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?

PR: wait... I: wait... L: wait... LD: wait...

The best baits for smallmouth are smaller crankbaits.  Makes sense, we are talking about “small mouths”.  My choice is the Rebel Wee-R.  Work them around wing dams on the river or rocky humps or points.  Crankbaits work best when use in a reaction scenario, which requires current.  On natural lakes, this means fishing the windy areas.  Wind will move water, creating turbulence and thus current.  Rivers have natural current due to water moving down stream.

When working a crankbait for smallmouth, cast out and reel straight in.  Smallies typically don’t like erratic retrieves.  This goes for zara spooks and Senko retrieves as well.  If you see the smallies chasing the bait, but not eating it, switch to a different color crankbait.