermelons, your green pumpkins,
your black and blues. Like you have here, this little bruiser, black
and blue, crazy craw. That's actually green pumpkin and blue, it's
a really cool color. You know, your chatterbaits, that color right
there imitates a bluegill. I'm going to stay away from those white colors. So that's really how I base it a lot of times. And then the next thing you want to do is
to get water clarity, really simple.
Transcript
Video03:55
05:16
How To Choose The Best Lure Colors | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → together but if you're flipping a jig
like I talked about earlier and you've got that kind of milky dirty water you
actually need something that's gonna contrast against that and then I'm gonna
throw a lot of black black and blue black and purple those kind of colors
that are gonna contrast well with that lighter color water and as you get into
the cleaner water you want your green pumpkins
watermelons things that are gonna blend and look more natural thank you very
much Brandon okay color you guys got to remember we're imitating
three things ninety-nine percent of the time
sad bluegills and crawdads so always think about that when you're choosing
colors I don't care if a basses in South Carolina California Texas Minnesota
those are the three things that a bass eats 90% of the time so you know really
you can give me a green pumpkin and black and blue and and I could compete
out here day in day out yes obviously there's some some other hues off both of
those that become important but for me the lighter that the clearer the water
the more transparent I want the bait to be the darker the muddy or the water the
more solid the color I want it to be how do you choose lure color how do I choose
lure color oh wow it's based on water color water temperature season but for
the most part I mean if you look at all
Transcript
Video02:31
03:44
How To Choose The Best Lure Colors | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → 15 foot range which is why those colors, green
pumpkins, the browns, are the most popular colors for all plastic baits. A lot of people have a lot of success with
those colors and there's a good reason why. As you get really, really dark, not a lot
of visibility. You're looking at your black, black and blue,
really dark colors. Again, when it's really clear, translucent,
not a whole lot of color. It's really that simple, that basic. You don't have to over complicate it. Yeah, people are like, "I got chartreuse and
I've got reds and stuff." Most of the time on those baits, the chartreuses
and the reds are accent colors; it's not the primary color of the baits. Pay attention to the primary color, not the
accent colors. The only time when I will use a bait that
is really bright and gaudy, there are only two instances. One is during the spawn. The fish don't seem to care about color at
that point; it's something invading their nest, something odd that they're going to
attack it regardless of color. So, I use a brighter color, chartreuse, white,
pink, something like that, that I can see better. Helps me see when the fish picks up the bait. The other time I'll use bright colors, say
for example, chartreuse, crankbaits, fire tiger crankbaits. For me, I seem to have the most success of
those in the Fall. I don't know exactly why, but the fish seem
to key on that color in the Fall time.
Transcript
Video03:44
03:56
How To Choose The Best Lure Colors | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → I'll use that in my crankbait colors but as
a primary color. Other than that though, I use those bright
gaudy colors as accent colors. Hope that helps a lot for you. For more tips and tricks like this, visit
BassResource.com.
Transcript
Video01:50
05:14
BEST WAY TO SELECT A COLOR WHEN FISHING! by Mike Iaconelli Fishing → great time to look around and explore and see what the bass are eating if you're walking at the bank if you're at the boat ramp look around look at the color of the bluegill turn some rocks over kick over some rocks see if you see crawfish look at the color of the shad and the minnows if you see a dead one laying grab it and look at it all so before you even get to the fishery use the Google machine and research what kind of forage base that particular body of water has that should be the number one reason you pick forage you know for me I can basically break it down into three color categories to match forage you know the first one is bait fish you know a natural shad herring minnow style bait fish and a lot of those baitfish if you look at them they're white they're pearl their silvery some are a little translucent and we have that in hard lures we have it in soft lures look at that pearl colored soft stick bait we have it of course in jerk baits we have it in spinner baits right your shad minnow soft braid forage kind of imitators that's your first natural hatch match the second one are the bluegill and the perch species and then there's a lot of variation all throughout the country and throughout the world and those colors
Transcript
Video03:33
07:08
BEST WAY TO SELECT A COLOR WHEN FISHING! by Mike Iaconelli Fishing → are going to be more of your chartreuse --is your yellows a little bit of green in those baits and of course we have soft plastics to make a mimic bluegill as well look at that watermelon candy with the green and the purple flake in there look at this tube jig with the brown and gold in there look at that great match of bluegill so we've got our perch in our bluegill species and then last but not least another great natural forage match is crawfish and bass love crawfish once again there's a lot of variation depending on the fishery depending on the body of water but now I'm talking about your Browns your Reds your orange colors your black with a little bit of blue in it and of course look at all the soft plastic Green pumpkin perfect mimic of natural crawfish here's another one look at that green pumpkin candy perfect match so your first rule for picking color on anything look at that look at that bluegill matching a jig should be matching forage matching the hash that's the number one reason we're gonna pick color but we've got a second factor a second reason second thing you should think about when selecting color and that is water clarity and light penetration okay water clarity and light penetration and this second factor sort of becomes a overriding altering factor of your match to hatch so I always want
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