As I sit here at my desk I'm looking at a 7" Berkley Jerk Shad in nuclear chicken color, a very popular and productive lure in tis part of Australia for a whole range of offshore gamefish from snapper to amberjack and kingfish. What would possess a fish to swallow 7 inches of glow in the dark, irridescent green and pink plastic? It looks so unnatural!
This got me thinking once again about lure colors. Those of you who have read my article on lure color selection will know that I don't put as much emphasis on the importance of lure color as most people. That being said, there are definitely some circumstances where lure color does matter.
In my younger years when I spent days exploring the streams of Western Victoria for wily brown trout my fishing buddies would have told you that it didn't bother me what color fishing lure was tied on my line - as long as it was black. I made lures and painted them jet black. I bought lures and painted them black. Black was (and still is) and amazingly successful color, especially when used on trout on the blackest, darkest of nights. Are you getting the picture that I love black lures? The theory is that black gives the strongest silhouette, which is why it's so successful at night. Night fishing is one time when I firmly believe that color counts - it as to be black!
These days I'm more likely to be found offshore chasing larger pelagic fish. If the water is clear and I'm fishing near the surface I could use a range of colors, but when it comes to favourites I take the advice of a very good friend who is withoput a doubt the most prolific and proficient angler I've ever known. Marks picks: White lures with a red head and makeral patterns (light underside, dark blue/green on the top, black bars or spots on top).
Like I said, 90% of the time I believe lure color isn't that important, but those combinations are my pick for most of the times when it is.
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