Chartreuse is a color you definitely need in your arsenal. Dave Lefebre of Erie, Pennsylvania is a professional bass angler on the Bassmaster Elite circuit. “When the water is lightly stained, I go with blues, light greens, and pale pink colors,” he said. As a starting point, It’s hard to go wrong with a simple white or chartreuse jig with a white or lead head. That way, if one color stops attracting, maybe the other one will draw interest. If I know crappies are in a location but I’m not getting bites within 5 to 10 minutes, then I change colors.”, When post frontal days create those high blue cloudless skies, crappies can be tight lipped. With such little confidence in what we were doing, oftentimes we just resorted to sticking to a minnow on a hook. You can purchase a Color-C-Lector, which is a contraption that tells you what colors are currently most visible in the water you’re fishing. Eating things having all sorts of colorations is normal for a Crappie. Pink is another color I often mix in with other proven colors. We’re still taking advantage of the sun by using a reflective color, but just in a different hue to increase visibility. If you don’t believe me, fill up a large glass jar with dirty lake water, and drop some flashy colored lures in to see for yourself. This calls for plum, purple, motor oil, pumpkinseed or combinations thereof. By recognizing the part that colors plays in your jig presentation allows you stock up on a wide selection of colored jig bodies right now for the coming season…not just your favorite color! “Sure, you can catch some crappies on almost any color, but to maximize your catch you must be tuned into the best color for the conditions. It is considered by a lot of crappie fisherman as the only choice for crappie jig … Those are colors that typically show up better in off-colored water. Professional crappie angler Dan Dannenmueller, member of Team Crappie Country along with Garrett Steele, is a firm believer in the scientific approach. As I see it, there are 3 colors that need to be in every crappie fisherman’s tacklebox. Gold colors penetrate dirty water much better than silver or chrome, which of course increases the likelihood of a bass tracking it down. My other confidence colors include blue glimmer, white, and daiquiri (mint green).”. PowerSports of Abrams, WI Adds Steve Kuchenberg to Lund Pro-Staff. Hopefully this article will help guide you, as you purchase your first rounds of crappie jigs. If a fish could see in full color, it wouldn’t matter that much as slowly the colors disappear with depth. Tie that onto one pole, then use the 2nd pole to experiment with various colors. Much of what different colors look like underwater are different shades of white and gray. Both work. Trout Fishing Resources. Folk's, Muddy Water Conditions ( Dingy , Stained ) can be tough to fish in. Sexy Shad – The best color when the water has a pretty heavy or darker green tint to it, to the point of being stained, and the shad are the predominant forage. Certainly on a new body of water, I’m always going to give chartreuse a try. Color selection is critical when faced with clear conditions as fish are able to give baits a serious once-over from a distance. “If the water is in the clear range, I go with more natural colors or clear bodies with sparkle – anything that closely resembles minnows and shad. Gold is an absolute staple color in stained water. Ever wonder why chartreuse is such a popular lure color? Always remember to match the hatch when using natural colors, paying close attention to the color of the bait the fish are eating. If you lose sight within two feet, water is rated Muddy; two to four feet, water is rated Stained; greater than four feet, water is Clear. Murky: Just like with crankbaits, the more thump the better in murky water. This is particularly true in stained or deeper water. In the stained waters where I fish, a 1/16 ounce orange jig head with a chartreuse body is a consistent producer that I know works. You’ll notice a few repeats, and that’s no mistake. The lighting from a different time of day, or when cloud cover moves in can influence color preferences. What this information does tell you is how to create the best contrast depending on the conditions and depth you are fishing at. Simply by looking at the water and lowering a lure down, I determine if the lake is muddy, dingy, algae stained or clear. Copyrights © 2019 CrappieNOW. Crappie also eat crawfish, insects, worms, and many other random things. There are two general processes to consider. This ever changing nature of color preference is a good reason to use a multicolored jig. “In tournament situations, I always use the Color-D-Lector,” concludes Dannenmueller. Red, for example, fades out first. But, I also like to throw in some black, blue, or orange as a contrasting color in stained water. In clear water, use mostly natural colors. My goal is to speed that process up for you. A crappie’s sensitivity to colors is why I like jigs so much. Darker colors show up better in murky water, and two-tone combinations of colors provide contrast. White Bobby Garland Cajun Cricket Bobby Garland Glacier Bobby Garland Outlaw Dannenmueller picks up the process here. Either rattling style crankbaits or by adding rattles to a jig are the most common examples. That lets me try many colors at once. With six jigs per packet, you’ve got backups if you have to cut one loose. After crappie fishing for 20+ years, I still remember how tough it was to choose jig colors in the beginning. Translucent colors work better in clear water, as they look more natural. My personal preference is to use 3-6 poles in rod holders. After a few seconds a digital number between 0 and 40 will appear in the window. Two of my personal favorite color combos for stained water crappie are a lead head/blue body /white tail and an orange jig head with a chartreuse body. A white jig body with a chartreuse tail is one of my most used colors. Some colors do indeed work well in both stained and clear waters. Water clarity is the most important factor when it comes to color selection. Captain Jeff had similar thoughts of colors for dirty water. Any dummy can catch crappie with minnows, and dummies we were, at least when it came to crappie. Flecks and sparkles help to mimic the natural flash of a bait fish. If you’re interested in checking out the Color-C-Lector, you can find their website here –, If you like this article, check out my breakdown of the, Crappie Baits – Best Brands Of Plastic Jigs And Tubes, Best Electric Fillet Knife For Crappie Fishermen, Top 9 Criteria to Evaluate When Choosing a Surf Rod. Then, you can branch out from there. CrappieNOW is an unrivaled destination for passionate crappie anglers searching for information on new crappie fishing tips and techniques, destinations, products, recent events, and the latest news from industry leading professionals. This is even more true in dirty and stained water. You’ll find that black/chartreuse is an extremely popular jig color. One slight variation in color combination can drastically change your catch rate compared to your buddy sitting right beside you. In silty water, yellow and brown are easiest to see. Tight action to say the least! Winter walleye can be caught using a variety of different lures – including spoons, swimming jigs, and the ever popular jig. Spinners tied with rattle beads can also be great producers in stained water. The second approach is – for lack of a better term – your gut. Ask a few anglers around the country to name their “favorite” crappie-catching color in a jig and you’ll probably end up with almost as many different responses as the number of fishermen questioned. Dark colors. First, the scientific approach utilizes an instrument developed through research that reveals which colors fish can see under certain conditions. As we gained experience, we began to settle on certain colors that consistently produced on our home lake. Color preferences can even vary throughout the same day, depending on how bright it is, as well as how deep you’re fishing. ... Fluorescent colors work best in stained water. Chartreuse is a perfect example of a crazy looking color that works well. Dannenmueller says it is critical to check the recommendations of the Color-C-Lector when available light changes (low sun versus mid-day; sunny skies fading to overcast skies) or when you observe a change in the water color. I hate using that all-so-tired cliché, but it's so applicable. “If the water is off-colored from a storm, I find that bright green, orange, or even glow can put more fish in the box. A lot of it comes down to your own confidence in certain colors that you “know” will be successful. With that said, you should also know that many of the strangely colored jigs you see in stores are actually going to appear as some shade of gray or silver when viewed underwater. While I admit, white isn’t the sexiest fishing lure color, it just plain works. Any crappie fisherman with any level of experience knows that pink is a great crappie jig color. Even if I don’t go all in with a solid chartreuse jig, I’ll often have it somewhere in my setup. How to Choose the “BEST” Color for Crappie Jigs - Crappie Now Likely their answers are based on memorable catches with a certain color on a particular lake under specific conditions. When fishing murky, muddy or stained water, dark-tinted soft plastics do the trick. “By using Crappie Pro Mo’Glow florescent jig heads and two-tone bodies from Bobby Garland, Garrett and I can easily match the range of colors indicated on the C-Lector. Furthermore, if fish are observed at multiple depths, you can set rods at those depths with each rod fishing a different color combination recommended by the Color-C-Lector.”. No color in the spectrum has proven more effective at … White is a good color in both clear and dingy water. That’s always a good color to start with, as it sort of becomes more of a fish-looking white color underwater. When I first started crappie fishing, it was tough deciding which colors to buy. A crappie’s diet consists mainly of small gray, or silver colored fish. “As the water lightens up, we just keep going lighter down to a light grey, off white, bone-looking color whites.” The clearest water often requires pale shades of blues like the Bobby Garland Monkey Milk. Now that we have identified some good crappie colors, you might wonder why in the world would pink, chartreuse and other such unnatural colors fool a crappie. In shallow water, successful colors tend to be more natural. The Color-C-Lector was developed by Dr. Loren Hill after years of laboratory and field experiments. You’ll notice on store shelves, there are many different shades of the same colors. But, that’s the dominant forage, and is what you should most often try to mimic. I like to use sparkly baits in shallow, lightly stained water when the sun is shining. “This will be a cross between a natural color and a bright color, such as a sparkle body with a hot chartreuse tail. Clear water means natural colors, like shiner colors, and whatever the color … It’s partly because it has the yellow tint common to certain sunfish, but also because the “brightness” helps the lure stand out while still appearing natural. “It is extremely important for the angler to have identified the depth at which crappies are holding. Natural Minnow Jigs Crappies, particularly the much-desired “plate-sized” versions, feed on tiny minnows as enthusiastically as other species of sport and panfish. They help jigs to contrast well under water so that crappie can see them from a distance. The spawn is when I’ll try the brighter shades of already proven colors. It is true that some lakes do seem to have a few colors that are “best”. Similar to depth, Thelen changes lure colors depending on turbidity and penetration. Some popular variations include: junebug, black and black and blue. Chartreuse is another color that fades rather quickly underwater, therefore it doesn’t look so “crazy” when viewed beneath the waters surface. 27 Best Bass Jig Modifications Made Easy (With Pictures) ... What exactly is the best lure color for clear water? Just don’t expect it to be a magic bullet. At this time of the year, sometimes the more fish you can get to see your bait, the better. Chartreuse is an extremely popular fishing lure color for a reason. This is why you’ll see red crappie fishing line on the store shelves. Grabbed a white Pico Curl Tail, Chartreuse Wedge head jig, and caught 20+ in the next half hour. Or perhaps they choose the only color crappie jig in their box! And then there’s chartreuse. But, there seems to be enough evidence out there that it works for what it’s designed to do. For clear water I typically rotate among the colors in the list shown above. With darker water, there are definitely some go-to colors like gold, bronze, pink, along with bright glow colors like chartreuse, orange, glow white and glow red. Without delving too deep, the simple answer is that jig colors appear differently underwater than how you see them on the shelf. Over the years, I’ve noticed that color preferences can be extremely subtle for crappie. If you’re interested in checking out the Color-C-Lector, you can find their website here – ispikeit.com. That’s where Black really shines. ... Brighter colored lures in shad or bluegill colored patterns were great in stained water. Of course, that’s not all they eat. By considering water clarity, light intensity and depth, this instrument tells you which colors fish see best under specific conditions.”. Instead, it very much replicates the coloration of a bait fish. Color Matters . 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