Does Plug Type & Color Really Matter ?

[Andy D]

When there are as many fish feeding in a certain area as there were on those 3 nites Ithink the competition between feeding fish will cause them to be not so selective. If your plug swims by, that fish will probably grab it before another fish can get it. When you are fishig your " favorite spot " and the numbers of fish in that area are small I think they will tend to be more selective ( only keying on plugs that imitate the forage in the area). Just my opinion.

[Skitterpop]

No


not necessarily

[Mike P]

80% of the time---yes

20% of the time---no

[quick decision]

You must with a lot of people.

[Mr. Sandman]

From what I have read, if you are fishing at night....it does not matter. Why? Striped bass can not see color at night. This is a biological fact. During the day they can see color but their eyesight is pretty poor. Their eyesight at night is much much better, something like 90X better. They have a set of rods and cones that transition at dusk and dawn almost like two completly different sets of eyes. Some think that is why bass tend to feed then, because at that time both are working and they have an advantage. But at night they only see B&W. There is a book or two on this subject written by a eye surgeon who is really into fishing.
When I fish at night I concentrate on profiles and contrasts of colors not the color themselves. I think the profile and action is more important then color. That said I tend to fish with olive backed and white bottomed lures and some with darker colors only because I think they look more like what is out there. I don't think a bass can tell pink from yellow from blue at night but there is probably subtle difference in the translation into black and white.
Also I think a bass will eat just about anything if he is hungry. IMO all those colors are to sell more fishing lures to fisherman who don't want to be without every available color.

Also, this book did a lot with how colors transmit in seawater at different depths. Purple seems to travel the furthest and red the least as it gets absorbed first. Making this entire "Red HOOK" and red line craze confusing...do they work because the fish sees red and thinks the bait fish is injured or does it work because the red color gets absorbed first and is hard to see. or neither? I have seen both used in advertising....telling me that neither are right and it is a gimmick to sell more stuff.

Honestly, I think color provides confidence in the fishermans mind that "this has to work" and therefore he concentrates on presentation more. Just my thoughts.......

[Nebe]

Action and profile are more important IMO.

[kippy]

IMHO color does not matter. I have caught bass on all black on the brightest moonlit night. Profile and action is the key.

[Skitterpop]

Originally Posted by Indanite

No


not necessarily

I was thinking color but type is very important most times in my experience. Sometimes they`ll hit most anything. Others its type/profile/action imparted/color all effected by numerous other factors as in tides, water clarity, degree of light,time,bait prevalent,etc. etc.

Most importantly are they where you are testing/fishing....

[Slammer223]

Very interesting.

[Sweetwater]

Plug type and color do matter. And I think significantly so.

Start with color: I don't think the specific color matters but certainly dark vs. light plugs make a huge difference. The old adage "dark at night and light at day" holds. At night, I've not found much difference between black and purple at night, and during the day "sand eel" colors, pink, yellow, and white will all produce.

When jigging, I've found that white, chartruese, and pink parachutes will do better when squid are around, but if you're fishing the Race or other areas with lobster about, dark purple, black, and deep red are the colors to use.

But maybe more than color, size and shape need to be considered. I've seen situations where guys are landing fish on 1 or 2 oz crippled herring but a 3 oz won't get a tap, especially when peanut bunker are around.

Likewise if the surf is heavy, a needle fish might be effective cutting through the chop when a polaris, pencil popper, or a danny just get's tossed around and are useless. But if the water is calm mambos and rebels might outproduce anthing (or possibly poppers).

[capesams]

Originally Posted by Sweetwater

Plug type and color do matter. And I think significantly so.

Start with color: I don't think the specific color matters but certainly dark vs. light plugs make a huge difference. The old adage "dark at night and light at day" holds. At night, I've not found much difference between black and purple at night, and during the day "sand eel" colors, pink, yellow, and white will all produce.

When jigging, I've found that white, chartruese, and pink parachutes will do better when squid are around, but if you're fishing the Race or other areas with lobster about, dark purple, black, and deep red are the colors to use.

But maybe more than color, size and shape need to be considered. I've seen situations where guys are landing fish on 1 or 2 oz crippled herring but a 3 oz won't get a tap, especially when peanut bunker are around.

Likewise if the surf is heavy, a needle fish might be effective cutting through the chop when a polaris, pencil popper, or a danny just get's tossed around and are useless. But if the water is calm mambos and rebels might outproduce anthing (or possibly poppers).

I totally agree..when pulling wire..I can take the same weight jig in 4 different sold colors and catch most fish on one color where the other color's don't even get looked at.

[Skitterpop]

on a dark night...on top or not too far down into the column

White plugs often catch?



This year I`m going to rig some white S...-..s and see what happens
but you can bet I`ll have black with me also

[Skitterpop]

moved

[cheferson]

Originally Posted by capesams

I totally agree..when pulling wire..I can take the same weight jig in 4 different sold colors and catch most fish on one color where the other color's don't even get looked at.

Dont certain colors have better visibility depending on the depth of water because some light wavelengths only get down to a certain depth??

[shadow]

Action and profile is most importent.However us fisherman can be very misleading on this subjuct because we all say color isn't importent then later say "oh yellow w/ a red head is a great color w/ that plug" or" black,gold,silver dannys are great"I know most of the time all it takes is a white or dark plug worked properly to catch.However whether it is because someone I respect once said something about some color or I'v done well w/ some color plug there is something that makes me use other colors then just white& black all the time.