The difficult choice of the right color
It's not easy to find your way around, there's so much to choose from. Just take a stroll down the aisles of your favourite retailer to see the wide range of choices available to the angler.
There's something to suit every taste, from natural colors to those totally imagined by the designers. To make the best choice, you need to understand the fishing environment and fish behaviour.
Are the fish looking for prey, and what is it? If so, you'll need to match a shape and color similar to the prey the bass are hunting.
Conversely, in certain situations, predatory fish will attack prey not to feed, but to defend their territory. In such cases, you'll need to turn to incentive colors.
One thing is certain, natural colors are the ones to have permanently in your lure box. Whatever happens, they work and you'll be able to catch bass and other species with them.
My selection of lures in natural colors
In view of the above, I'd like to share with you my selection of lures in natural colors.
For shads, which I use mainly in current zones, but also in linear or vertical elevators, I'm a fan of the Nitro Shad in Blue Herring, Jelly Shad and Green when the bass are looking for sardines, mackerel or sprat.
At the start of the season, especially when bass are looking for crustaceans, brown is the color that most closely resembles their prey.
I use lures that match the prey being hunted. I'm moving away from shads to more tapered models.
Fiiish's Crazy Sand Eel and Crazy Paddle Tail come out on top. Green or khaki colors are obviously the most effective.
Unnatural colors
Although my preference is for natural colors, there are times when I choose a completely different shade.
These include pink, of course, but also white. It has to be said that in some situations, nothing works. No matter how hard you try, the number of hits just doesn't match the number of fish in the area. A change of color is in order before you take the prize.
The pink color is one of my favourites whenever I opt for a lure that doesn't imitate prey hunted by bass. This lure works well in heavy, choppy water. The Crazy Sand Eel or the Crazy Paddle Tail by Fiiish are my favorite lures when I opt for this color.
White, whether for hard or soft lures, is a safe bet, even if it stands out less than the aforementioned pink.
It's a bit of an all-purpose color, and some anglers even consider it a natural color.
It is also effective in clear water with its strong light-reflecting properties. At night or in the morning, in low light conditions, it contrasts with the fishing environment. One thing's for sure: bass love it!
It's up to you to put together a box of lures with alternating colors. There's no need to multiply them. A mix of 5 colors will enable you to deal with most situations.
