The definitive book on the subject is probably
Through the Fish's Eye by Mark Sosin and John Clark, published in 1973 - that's probably the book Sandman is referring to, I guess -
As far as I know, it was the only printing but it's a worthwhile read if you can find it - try Ebay or a used book store, if you want a copy. I just pulled it off my bookshelf and haven't read it in years but I'm gonna add it to my list before the season starts again.
Interestingly enough, in the very first few pages they discuss genetic adaption - in other words, fish who are prone to fall for a certain plug or color get taken out of the gene pool. The smartest fish survive to spawn and give birth to smarter fish. The vulnerable are caught and the weak strains are reduced in numbers and eliminated.
In the short term, I also believe fish who are released are conditioned to reject a plug that looks a lot like that one that just gave them a face full of VMC's.
All that having been said, I fish either black, white or natural colors, pogie and eel then down the list from there in rotation. Habs himself liked any color as long as it was white - but then he
really liked an all black Pt Jude butterfish, too - he used to bust me about being nuts about his eel pattern but it's always worked well for me...
For me, I guess, it's just a confidence thing - I always thought it was more a matter of profile, contrast and action for the most part like Jim said and I still subscribe to that.
And then, from my own experience, what works around Newport doesn't necessarily work in SoCo just a few miles away or on BI either - different local baits within the same time frame...so experiment.
Your mileage may vary - and when all else fails, use an eel. Snakes are always a fish-finder.
Hey, Ivan, I hope you didn't think this was going to produce an easy answer for ya....
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