Soft Plastic Lure Color Guide Pt. 2
In part one of our soft plastic lure color guide we talked about the elements that determine what colors to use for that particular time and place, and we talked about the two big hitting colors, “green pumpkin” and “watermelon seed”. For part two we’re going to talk about the handful of colors that really do well in clearer water, colors that mimic shad, minnows, alewife, and herring; white/pearl, silver/chrome, smoke, and translucent. This group of colors are a must to have in your boat or tackle box and here’s why.
Starting off with plain jane white, this color is best on a cloudy or overcast day in clear to lightly stained water where the main forage is shad or white and silver bait fish like minnows, alewife, and herring. If it’s a windy day with choppy water that’s even more reason to throw white colored soft plastic lures. An all white soft plastic can also be effective when trying to trigger a reaction strike from bass, especially when they’re spawning and laid up on their beds in the spring.
Next up; silver or chrome. This color is similar to white in that it does well in clear or slightly stained water where the forage is shad or white and silver bait fish. Where it’s different is silver or chrome does better when the sun is out. A blue bird day with a nice breeze is your sign to throw that flashy color. You need the sun to maximize the potential of that chrome color because without it the lure won’t flash like it’s supposed to and will appear flat, not being all that appealing to the fish. Don’t be surprised if you’ve been slamming bass all morning on pearl colored lures and come around noon they stop biting. Try switching to silver and it’ll probably result in more strikes.
In closing we have smoke and translucent colors. Now, these colors are different with smoke being more of a gray, peppery color while translucent is an almost see through pearly color, but we can put them side by side because they’re both really good in super clear water. When you’re looking down in the water and you can see the bottom, or almost ten feet down, that’s super clear. Translucent colors do well here, especially when the sun's out, where smokey colors do better with less light penetration. Smoke or gray colored lures do well where white do as well, but smoke offers a more natural color with less contrast.
Whether you're targeting fish feeding on schools of baitfish offshore, or you’re fishing around areas where shad spawn, these colors will be needed to match the hatch on bodies of water where shad like bait fish are the main forage. In places like this your target fish will follow shad all year. Where there is an abundance of shad, there will be fish to catch. Make sure you’re able to match the hatch. As of right now the Banjo Minnow offers a color called, “Silver Ghost”, a smoke color with silver flakes and a pearl belly, and it does the job in situations just mentioned. They’re included in the Pro Kit, or you can purchase them separately, just like every other color we have.
This has been part two of our soft plastic lure color guide where we talked about colors that mimic shad and colors that do well in clear water. For our third and final part of the guide we’ll be going over colors that thrive in stained or dirty water and why they’re so important to have on deck. See you there.
