Lure colors

[TeamLithics]

Questions for the pros:

Intuitively one would think that the in water action of an artificial lure would be the most important aspect of that lure. How big of a role does lure color play in attracting fish and getting hooked up?

[ancient mariner]

Hi:
If not color then degrees of color.I mean SINCE I don't know of anyone doing reasearch on rods and cones in a fish eye, I can only surmise that they see SHADES ofcolor if NOT actual color. I hear that some research was done on Marlin and they can see color. With Tuna, I think the Japanese are being closed mouth . I hear that some research MIGHT have been doine on the UNIVERSITY level , BUT cannot get any info on it.MMMMMMMMMM.
My own experience of 40+ on the water leads me to believe that Tuna Can AT LEAST see some shades of color IF not actual color. Why else do we put dark colored lures out in the early A.M. and switch to lighter ones as the day progresses. Then start switching back near days end?
Interesting thought on color for Tunas:
Down in Florida, it ain't catching if it's not Blue/White. ZUCCINNI...aka...Green/Yellow/orange a close second while Green/White a not too distant third. Personaly, I like RED/PINK or PINK/WHITE as good colors too.
I found that Blue/Pink or some color combination with BLUE as the main color worked best when I was down in the S.Pacific a lot of years ago.
Someone should give PAKULA a E-Mail to ask him what he thinks. He's one of the best lure mfg., guys around. Very knowledgeable.
Another thought. A Salomon Islander (S.Pacific)taught me this. To give structure out at sea for Tuna, use BROWN rush matting tied together in a RECTANGLE shape. Not GREEN. He said that the BROWN created a better color(?) that attracted baitfish quicker to the structure. Who Knows? I guess it goes back to color mattering.
I found that when I go up to HALIFAX for the GBFT in the summer, Mex Flag , Green/Yellow, Blue/Chartruse were the predominant colors. Now as far as I know, there are NO Mahi'
up there. Lots and lots of horse Mackerel. Lots of Lobster. More pink shrimp too.
Oh well,'nough of this esoteric thinking......time to go fishing. I'm off to hit the 160-180 depths where I'll find BROWN weed lines.MMMMMMMMM.Maybe that old man had it right after all.

Now get out there and:
WACKM 'N STACKM
Joseph B...aka...Ancient Mariner
www.ancientmarinertackle.com

[TeamLithics]

Yeah I've been told that dark colors black and blue (bruiser) black and purple work well for wahoo. I know last year out of Hatteras everything we hooked up on (Mahi, yft and cuda) were biting yellow and pink (Hannah Montana).

[Bert Rodgers]

All the colors of the rainbow work, but pink or green seem to perform best for me.

Bert

[fishduck]

Seems to me that the best color for me changes from year to year. Blue/white are always good. Last 2 years purple has been hot. The year before that was chartruse/blue. Year before that green was hot, that's as far back as I can remember.
Caught the largest fish ever on my boat a 450lb Blue Marlin on a homemade purple squid witch.
Hooked the largest Tuna on a homemade blue/pink/white squid witch, lost fish at boat side after 4 hour battle.
Caught the largest tuna for my boat last year a 120lb Blue Fin on a blue/white Islander.

I always pull a mix of colors untill I figure out what they want.

Good Luck fish are like women, just when you think you have them figured out they change there mind.

Fishduck

[joeksr]

I do not troll much.
But.
So many threads about Mahi. Everything eats Mahi.
Tuna, Shark, Wahoo, Even Mahi eat Mahi.
Seems to be an underused bait.
I Like Green, yellow , Blue. Charteuse.
Combos are good.
Again, No expert here but feed em what they eat.

OOps. had to add this.
Man told me one time, fish what you are happy with in
the area you want to fish and your chances go up.
You pay more atention.

[FAT GIRL]

Fish see shades mostely, and some say shadow is what gets fish to see a tiny lure trolling at 7 knots or whatever you guys troll at. Now up here in the northeast green is a good color and works well however, green may look a different color to the same tuna down south and that is were we can start talking water clarity. Higher salt contents, gulfstream,ext will be different all over the world and would make a lure look different from place to place. Down south the same tuna would go for blue/white same up here in depending on water, sunlight ext.. I had a argument with a guy that said fish dont bite lures without eyes on them and I had to make a joke of him. Fish can not see a eyeball swimming at 30 plus miles an hour crashing at the surface when in eat mode. All they see is a shadow looking up at the surface some with bubbles from jets or other heads, and also some fish can hear the noise from some lures. Some fish can be spooked by some lures by the noise that they make and some just dont give a shit and go after them anyway. Hope this helps and good luck

[BahamaLure]

Firstly, if the lure is not swimming well and does not look like something alive it will not be eaten, no matter the color. If it is skipping, twisting, spinning sliding or all the above is is clearly not food so I believe color is definitely secondary to a good swimming action. Think of the standard regulation cedar plug, it swims great, and it catches fish no matter what color it is, even the unpainted ones work well. Why? Because tunas see them from below silhouetted against the sky and color does not enter into it.

If we leave action aspects to the side for a minute and debate color only then split the subject into two- fades and silhouettes.

What does a bait fish or squid do when frightened? It changes color, right? So try to use a lure with 2 distinct colors that fade either front to back or top to bottom. Green/black, blue/white etc. Another good example is the petrolero/orange combo very popular in the Pacific but not so much in the Atlantic (damned if I know why because it catches fish like crazy anywhere). It has brown on top, grey belly and a bright orange under skirt and looks exactly like a squid when it changes colors. I think the problem with it is it is dull, brown and drab looking so on the wall of the tackle store it appears boring next to all those bright and sparkling blues, pinks and greens. Do yourselves a favor and next time you see one - grab it, you will not be disappointed! Talk about a lure made to catch fish and not fishermen.

Check out my avatar, that's a petrolero wahoo bullet lure and it got CRUSHED. There is now one in my wahoo spread every time. Bright and shiny is not always king with wahoo, dull and drab works great too.

The silhouette is also important to understand. When a fish rises from the deep to go for a lure all it sees is the shape against the sky, no color. So either all dark or all light colors are used in the more extreme light. All black or even all white lures can work great in various different light conditions. Also look for lures with a full head, the resin disappears in water so all you have left to see from below is what is in the head. Hold a lure upside down in a sink full of water so you are looking at it as if from below as a fish would, can you see anything in the head from that angle? Or just the skirt? It does not matter how big a head the lure has if there is nothing to see in it from below. Full or heavily dyed heads look more solid and real from below in silhouette.

[TeamLithics]

We use several different colors in the spread and if they start crashing on a certain pattern we'll try to get more of that out. There are those days that they eat everything. The silhouette makes more sense than a specific color. You have those days when they hit a naked bally and the spreader bar.

BahamaLure,
You believe shape is just as important as color? It makes sense from a silhoutte standpoint.

[BahamaLure]

Head shapes influence the lure's action along with other factors such as weight & balance, general build and finish quality, materials, speed, position in the spread (angle of the leader to the water) etc. I dont think shape and color belong in the same debate, they are not related.