Christmas Colors Crappies

[CrappieJohn]

(while crappies will not be mentioned, this is written to reflect crappies as the persued fish)t

When I began to ice fish, things were much simpler. The "cup" auger got you into the water, rods had no reels and a willow switch was as much a part of your tackle as was your gloves. Some braided nylon line for the tip-ups and some mill-end mono for the stick poles and a guy was set....almost. He still needed some jigs and they were supplied in black, white, yellow, orange, red and maybe green. Wow, how things have changed.

Today we are at the mercy of nature and feel darned near naked without a portable house, gas auger, twenty different rods- each with their own specific purpose- heaters and , of course, a box laden with jigs. It is what we find within that box that has made the most profound changein all of our equipment.

The early jigs were basic. Heavy and not particularily pretty. Even the hooks were crude as compared to today's hooks. Breaking a hook was not uncommon on a hookset on , say, a northern. When you went to the bait shop you'd find two or thee basic styles of jigs, in two or three sizes and in the colors mentioned earlier. Things were streamlined to say the least. Time, though, has a way of changing things.

I have always blamed greed for change. Change almost always means competition and that almost always means someone wants in on someone else's bonanza. To do that, something has to change just a little bit. And as far as ice fishing goes, this has been good.

From a few basic colors 40 years ago, the process of color evolution has trudged along steadily over the last twenty years. We have gone from the basic to fluorescent, to glow, to today's color bound fluorescents- the ones that glow in the color we actually see. The super glows are here today and with a vengence.

Color has always been a prime factor in whether we catch fish or not....at least it has been in modern times. The advent of the fluorescent colors turned the tables to the fisherman's favor in a big way. Water color could be challenged with the hyper bright oranges and chartreuse greens. Yellows were soon developed and not long afterward a whole spectrum of colors came to view. The "hot color" revolution was decending upon us and along with it a whole new set of fishing challenges.

It was sure to be just a matter of time before the luminscent paints jumped on this bandwagon and guess what....they did. Now mind you, these "glow" paints were crude to begin with. When I first started to paint with them in the late sixties, they had an odor that, well, we will not go into it here. When charged with a camera flash, these paints would glow for all of five minutes. But here too, change had improved things and the glow jig became a commonplace piece of tackle for every specie of fish chased thru the ice. People soon realized that a transparent color of paint could be applied over a glow base and the light coming from underneath just maybe a teenie weenie little bit made a purple jig look like the color was glowing purple....sort of hard to do when the light from below came off as an eerie green though. At any rate, the glowing jigs , like the hyper bright colored jigs, brought on some challenges which had to be dealt with by the ice fisherman.

Technology is wonderful in many instances and in the world of fishing, ice fishing primarily and again primarily in the jig world found therein, the advances in "glow technology" have been a blessing of sorts. But not unlike the other positive changes, challenges have arisen in the use of these baits.

Too much of a good thing can work against the purpose intended. On a cloudy day fishing stained water, one might get away with using a super glow jig. Across the road on a clear lake the same jig may not turn a hit. The glow colors we see so much of today require some thought for them to produce fish. In fact, there may be times when not using them will get you more fish. Like any bait, you need to let the fish dictate their desires.

Clear water fish are notorious for being skittish durring the daytime, even under ice unless some snow cover or clouding is present. Even with the influence of clouds or snow pack, the super glow jig used during the daytime hours may send crappies in the other direction. As darkeness decends those same jigs may prove to be a real gift. On stained waters , the super glow might be able to be used all day long with good results, but as it gets darker and the shadows get cast maybe a color change will be needed....say from the red to the blue.

At times it is merely a matter of size. A size 6 GloBug in the glow red might work good at noon in dirtier water, but come off as too much at dusk when a size ten may be better. This is just an example of how "too much" can hinder the bite more than the color can improve it. Keep in mind that the new "super glow" colors cast an aura and make things look larger than they actually are. The color is not the issue, it is the percieved size of the offering. Up or down sizing will become a more important consideration while using these baits.

To boot, we now have the super glow products with imaging on them to look very much like a minnow or craw in the daytime and glow like one of satan's helpers at night.

For bait fishermen, there are glow beads available whinh ca be slipped over the barb of the hook and super-glued to the shank near the yeye of the hook. While these beads are not super glow-at least I have not seen any yet-they offer the glow factor to live bait without the weight of a jig.

But one of of most profound things one will take note of is all the colors in which this "super glow" seems to come in. I am not a scientist and cannot say if these are actually all showing up in the dark as the color i see in daylight or if it is coming from underneath, but I can say that three of these colors NEED to be in every serious angler tackle collection....the red and the blue and the chartreuse. They need to carry multiple sizes as well. Carry them in horizontal jigs as well as vertical jigs. Carry them in different profiles as well.

A couple of weeks ago I stopped in at JR's in the cities to get some stuff. I found a table perhaps twenty feet long that looked like a bazillion Christmas lights all laid out in trays. Jigs of every configuration and size were found there. And most were of the super glow. I really appreciated the "hands on" atmosphere and being able to really look at what I was going to buy before hand. (the bait are cheaper this way too) What a treasure trove! But fear not, if you cannot make it there, just about any bait/tackle shop worth their salt will carry jigs of this kind as will some of the larger retailers.

The new color revolution has arrived in full force. Itis spilling into the plastics marketplace as well. Where all this will go remains the current challenge, but one thing is for certain.....ice fishermen will be up for it!

(as a note- Jr's is a site sponsor at FishingMinnesota.com along with several other vendor/sponsors all of whom can address your needs for "super glow" products)

[Matt Johnson]

Excellent post Tom!!!

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[rosspj59]

Tom, having trouble finding where JR's tackle is at on the site. Where is the store location in the cities?

Thanks!

[CrappieJohn]

My "sponsors" banner is not working. Try clicking on Matt's. If that doesn't get it, try doing a search on site for JR's. Or you can go to JR's Tackle.com.

If you want to go to the store...go north on 169 until you come to 85 ave. Take a right there and go to the first big intersection (about two blocks) and go left to Zealand (about four or five blocks). It will be a left turn. Go about a block and follow the "fishing tackle" signs. It is tricky at this point because the road splits sort of and you actually have to go straight at the split thru a parking area and around to the back of the building.

[rosspj59]

Thanks again Tom. What a helpful guy!

[Matt Johnson]

I was just in at JR's Tackle today and they have their glow jigs stocked and they look awesome! The Glow Drop and Glow Bug are very brilliant in color. Tom is right, the glow on these jigs is very nice.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[FI Guide]

It seems that more and more anglers are now finding that using glow lures are the best way to catch fish since the lure is much more visible in the water.

Matt and Crappie Tom what are your opinions on glow jigs?

[protrapper]

Matt,

What's there hours for tomorrow you happen to know? I would like to swing in there tomorrow before I have to go to Hibbing.

[CrappieJohn]

FI....I can tell you that 90% of my winter tackle glows in one way or another. I am talking ice fishing tackle now, since I do do the open water as well all winter on the river. Different altogether! But the ice tackle is just about all glow.

The new glow paints are great, but they have alsoforced me to re-think some of my presentaions. I still have to play the game with the weather. I still have to deal with water color. I still have to be aware of what the fish are telling me what they want. But with some of these super charged colors we find today, I have found that finding the proper combination of color vs. size is almost paramount. If the over-all size or profile of a jig is used and the jig is charged, it may come off as being twice the size in the eyes of the fish. Spooked fish are a common problem when too much of a good thing is apparent. Downsizing to eliminate this visual over-kill becomes more and more necessary when light or water conditions change. Even a changing barometer will fool with the fish's psych when these hot colors invade their realm.

These baits cast an aura that makes them look larger than life. If you are fishing in a system where you have incoming flow and the water entering begins to show up with some sediment in it, this compounds the visual effect of that aura even more. These fish have down right incredible eyesight. Their eyes can reshape themselves and be either telescopic or microscopic in nature....in the blink of an eye. Seeing is not the issue. Subtly getting their attention is. All one needs to do is put a little beacon down there. Toss down a floodlight and the fish are goners.

Do I use glows? You bet! I won't go without them now! How I use them is as different each time out as each trip itself is different. In ice fishing, I think that the new super glows are likely to be the single most important peice of innovation in the last twenty five years.

[Matt Johnson]

JR's Tackle should be open until 5pm tomorrow as far as I know. I was in there today and left around 5:30pm and they were still open, so maybe they are open later now...

Glow jigs are phenomenal, especially under the ice. With the advanced glow colors and new hi-glow visability, glow is lasting longer and appears much brighter too. Sometimes too much glow can have a negative impact on the fish, but there are other times when you can't have enough glow. I prefer red glow more than anything else. Red glow seems to appeal to crappies very well. Tom is an expert on color corellation when applied to different species, so he would probably be better suited to answer the question of "why"? Glow blues work well too, and I've dabbled a little with glow purple and I've seen some promising results as well.

Glow is no doubt an advantage to the ice angler. Glow can be used throughout the day and isn't just a twilight or after dark color anymore. I've honestly noticed that on some midday bites that the people using glow out produced those who were using non-glow colors. Glow is definitely helping anglers catch more fish.

Maybe Tom can continue to touch a little more on when and why to use different glow colors. I've had the pleasure of talking and fishing with Tom and let me tell you, this guy knows his stuff and a day spent with him is like a week's worth of knowledge. I'm going to take a seat in the front row and take notes on this one

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[delmuts]

MATT . save me a seat ! GREAT info as always guys !

[CrappieJohn]

In my opinion, colors are two issues: a contrast thing and the fish's eye being more sensitive to certain colors themselves.

The first instance deals with the environment in which the fish are existing: The water. Winter clears things up nicely once the water has its cap of ice. Cold water will not allow as much minute sediment to stay because it is much denser and with the ice, the only external force to change the color and clarity of the water will be if there is an incoming source like a stream or river which stays open. Water under the ice generally gets clearer and cleaner as winter progresses. But, no water will ever be absolutely clear unless it starts that way.

Assuming you fish water with a bit of color and no incoming water influences: the water you are given at ice-up will clarify. Whatever stain it has will be an inherent quility that is not going to go away. Whatever color this staing appears to you as, be mindful of how different colors work together or apart. Some waters with a green tinge to mayfilter too much of the blue or yellow end on the spectrum out of the glow to make any lures of those colors work effectively. If the fish are not right there on top of the lure, they may perceive the dark spot they see as distant and too far away to expend the energy to hunt it. Red on the other hand may be the ticket. This color is not being filtered, but reflected. The fish see it and pursue it. This is where the fish's come into play. The rods and cones within the eye dictate the ability to gather light (light sensitivity and night vision capabilities)and to see specific colors better than others.

The physiology of one fish's eye will differ from another. No so much inside the species, but from specie to specie the difference can be outstanding.To show this, look at the walleye. Studies have proven that these fish will respond to orange first. Their eyes are sensitive to it. It does not mean that orange will be the best color to use in all situations, it implies that it is the first color they have any visual acquity to. Crappies may be color specific in the degree of preference, but they too are subject to this only as a generalization. I have found crappies to be about equally attracted to chartreuse and white and orange/pink in open water. Keep in mind the water in my end of the state is stained and generally carries a summer-time secchi reading of about two feet. Clearer waters from the northern portion of the state will show definite color prefernces other than what I notice! This has in no way shown me that these are the colors to "go to". I have other colors that merit the bulk of the workload in open water. Ice fishing? ...glow red to start every time. Why? Contrast, pure and simple.

So where does all of this lead? To understand this concept of the super glows you have to understand color....it's reflective qualities, it's absorbtive qualities, how it fits into particular settings, you name it. It is confusing at first.

As mentioned I will look to my red glow to start things out and run thru the entire selection of profiles in that color before I change colors. Then I'll do the same thing again size and profile-wise. As the ice changes thickness almost daily now and we get some snow cover over it, the amount of light getting down to the fish will be different day to day and maybe even hour to hour. Minute to minute is more like it at dawn and dusk! And all of these factors play on contrast. Your job will be to find some color in the spectrum to contrast with what you have at hand water/weather/light-wise. To make a point: ever fish a lake where the red glow is the only color that you can get a hit on at 10am , but at 6 pm if you do not have the blue glow on you cannot buy a hit? It is unlikely that the water changed any of it's given factors. The only thing that has changed is the amount of light IN the water and this concept is important.

Not only do the glow jigs show us color when glowing, but in bright sunlit water they will show us the pretty fluorescent colors they are painted. And this is where so many people get derailed with color. The fluorescent color is only that when influenced by ultra-violet rich light. Without the ultra violet, those colors are simply reds, yellows, greens, blues, ...whatever in varying degrees of shading. Glow products simply glow a greenish color. If you want both color and glow, you have to get the products marked as super glow or new glow.

Regardless of how much light is actually at a given depth, there is still the water color to contend with. It too will act as a color filter and change how different colors are perceived by the fish. Water color itself will change, not in color, but in the ablity to filter different wavelengths of external colors...ie your jig's color. This is why as water becomes darker as the day wears on you may find your favored red glow dwindle into nothingness and the blue start to catch fire. The dark water absorbs all of the fire put there from the red, while the blue is being reflected and shines like a light. And this happens even with the super glow colors because their colors they shine as are prone to filtering.

Matt has mentioned the glow purple. I have a bunch of these( JR's product) and have had some interesting luck using these. While they are neither red or blue, they have seen periods of action when neither red or blue will work. It is my thought that how much red or how much blue will determine to what extent this color's preference to swing. It has also been my experience that the purple can be hot on cloudy days when red is too much and blue doesn't work well and chartreuse can't drip a drop. Not ironic, purple is one of the favored summer-time colors for this angler.

In my original post I made references to "challenges". They exist, and have at the introduction of every "new" fishing tool, and create a lot of scrambling to figure them out. Challenges are good and in the end better angler emerge. What started as a color thing forty years ago, evolved into "how bright can we make these colors?". And then the glow idea hit. Now we are facing a whole revolution in color and glow and glowing in living color. The latter will likely be the biggest challenge for those who want to truely understand why these colors work like they do.... regardless of fish specie targeted. This does not imply that your average fisherman cannot go into a store and pick up some super glows and follow the lead of his buddy who has figured out some of the basics. Learning from watching works and is likely the greatest teacher in fishing. I have never been satisfied with just being able to go out there and catch fish simply because I know how. I like to know why. I enjoy what is found on the next level.

Matt threw som kudos my way and I thank him for his thoughts. But Matt Johnson has taken fishing, especially the crappies and panfish, to a level that has to frustrate many of the readers. Matt understands the concepts of color, artificial baits- plastics most notably- and puts this knowledge to work for himself. Corey Bechtold is another young, but in-the-know angler who has figured out many of the mysteries that this sport offers up and the challenges color can create.

But this isn't about Matt or Corey or myself. It is about learning how this new technology can play on your behalf IF you dig into the how's and why's. There is a lot to consider when you pick up that jig, tie it on , charge it, and fish for three hour with nary a hit when the guy next to you is fishing a different color and is catching fish hands or fist. Especially if his jig, save for the color, is identical to your jig. Knowing how colors fit into the day, the water, and even the fish's preference list works on your behalf.

I do not know much about the way a fish's eye works other than what I have related here. But one thing I pay particular attention to is contrast and how this comes into play with colors that I can see, whether they are a plain-jane color, a fluorescent color or a super glow color.

[Matt Johnson]

Tom,

Very, very nice! Good read!

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[CrappieJohn]

Thanks Matt!

[delmuts]

WOW !! this is why i LOVE this site !del

[FI Guide]

WOW

[CrappieJohn]

Glow paint will affect how the fish perceive a jig in over-all size too.....profile. Yet another consideration to throw in here. The problem here,though , is that the super glows cast such a huge aura around a jig.

When you need to downsize the profile of your bait, think about how the glow comes into play. One way to acheive this task and still get your glow is to go backwards and use a small jig with the standard glow paint. Custom Jigs and Spins makes a small jig, the ratfink, (I think is the name)a jig with a glow head and a hard plastic body that has some glow characteristics too. They are available in lots of colors and combinatiions as well as sizes. I prefer the smaller sizes of 10 and 12 when looking to become tiny and almost always touch them up with a goldenrod grub. The white head with either the pinkish orange body or the chartreuse green body are my go-to's for this task. These are horizontal jigs and for vertcal hanging hardware I go to the smaller "ant" baits and remove all of the feather or plastic so that what is left has a very narrow profile and again, these will be in the "old glow"

On the other end of the spectrum of size,JR's, Scenic Tackle, JB lures, Phelps can all fill the need for larger baits. They all have excellent baits for up sizing and can be found with lots of extras like flash blades or flash on one side of the lure body. Many of these baits are heavier and are fitted with trebles for loading with bait and are aggressive fish takers when the fish are in the mood for larger offerings. I seldom use these baits for crappies and sunfish, but do use them for trout and waldogs. Actually I use these sorts of baits more in the boat in the winter than thru the ice! Regardless, these baits too are proven fish-takers and belong in the box. They have their place, but as far as glow goes you may want to be careful when you use them....these are large profile and can scare the bejesus out of fish with their enormity when charged. Unless the fish are active and feeding hard and readily, you'll likely not see much action with these baits. It may be prudent in some instances where the fish want something larger to drop one of these bait down the hole loaded with waxies, but with a minimum of glow paint or none at all. Maybe rely more on flash than glow.

Like I have said before, this glow paint is good stuff and has opened many , many doors. But not all of those doors are of a positive nature. You have to think about how you are using this and when , maybe, you need to back off a bit and use less shine. The stuff may shine brightly, but it can be hiding a dark side when it comes to your fishing.

[Scenic]

JB Lures, Custom Jigs and Spins and Scenic Tackle all offer very small jigs and spoons to fit every need for the Panfisherman. They all have products in that #12-#14 area. From the manufacturers stand point on this issue I would like to add that the amount of glow is determined by several things. First is the method in which the glow is applied. Second is determined, for those of us who make our own glow paint, but the amount of pigment that is added and thirdly by the quality of the pigment itself.

By varying any of these methods we can create brighter or longer lasting glows. Problem comes in when you want a glow to last for longer periods of time. We can make it last longer but it will be so bright when first charged that it sometimes scares fish. So you have a choice often times...do you want a jig that is to bright to catch fish or do you want a happy medium that catches fish and glows too?

Before any product hits the market most are tested. Scenic Tackle products for example has been tested normally the year before. One of the things we look at is the amount of glow. If we put down a jig that has extra glow to it and it scares the fish away and then we put down the same color with a bit less glow paint on it that catches fish we know the level of glow to use.

So some times more is not always better. I personally would rather use a product that I have to recharge a few more times that catches fish then to use one that just stays charged all the time that does nothing but drown bait.

[CrappieJohn]

Thanks for helping to clarify the glow factor , Jeff. I don't deal with the stuff other than the simple glow colors which come up as green regardless.

Down my way, we do not have clear water. All waters around here are stained and even in the winter when things do clarify a bit, the color of the water becomes a pain. Anything with any kind of glow casts an aura, no matter how much glow pigment it has or how much it is thinned. Things are different in clear water and some of that can be found west of us sixty miles or so, but here in the deep se part of the state we are prone to too much runoff and the related particulate matter and the staining from decaying leaves and other vegetation.

Again, thanks for helping out.