When you head to your local sporting good store to look for the best fishing lure you can find a key aspect is also picking which color.  There is always the option to go find a custom painted fishing lure, but as a general rule we still need to know which color(s) we are trying to mimic in order to maximize a lures effectiveness.  The two key things to keep in mind here are the clarity or color of the water and the conditions on the body of water itself.  To me it really leads to the same idea, being that what is the amount of feet that you can see a given bait into the water.  A windy day will stir up the water and lead to less clarity as will obviously the actual clarity of the water itself.  I tend to lean towards water clarity being the #1 aspect, but conditions in terms of wind, clouds and sun angle all play a role as well.

For clear lakes and days when the water isn't so churned up, the best idea is to mimic the color of the bait fish whenever possible.  Stay with generally darker colors.  Black is good in clear water as is brown color.  Both of these are natural colors that represent what is seen below the water.  I have had great luck with motor oil Berkley Power Worms over the years, as well as the Zoom Centipede in a pumpkin color.  For crankbaits I have written many times on here that I am firmly in love with the black/silver Rapala Shad Rap SR7.  All of the above are great lures to use in lakes with good water clarity.

On lakes with algae bloom (a dark green color) I have had the best luck with a colorful pattern.  The clown color of late has been good for me, but I have had great luck over the years on the firetiger pattern on crankbaits.  The firetiger color has been my best producer in these type of water conditions.  It literally outfishes black colors 3-1 in my experience.  However, when used on clear lakes it will get outfished badly by the standard colors mentioned above.

When picking a lure for your next cast, choosing the correct fishing color can make all the difference in the world.  What are your experience with fishing lure colors?

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The best search bait for bass is the crankbait.  It allows you to cover a vast amount of water.  One can work a long point in no time and move onto the next spot if no fish are present. 

The Rapala DT Series is a great example of a search crankbait

The key to using a crankbait as search bait is to have your GPS or buoy ready.  If you get a bit, mark that spot.  There was a reason that fish bite you there.  Chances are that more are in vicinity, if not on the same spot.  Cast all around after catching a fish and note any differences.  Maybe there is an underwater point, rocky hump, inside weedline, or so on.  All these items can give you a pattern that the bass are on.  Take what you learned from that first catch and use it to your advantage at the next spot.  Find another location that has the same structure.  You should be able to reproduce the same success in other locations.

 Two of my favorite crankbaits to use are the Rapala DT 16 and the Rebel Wee-R.  The Rapala DT Series allows me to cover a vast amount of deep water.  Pick this lure when your hitting weedlines or edge of weedlines in 10 to 12 feet.  Anything shallower and you will hang weeds up way to often.  The Rebel Wee-R crankbait is great for fishing over shallower water, in the 8 ft or less range.