The importance of the lure's color to fish for striped bass
In the dark of the morning and evening, at night or in tinted waters, the color is not the predominant criterion in the choice of a lure to fish striped bass, but when the waters are clear, the choice of the color becomes crucial.
The right color allows you to go from zero hits, to one hit every ten casts or even one hit on every cast, and this in the same place, with the proven presence of fish. This, with the same model of lure, the same animation ... It's only the color parameter that changes. On this point, this fish reminds me of the asp, for those who have already crossed this fish, which is also very capricious on the color of lures.
How to choose the right color?
It is impressive how selective striped bass are and focused on a specific color, even if we attend a moment of feeding frenzy, it is not for all that fishing is easy. To put all the chances on your side, if after two or three casts, there are no touches, while we see that the fish are there, it is useless to insist and we must quickly change color.
Defining the right lure color to use starts with trying several, and finding the ones that stand out. Looking at what striped bass are feeding on is a good indicator to narrow down the selection, as well as favor natural colors. For example, if you notice mackerel and sand eels present, a lure with a gray belly and green back is the right choice to make.
If you are dealing with sardines, a lure with a blue back is more appropriate to use, and so on. In the St. Lawrence River, in fresh water, striped bass feed a lot on yellow perch and small walleye, so the colors imitating perch and white belly/yellow back are the ones that work best. As a general rule, in clear water, the so-called "two tone" colors, with a different back and belly, give better results, probably because of their less artificial appearance.
When the waters are murky, selecting the right color is a headache that can be forgotten. In this case solid colors, such as white, orange, chartreuse and pink work well.
A difficult sixth day
As for this sixth day of fishing in search of striped bass in Gaspésie, it is becoming more and more complicated. The bass seem to stay offshore because of the lack of wind. I manage to get a few nice fish isolated here and there, by optimizing the exploration, but it is clearly not the same abundance as at the beginning of the stay.
