Walleye's and Color

[Jay R]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has read the article by Doug Stange in the last In-Fisherman about walleyes, swimming lures and color. I thought this was a great article and really made me think about what I had in my tackel box regarding color and color patterns. The article discribed what walleyes can and can ot see in regards to color and color patterns. I thought the inability of walleyes to distinguish differences in color patterns was very interesting. I know for myself that the black/silver , black/gold with an orange bottom has been rock solid for me over the years. I am very excited to play with and give a true test to the perch patterns this year thru the ice. Any comments or opinions from the ice fishing guru's??

Jay

[Crossin' Eyes]

I'm not sure if Doug gets into it or not, but it has been proven time and time again that walleyes can only see the orange part of the color spectrum.
Both baits you mentioned have Orange bellies!
Otherwise, different color patterns just give off different silhouettes depending on water color and clarity.

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Good Fishin!
Crossin

[Jay R]

Crossin,

He does make very clear and right up front in the article that walleyes see reds and oranges the best and also gives a good physiological reason why this is true in reference to the anatomy of the eyes of the walleye versus bass or the sunfish family. The really interesting part to me was the way walleyes seem to interprut the silhouette or patteren. I think this is really worth noting and I know I am going to play with this during the season. Also waht he had to say about GLOW products was very interesting too.

Jay

[Jay R]

Guys and gals - any more comments on this topic. I am sure someone has an opinion.

Jay

[LuckyFish]

All I know is that most (not all) of my walleye jigs are either orange, green,chartreuse, or glow. Jay R what does he have to say about glow?
Lucky

[RK]

Hiya,
I thought the article was pretty fascinating. I fish swimming lures a lot (most of the time I spend jigging I'm using one frankly) and I would agree with him that most of the time I do far better on natural color patterns than with bright firetiger-type patterns, at least for walleyes. Gold/black jigging raps and, in the last couple years, the nat. perch Nils baits - either the Jigging shad or the slimmer model - have been excellent.

The flip side is I seem to do much better on spoons when they have a splash of brighter color, both in clear and in more stained water. The chartreuse/silver rocker minnow has been my standby jigging spoon for years, and the gold/orange one is good too. I suppose it's a matter of what attracts fish to a particular bait style. The swimming lures have the profile of natural forage, and the color pattern adds to the illusion of something real. The spoons rely more on flash and a non-specific suggestion of something edible. I guess a comparable analogy to open water presentations would be a crankbait and a spinnerbait. One's immitative, one's suggestive.

I agree on glow not being a big deal for me. I've never had great success with glow jigging lures, at least for walleyes (eelpout love the things...heh). The one glow jigging spoon I have had success on is an old glow rocker minnow. I took a magic marker to it and colored half of either side black, and then put black stripes on the rest so it's a barred glow. After reading Doug's article, I wonder if the contrast and dulling down the amount of glow has something to do with it being effective. For me at least, it has outfished a solid glow spoon. Glow jigheads with live bait are another matter though...

Cheers,
RK

[Jay R]

Hey thanks for the imput guys. Mr. Stange states in his article that the glow has never really been much of an asset from his exp.

RK - I have seen your posts before and actually are paths have crossed many years ago thru 4-H. Our fathers are on the Clay Cty Fairboard together and my last name is Rehder. We were in 4-H at the same time. If I remember right you and Paul A. from B'ville were good friends and went to camp fish together back many years ago. I see Paul off and on. Last year was the first time I put our permanent house out on Crystal. I usally fish out of my portable but my Dad and Grandpa like to be more of a resident on one spot. Thanks for the reply to my post, I thought this was a really well written article, have been a longtime subscriber to both In-fisherman and Walleye-Insider and thought this was one of the best articles I have read in sometime. I really like Mr. Stange's style of writing, no fluff just the straight story.

Jay R

[Guest]

I also enjoyed the article. He also added the info about how water clarity can determine the color you throw at the fish. As well as the type of forage/baitfish present in a given lake. Matching the hatch in that one. Color can make a difference from time to time and knowing which color to throw on can trigger more strikes on certain occations, but I don't dwell so heavy on fine details in color as I do on just presenting the main color or pattern. Its all about finding what fish want, and if you have to fine tune then you fine tune.

Good Fishin,
Matt

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[LuckyFish]

I dropped my In-Fisherman subscription some time ago for whatever reason. Guess I'll have to resubscribe.
Lucky

[pkevinb]

I have always tried using chartruse hooks when fishing for walleye. This spring while fishing with my nephew he was practicing his casting and a walleye came up and smacked a bare chartruse hook he had on. I'd like to find some trebles in that color.

[can it be luck?]

Dont forget that a treble by itself is illegal in MN. PS: Sorry, I see that you're from PA.

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http://groups.msn.com/canitbeluck

[This message has been edited by can it be luck? (edited 11-24-2003).]

[Jimmy]

I agree that the walleye sees Orange,Red and yelloy/chart.the best but there have been many instances where a blue or purple or black will outperform the brighter colors.

IMO,I believe it has alot to do with water clarity and weather (ie. sunny/clody).

Every color has it's place, it is just a matter of which one is going to produce the best given the conditions.

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Jimmy
Marcum

[Jay R]

Thanks for all the response. I totally agree witht he match the hatch theroy. I also believe that every color at one time or another will work better than other and I feel this really has to do with water clarity, and light penatration. What I thought was so interesting is the pattern of color and what walleyes see. From what I read and in my own experience the incredibly intricate color shemes we have on some baits are probably not all that benifical to walleye anglers. Bass guys I think it's a different story. Great article in my opinion.

Jay

[Jay R]

bump

[CPRBASS]

Hey JayR,
What is all of this bass guy stuff?

I have read a few articles about colors and vision for bass, but it still all comes down to finding a pattern and giving a solid presentation. I worry about the color last in most cases.
Thanks for bringing the article to everyone's attention, I will have to check it out.

[Guest]

I view walleye & color in positives.

Positives such as black, white, Orange, red, and blue are my basic walleye colors.

If I had to brake it down even further and chose only 2, it would be black and white.

The pattern as it is represented in the shape of the lure is more key in my view. What can the fish see the best from any direction in that water clarity.

Darker patterns in murky water and lighter patterns in clearer water. That is why I think perch patterns often shine, they have form and offer a more 3-D appearance.

Flashy chromatic finishes are another thing. They spike light and represent schooling or fleeing prey. I like flash with a positive color added. The Angel Eye is a great example of this combination. I think that is why it is such a big winner and growing in popularity.

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[RK]

Hiya,
Well fer cryin' out loud - Jay Rehder... Long time, and a small world. Your dad is Ross, right?

You put your house on Crystal? My family's had a place on Crystal since the late 60s-early 70s. We're right in the middle of the long point on the S side. Fish the lake a lot in the summer, and get out there in the winter some too. Let me know when you get the house out, and where it is. If I'm up there and I see it occupied I'll pop over and say howdy. I'll be up there some in December.

I agree 100% about Doug's writing. Known him for a long time from working at Camp Fish and gotten to know him better in the last few years as I've been writing more for In-Fish, and he's a straight shooter, and an awfully good fisherman. Plus I think he's one of the bettr writers in the business. Great story teller, and never seems to lose sight of the fact that this is supopsed to be fun...

Let me know when you're going to be stomping around on Crystal...

Cheers,
RK

[Jay R]

RK,

Good to hear from you and hope all is well it's been a longtime. Yeah my dad is Ross and he just retired from the Fairboard after 35 years and I have been named his replacment so that should be interesting.

I usally put our fishhouse on Crystal straight east of the access on 31 near the first group of houses you normally see. It's been a good spot. House is brown with a green roof, it's an old spear house we converted, not much of a house but serves the purpose. I normally fish out of my blue fish trap so if you see me say hello.

Thanks for the comments and I agree too I really enjoy Doug's articles and hope to meet him one day.

Jay