Does Plug Type & Color Really Matter ?

[baldwin]

Frank,
It seems that on that Vineyard night there were loads of fish there. Intense competition for bait will cause fish to grab a bait (or lure) without hesitation, and the lure won't matter as much. If you throw the lure into a large, actively feeding school, someone's gonna grab it. In contrast, if you've ever seen a large fish in a location with lots of bait, it can be much more difficult to get him to bite. He can be more selective, often following the lure and trying to decide whether to take it.

As for color vision, fish (like all color-perceiving animals) use their cone cells in their eyes during the day, and light-gathering rods at night. Red disappears first in the water column, I believe that the blue and green end of the spectrum travels farthest. That is why chartreuse works so well at depth and in murky water.

As far as black always working better than light colors at night, I've done very well on many nights with a white plug, while others were doing much worse with black. I can't say for sure whether it was the color that mattered, but it's something to think about. Baitfish don't turn darker at night. They just look grey or black, depending on the angle of the light, the bait, and the predatory fish. The bass still find those silver bunker at night.

Another factor is selectivity of feeding. It seems that the more of a certain type of bait is present, the more the predator may be keyed in on a certain size, action, or even color. I believe that color may be the least important of those three factors, but definitely plays a role in some situations.