This is indeed a thought provoking thread with lots of great commentary. It seems a lot of folks favor the approach that it’s as simple as black and white…light or white during the day and black at night or overcast days – no doubt about it, it’s a tried and true formula and a great way to start any fishing trip.
IMHO, I favor pearl over white (the subtle hint of other colors seems to trump straight white…perhaps because so many bait fish have a pearlescent sheen when light reflects off their scales) and black with a little glitter or flash seems to outperform straight black. When it comes to dawn and dusk I personally choose lures with a yellow body and a red head, especially if they are surface plugs or shallow running swimmers; I’ve observed many species of bait fish at this time of peak predation and the low angle of sun reflects off their side and produces a golden glow. I like a red head because I simply feel most lures and flies benefit from a touch of red. What fish, no matter what its coloration, doesn’t show a flash of red when it flairs its gill plates? It has been proven that stripers see a range of colors from red to blue…with chartreuse being right smack in the middle of their range…so when the visibility is horrible and the water is the color of coffee or chocolate I turn to chartreuse, it is the easies to see color for both humans AND linesiders.
The one exception to my basic MO above occurs when my offering is suppose to mimic a squid, that’s when I turn to bright pink or hot orange. Stripers apparently don’t see ultra violet but weakfish do, therefore if I were targeting squeteague on a cloudy day or at night, I would definitely use lures or flies that had ultra violet highlights.
In fresh water I’ve found that a gold lure with a fluorescent orange stripe is the most effective color combo for every fish I’ve ever gone after…well, except for suckers, hornpout and carp.
I favor action over color any time of the day or night. But, when I need a solid excuse for why I’m not catching fish, it’s always easy to say, “I just didn’t have the right color lure with me.”
