There are so many articles written by professional anglers about what lures you should use and what color or pattern lure should be used to catch more fish. Well, most of these guys are just promoting their sponsors new products to make money, so a lot of those lures are to catch anglers not fish. But when you hear color of a lure can make a difference, that’s kinda true.

I have read a few articles on color and water clarity, but I’m not going to get into all that scientific stuff about how wavelengths absorb light energy because 1) I always want to keep topics on fishing basic and 2) I’m not smart enough to understand all that mumbo jumbo to explain it correctly. So, here’s a few things about water clarity and colors that may help you chose a different color lure the next time you hit the water.

There are colors that are more visible at different depths than others, but this will depend on if the water is clear, murky or stained. The first color to fade as it gets deeper is red, followed by orange, yellow, green and then blue. On cloudy or overcast days, dark colors like black, brown and purple should only be used because fish feed up and see a solid silhouette moving against the surface, especially at dusk. I kind of get that, but I also think that would be in shallower stained water or maybe 10 to 15 feet in clear water.

Fish use sight, smell and vibration to locate prey and sometimes maybe a scent trail or a lure that rattles might find more fish and I’m sure the color of a lure selection holds some merit too. I still believe you should match the prey that fish are going after, because you want your lure to resemble baitfish, right? Personally, when going after game fish (MUSKIE, WALLEYE, NORTHERN OR BASS) I would still use silver, copper, gold or a combination of those colors or a soft plastic with a dark top and a white bottom to start, then switch it up if you don’t get any bites.

Just because some tournament professional wrote an article to make his sponsors money, DON’T over think all that color stuff and NEVER stop experimenting with different types or size of bait, live or artificial.