I got another question about Colors in lures!

[Thudpucker]

[]Over on another site I was reading about making Crappie jigs.

What I got from all that was Whte or lite when the waters clear, and dark or green when the waters murky (or not clear).

Some of the Rocks shifted and some daylight came into my head leaving some holes to be filled.

For most of my life fishing thingy's have come in all kinds of colors.
Not one person, has ever been able to say why we use one color and not another at any specific time.

Can some of you (Dry Rod for sure) remember when just about all lures came in Red and White.
Slowly Green Frog pattern on some bass lures, then Flat Fish in all colors and patterns....ad nuseum!

Flies on the other hand look like something a fish might eat. Not flashy colors at all. Until Spratly's and Clousers became the norm in some places.

I didn't mention Salmon flies on purpose. Those Salmon flies catch fishermen, not fish. It dont matter what color or shape of a fly your using on the Salmon.
I may have mentiond the time on the Russian River in AK, we caught so many Red Salmon and Kings that we began to experiement and when I tied a small piece of Green Yarn on a bare hook I got Salmon almost immediatly. Those Salmon going upstream are not eating. Just biting as they had been used to doing all their lives.

So getting back to Crappie jigs.
Why the combination of Chartruse/Black?
White/Blue? And a host of other odd looking things?
Some Crappie jigs have different shapes as well.
Is there some logical reason for the colors?
Has there been some Scientific Tank experiements on this color business?

Heh heh heh, this ought to keep us busy until the weather breaks and we can get back to fishing.
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[Dryrod]

[cool][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]Hi there Thudpucker - your memory serves you well. Back in the days when we use to hunt dinosaurs, spoons always seemed to come in brilliant covers. Silver, brass, gold [make believe] etc. I still have a few red devils [red & white] hanging around. The flies in my Dad's collection were all relatively light in color. Bass plugs which were made of wood were likewise light in color. I don't recall when the thinking changed to using dark colors in stained waters and light lures in clear waters. I don't have any chartreuse & black crappie jigs, as mine are either white or chartreuse. [/size][/green][/font]
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[macfly55]

heres a wrench in the gears... we know a very good fisherman who uses one color in clear and murky waters.. its called a white (pearl) super stretchy.. [sly]

MacFly
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[Dryrod]

[center][font "Pristina"][green][size 4][cool] I know, I know. As I was writing my comments I thought of our friend and his white charger. So MacFly I guess that based on that factor, from I guess that from now on you will be tying only white colored flies.[/size][/green][/font] [] [font "Pristina"][green][size 4]But wait a second, are you going to tell FGD to dump all her purple fluff? If so you had better get a new address as Baxter will surely hunt you down! LOL[/size][/green][/font][/center]
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[macfly55]

...now hold on.. I am not calling for a major life change by anyone.. I was just stating the fact that a very prolific fisherman is able to do so on a lure that is completely contrary to the accepted norm for fishing freshwater...and saltwater LOL...

..as for FG and her fly tying supplies are safe as she is just as prolific fisherperson as our brother polo with her multicolored flies.. therefore my ankles are safe from any agression from Sir Baxster in the near future....[sly]

MacFly
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[poky-mon]

Flies represent the bugs in the certain waters and so I get better response between lakes and rivers myself. salmon and stealhead go after the bright colors because of aggression not food they are coming up river for a purpose not food
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[Thudpucker]

[]Yeah, I remember those spoons now that you mention them. Gold, Silver and the Dare Devils were the popular stuff allright.

An old man lived nearby to my childhood home. I'd occasionally sit out on his porch with him and watch as he carved his Salmon Trolling lures for his Commercial Trolling operation.
I painted some with him.

All were versions of Red and white. He'd dab some Silver paint on some of them. But in those days the Silver paint was just plain dull.

One day his daughter called me over to the house. The old man had Died and his Daughter decided to give me all of his lures.
I packed home a ton of Salmon Trolling lures, hooks, cable lines, gurdies and yards (the hook on a stick he used to pull in the line that had a fish on it) and knives.

That old man made a good living off those Red n' White wooden lures. I still had some when I went to Alaska, but I never caught anything on them.

So far as the Jig fishing goes. I have always caught fish on a White Curly tail jig but never caught a fish on any other color of Jig.
The 1/4Oz size works well for Walleye and Bass.
But Crappie are still avoiding my efforts.
I need help!
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