Topwater colors

[eskimo9]

I dont throw topwaters very often and I am looking forward to trying some this year. I just have a few questions as to what colors work at best at given times. What colors are better for night time vs day and clear vs stained water.

[bassNspear]

Welcome to Fishing Minnesota Eskimo.

All the muskie guys will have a ton of information here for you, so i hope you have a pen and notebook, cuase there going to bring the roof down.

Once again, welcome and glad your with us.

[50inchpig]

Just throw something that looks cool that you can stare at for 5 or 6 hours. I think with topwaters action trumps color by a wide margin.

I personally like spots and contrast but my best topwater is plain orange, all beat up, and a confidence bait day or night. Something bright might be a little easier for the fish, but I really don't think it matters much.

[Dano_the_jigasaurus]

It comes down to preference, I think a lot of people like black others orange, others combos......and so on. I am partial to dark colors: purples, black, greens, with a bright accent color.

I also am on the same page as 50inch as the action of the topwater is what is most important.

dan

[matthothand]

Anything you want as long as it's black and orange. Purple seems to be a sleeper color that nobody ever seems to speak of but has taken a number of fish. Then again white, green, yellow, pink, and blue can hold their own. I side with action along with vibration and water displacement being sometimes more relavent than color selection.

[10,000 Casts]

I don't think color matters when it comes to top waters. All my topwaters are black. They say that it creates a better profile in the water. Some say that they like bright colors so they can see it in rough water so they know when to speed it up.

Black Black and more Black.

[setterguy]

All of my biggest fish have come off of some variation of orange, whether it be orange/yellow, orange/black, orange/orange. Coincidence? Maybe, but I'll continue to throw the orange till the fish tell me otherwise.

[porterhouse]

Black and Orange are my favrites. Yellow and black are also a good combo.

Brian

[Rebel9921]

Myself, I tend to buy topwaters thats all black or has more than 50% black when its combined with other colors... Black seems to be the key color... 10,000 mentioned about better profile... better silhouette... when the fish is below and it looks up... black would definitely be very visible...

[eskimo9]

Rebel thats what I was thinking. thaks for all the info guys.

[b1gf1sh1]

yep.. all the above under the right conditions .

black or very dark colors on overcast day's or at night.

white or bright colors with a blue sky or mostly sunny sky.

contrasted colors during the wee hours of morning and evening (dawn + 1 hour,dusk - 1 hour). or there abouts.

find one you like and your set. easy cheesy.

[10,000 Casts]

blgf1sh1,

Why does, blue sky, overcast, and so on matter when all the fish sees is the belly of the bait?

What really matters is the action and the sound. I think that there is something into the profile deal so to me color doesn't matter no matter what the conditions are.

I also like what RK has posted in the past, saying that he just wants to see the bait, makes sense.

[MUSKY18]

I guess when it comes to topwater color I feel that color is more of a confidence thing for the person throwing the bait. As stated above, the action is key in my opinion. Take a Jackpot for example, it is made to imitate a wounded bait fish dying on the surface. A hawgwobbler is designed to mimick a struggling fish on the surface, giving an illusion of speed while moving slow. The key is that there is some sort of action imparted by the bait to attract the fish and get them to strike.

[b1gf1sh1]

 Quote:

blgf1sh1,

Why does, blue sky, overcast, and so on matter when all the fish sees is the belly of the bait?

you had to ask did'nt you. you can confirm this yourself if you don't mind getting wet. an overcast sky is white. a dark bait will have a more visible silouette from below, like in weeds or stucture in ambush position, thereby making it easier to get a bead on and not miss that bait(short strikes). on a blue sky day the sky is more dark from under the water which calls for a brighter bait to be seen and targeted by a fish. on a 50/50 split or side angles from the sun a contrasted bait is easier to see from both the sun side and the shade side of the bait. this is true with ''almost'' any bait. spinnerbaits, inlines, or other multiple part baits seem to go against the grain. also a light colored rock shelf on an overcast day viewed from the side would require what color bait? dark of course. sound is great but a fish won't close it's eyes(they can't) before it hit's. visibility is major in getting the hookup. a dark shelf of course you want brighter stuff. what about a sand bar? dark unless it's black sand. always the opposite of the surroundings. understand these are all things i've either observed on the water or had confirmed through reading or discussing with others. in no way is anything 100 percent. after all we aint fish.

[10,000 Casts]

To be honest, I think that you are way over thinking this. I just go to a spot that I know, or sometimes think holds muskies, and if the conditions feel right, I throw on a topwater, very rarely is that ever in sunny conditions (although we have had some unbelievable days when it was sunny and calm) they are just to far and few in between. How do we even know what colors muskies can see or even what shades? Sure there is a difference between a a hook up and a hot fish but an agressive fish will hit anything, it just has to be put in the right place at the right time.

[b1gf1sh1]

 Quote:

To be honest, I think that you are way over thinking this.

is that possible?

ok you can check this out without getting wet. i'm betting you have a white wall somewhere where you live. put something white or bright in front of it, then step back a few steps and look at it. now put something black or dark in that spot and look and see if you can see it easier. a fish see's the same as us, just not in the colors we see. unlike a fly that see's like a hundred angles and that. they see what you see against that same background. what i said above is if we can make it easier to see it's easier to hit. i'm no scientist, just a fisherman. now shine a bright light behind both those objects and see what you see. that's what they would see. if i was fishing a ten foot weedline in 15 feet of water within say, 100 feet of shore and there was a dark green weedline at the angle from where a fish is comming from (deeper water)a dark lure would be hard to make out with those weeds in the back round. tree's on land can be a background close to shore too. depending on where the fish is. which is why it's allways prudent to cover an area from every possible angle and direction. cast one way mabe a fish hears it but just can't find it before you get it to the boat. whitch is one reason why everybody who's anybody says figure 8 after evey cast. my fishing game improves everytime i ''over think'' my strategy's. like a wise man once said(cjac) ''if it aint broke don't fix it.'' if a fish swims north i want to know why. call me strange but i'll never change it.

[eyehead]

I asked this question to one of the best topwater makers out there and he said "color is the last thing to worry about......"

[b1gf1sh1]

 Quote:

asked this question to one of the best topwater makers out there and he said "color is the last thing to worry about......"

actually i myself am considered by some one of the best topwater makers out there too, and although i'm not getting rich doing it like some, i make a pretty darn good bait. also bucktails, small inlines, jerkbaits even a few cranks. i'm not trying to ''change the world'' here, just giving some tried and true knowledge. he may believe it, and that's fine, but me and plenty of others are opposite of that. it's just common sense to me if i look at those bait's and decide if it's easier to see against a light or dark background. i hate saying this because people think i'm being arrogant or other things, but i need to to make the point. my I.Q. is over 140, anytime i took an I.Q. test. average is 90-100. my memory is'nt quite photographic but it is exceptional. with that in mind, 10 years ago i caught a muskie on WBL, the temp that day was around seventy, the wind was out of the north, i was in about 20 FOW, i was using a rod i don't have but the reel is now for lead line.

i'll stop there, the point is if something happens i remember most of it if i'm interested. topwaters, in my experience get fewer misses and more hookups when they contrast the background. IMO. it's fine if others believe otherwise i just dissagree.

[DHanson]

Wow, interesting read. I would have been in the same boat as the rest as far as saying color does not matter on top water all that much. But after reading b1gf1sh's posts, I think he makes a good point. If muskies see the same as we do, the background does make a huge difference in seeing the bait and connecting with the lure instead of missing it. An I.Q. of 140 is ok.

[Esox_Magnum]

Boy I'm glad I don't have to worry about topwaters, I got plenty else to deal with LOL. BTW I don't own one, but this is interesting reading.

[10,000 Casts]

First of all, I do not in any way care about your IQ, I am not impressed. Second of all, I have never heard of you or any of your baits, anyone can come on a site and make statements.

I still don't buy into the fact that the color of topwater baits matter and if someone is basing thier color choices almost solely by how well a fish can see it, then I would that someone has alot to learn. I try to keep things simple on the water... I see too many people that over think thier strategy and in turn are pretty poor fisherman.

[Scott M]

Geez, June 7th just can't come quick enough! We're at each others throats! J/K.

I respect everyone's opinion but I am going to have to side with those of you who prefer a dark colored topwaters. If a fish is keying in on a vibration and using its lateral line, it's a mute point. But otherwise we can make the assumption that the fish is looking up at the bait and making out a profile. Its on top of the water afterall. Countershading at its finest.

I just don't see any situations where a light colored topwater is advantageous. Either there is light in the sky or there isn't, and if there isn't, that's when you need to use noise. A stormy overcast day might look dark to us, but to a musky, it's black on gray. Would white work? Sure. But black would do just as well and would be much more adaptable.

In another situation if a fish is hot on a bait and is on plane, they have already located the bait and aren't going to be looking for it. So they aren't trying to pick it up against a dark background in that situation either. I dunno, no one has ever accused me of being smart, so maybe I'm underthinking it.

[hanson]

Most (if not all) fish and/or bait that swim in our waters have light (white) bellies and dark sides and backs. Years of evolution and adaption have colored them this way as a protection mechanism.

When a fish is viewed from below, the idea is they'll blend in better to whats above and vice versa. The one fish (your bait) that doesn't fit this pattern is going to be the one selected out by predator fish as an easy meal.

Now there are a few variables one could factor into this equation- water clarity (clear vs stained), time of day (day or night), and the last would be clear skies vs overcast. I'm sure different combinations of these variables have an impact on what color a guy should throw.

One example that most know very well is full moon nights for fall walleye trollers on Mille Lacs equals bright, shiny baits. Conversely, new moon or cloud covered periods you are better off pulling a darker crankbait. Why using something dark when its dark out works doesn't make sense to me but it does.

My muskie knowledge is pretty slim but these are a few observations I've made with other species. Maybe there is a translation to the muskie world... I don't know?

[b1gf1sh1]

like i said i aint trying to change the world 10,000, lol. the rest aint worth a comment. everybody else... just relaying my observations. an overcast sky is white, white would be hard to see, kicking up bubbles and water. a blue sky(looked at it from below) is dark. ever go swimming and look at something on top of the water? if not please try it. mabe get a better picture of what i'm trying to say. it's not easy to see. lateral lines are an awsome thing for fish. but without eyes how often do you think they'd eat? if fish don't need eyes why have them? all i'm saying is if a fish can't see that bait it's more apt to miss it, so i make sure i contrast my bait to it's surroundings. does'nt take a whole lot of thinking to do it. guess i over explained it. anyway, everybody has their way to fish that they like. ask ten fishermen what their favorite lure is and you just might get ten different kinds red lures or the same lure in ten different colors. going to be a good year.

[ptkane]

Might just be coincidence but all muskies I've seen caught with a topwater in MN, the lure had a white belly --- in Ontario, the lure had an orange belly.