Underwater Lure Color Experiment - Made Me Rethink My Color Choices
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- čas přidán 26. 06. 2021
- In this video, I decided to test some popular colors in stained water to see what really stands out when it comes to depth and distance. The results have really made me think about what color lure I tie on next time out. Links below.
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These are some of the lures I use all the time:
Damiki Jig Head: bit.ly/3wwfosr
Baby Z Too for Damiki Rig: bit.ly/2OsJc8c
Strike King Thunder Cricket Bladed Jig: bit.ly/39F2Bdq
Swim Jigs
KVD Swim Jig Green Pumpkin 3/8oz: bit.ly/2EgCnRT
KVD Swim Jig Sexy Shad 3/8oz: bit.ly/3aJrkMY
KVD Swim Jig Black Blue 1/4oz: bit.ly/2EgC9Kx
Crankbaits
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Soft Plastics
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KVD Half Shell: bit.ly/2Q9JsWW
KVD Perfect Plastics Rodent 4" Blue Bug: bit.ly/2EdmV9g
KVD Perfect Plastics Rodent 4" Green Pumpkin: bit.ly/2ErurgE
Rage Tail Menace Grub: bit.ly/2QldIhF
Topwaters
KVD Splash Popper: bit.ly/2GDJip7
Strike King Swinging Sugar Buzz Sexy Shad: bit.ly/34mR00K
KVD Toad Buzz: bit.ly/3j2meyq
KVD Sexy Dawg: bit.ly/2YCv3a8
Rod and Reels:
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KVD Cranking Rods: bassproshops.vzck.net/yR2g7V
KVD Spinning Rods: bit.ly/3sJA6CX
KVD Baitcaster: bit.ly/3cGNtyf
Lew's Mach Crush Baitcaster: amzn.to/2ZoYoTe
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We also need to consider that a bass has a different type of eyesight then we do,, they have been around for millions of years and have adapted and are very good predators so even though we probably can’t see a color from a certain distance that Doesn’t mean that a bass can’t see it from that distance or greater ,, we gotta be opened minded
i was thinking the same thing while watching, so the question is what would u throw? i m a new fisherman
You’re exactly right
@@itsKam928 Dirty water is black with blue flake or june bug for me 100% of the time.
How do you know? Did u ask a bass?😂
@@Letzgobrandun-wi1pc You can scientifically figure out what color perception an animal has based on the rods and cones found in their eyes. Bass only have red/green cones. Their perception of color is totally different than ours.
Clarity or visibility depends on two factors: algae (summer) and/or sand/mud (due to rainfall/river influx)
So does this apply to both situations?
These colors are americas favorite bass colors. In Europe we are more and more experimenting with ''your'' colors on our fresh water species: yellow perch, northern pike and zander (type of walleye). We tend to use more contrasting colors e.g. transparant, black etc. White is a very popular color for river fishing on zander when the water levels are high.
Another popular color scheme are the ''UV'' colors. Especially in Germany, these colors are immensly popular. When you shine an UV light on lures with that color, they lighten up. These should be also extremely visible for fish, altho they dont look that flashy: motoroil is the most commonly known one. Especially with low light situations, these seem to work great.
This German legend did an experiment with those colors: czcams.com/video/KzrhandKSPw/video.html&ab_channel=UliBeyersK%C3%B6derkunst
Don't mind the strange language but it is an interesting topic.
Thnx Steve!
It would have been nice to have used this in conjunction with blue filter from your other videos showing the way the fish see the colored. Thanks!
Awesome video. Today I was fishing a muddy pond, throwing a black and blue wacky rigged stick bait. Caught a couple and had a couple more bites. I lost the worm to a fish, so i nose hooked a white fluke and started catching bass like crazy. Even the crappie were eating it.
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing. I really changed the way I am going to approach things as well.
Vibration/rattle may be more important than color in muddy water.
Glad I found this channel. Great content...awesome underwater footage. Dont change your formula and keep it up!
Thanks! I will do my best. And I appreciate you taking the time to watch.
I would LOVE to see these images with the blue-color blind filter. 🤔
This really blew my mind a little bit. Thanks so much for taking the time to make this one. Definitely changes the way I will fish stained/dirty water.
You're welcome! It was very interesting to work on. Hopefully, many more experiments to come. Thank you for watching.
I’m so glad I came across this video. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
SUPER COOL test and you are very well spoken which makes your videos a pleasure to watch.
Thank you so much! It was really fun to do.
Thanks for the test. I will have to try more white!
That's what I thought too. I was a little surprised.
Fish swims right by!!!
Great test, Steve. Be safe and have a great day!
Thank you! It was fun to do. Have a wonderful afternoon.
I love your content & I've learned alot from it thank you...
You're welcome! Thank you so much for watching. I really appreciate it!
It’s a dull day when you don’t learn something. Very enlightening. 👍👍
Thanks! Have a wonderful evening.
I think the darker colors work well in stained water best if you are fishing them shallow. They show a better silhouette in the sun than lighter colors if the fish are looking from below. Fishing deeper I would go with the lighter colors as shown here.
Love your channel by the way.
Best videos on the web....thank you sir....the underwater video is solid proof....changed my way of thinking
It did me too!
Thanks, Steve. Very interesting.
Thanks! It was a lot of fun to work on.
Thanks for all the good info.
You’re welcome!
That is a fantastic experiment Steve! Your use of underwater cameras in analyzing clear and stained waters is producing amazing and like you said-unexpected results. I’ve generally always fished whites in clearer water, dark colors in dark waters. Your pioneering experiments in colors are changing the way I think. Can’t wait for the braided line experiments that determine if colored lines spook fish, and what braid colors best disappear in stained water. Thanks for all your efforts. This is great stuff!
Thanks! I’ve got some stuff in the works that should answer the line question. It will be a bit until it is ready, but the ball is rolling.
Thanks Steve.. terrific food for thought.. I hope you get a chance to do a part 2, and document what you see with the baits moving.. maybe also from different vantage points such as the comparisons from underneath the lures like a bass looking up at a target. This could possibly change the conversation from "match the hatch" to matching colors to water clarity. Many of us don't reach for white, or light color variations if we are fishing a body of water that has no Shad forage.
Fished a tournament yesterday.
Very clear water. Spring fed lake..
Used mostly natural colors , and couldn't catch a cold even though the bass were schooling throughout the day, and busting the surface, sometimes in a frenzy. Team that won eventually found bright blue, and blue/ white combinations to do the trick even though we saw no evidence of forage with that kind of shading..
Strange day.. frustrating for sure..
Thanks again for the insight.. your channel is far, and away the best out there
Those would all be excellent videos and experiments. Gets the mind thinking for sure. That is crazy with the tournament. Some days certain combinations that anglers do well with I never would have thought of. I guess that's why these bass win most of the time. Lol. Love it though.
Yeah man, definitely post your bite/catch results between the white and darker colors 👍
Wow I thought black and June bug would have been noticeable. That's what I use but after this video I may have to try white. From my perspective (above water) white wouldn't be my first or second choice. Maybe time to change colors. Videos like this is why I subscribed to your channel thanks. Peace out
Thanks so much for watching. I was really expecting different results too. I definitely will be using more white in my future days in stained water for sure.
This IS an eye opener.
Pretty cool! I’m new so this was helpful!
So glad it helped out! And thank you for watching.
Awesome video. I know this is an older video, but I'd like to see more colors with the same test. Bubble gums, oranges, etc.
That would be an excellent idea! Thank you!
Best CZcams channel!
Thank you!
Thanks a lot Steve
Thanks for watching!
This was really cool, I've been listening to everyone saying, throw darker colors in stained to dirty water! Hmmm I guess I try this out when I get back on the water. THANKS
It was really interesting to work on. I keep both rigged up now but white definitely gets a lot of bites and now I have a lot of confidence in it.
Great point
Well done!
Thanks! It was fun to do.
White and GP red flake have always bin my favorite and this is why
I would’ve like to see a red craw color as well. That being said I’ve heard, I think from Greg hackney, that bass can see twice as far as we can under water and that they also see colors differently than we do.
I was going to add red and I was completely out. Couldn't believe it. That is the one other color I would have really loved to see. Yes, it would be real interesting to see how much more distance they would see.
That sounds right, I fish a lake that gets muddy in the spring and white always works best
Thank you for sharing that! It was definitely an interesting experiment for me to work on.
Interesting findings. I’ll probably try to use more laminate colors with a pearl belly.
That is one of my favorites for sure. Great choice.
Great experiment.
Thanks! I really enjoyed working on that one.
Very informative.
Thank you! It was a lot of fun to work on.
Great video!
Thanks!
I had a weird thing happen recently…throwing my usual junebug and black/blue rage menace in the back of a creek in a pond….no bites. Changed to a green pumpkin in the same area and got fish after fish. I didn’t understand 😅 water was stained to almost muddy 🤷♂️😂
It's so crazy how they react sometimes. Very interesting indeed. Thank you for sharing!
I want to see a frame, mounted horizontally or vertically with various types of line, braid, mono, flouro, thicknesses etc, with a camera mounted at a fixed distance, being lowered into the depths to see what the line visibility is like at 3ft intervals. the other option will be to place the camera on the bottom on lower the frame to the camera, and then mount the frame vertically in 8ft of water and then moving closer with the camera.
I am working on building the frame. Hopefully, will be out in the next few weeks. Thanks!
I've always liked white for stained or muddy water- I use a lot of black and blue as well- expected it to show up better but, I like white for search baits. Once I know where the fish are, I'll go to black and blue a lot. Tbh I never really thought about why though- I just picked it up from my older brother. I saw he was doing something that worked so I did it. Now I think i see why. Thanks for the up load, great experiment.
Thank you for watching! I'm a big believer in that white lure now too.
Would love a follow up on the water test sometime soon to see if the bites are better with white
I definitely plan on it. Can't wait!
Thx
It’s like being out somewhere at night when their is snow on the ground the lesser light being night still makes it visible because of the light refraction off of the white snow makes sense good info and teaching confirmed what I suspected. Thanks
Thank you and thanks for watching!
Welcome y’all have a Happy and Safe Holiday Season.
Excellent video! I wonder how bass hair jigs with flashabou and gold and silver spoons would do?
That is a great question! I'll have to keep putting some different experiments together. Thank you for sharing this.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. Possibly a laminate with white belly. The experiment may have been different if the camera angle would have been pointing up for horizontal moving lures in respect to silhouette.
For sure. There are so many variables I need to keep experimenting with. So fun and interesting.
Bingo. White against the sky doesn't present nearly as visible a profile. It's actually blocking out of the light that creates profile no matter what kind of vision is being employed.
@@partner348 clear water low light white and Chartruese have preformed better for me when the fish are lookin up. I think they can see the color in low light. Once I tried it I won’t go back
I have found white to work very well
It was really a fun experiment to do!
Well, that is not really surprising if you know where colors come from.
Each color, apart from black and white, is created because it REFLECTS the very light wavelength we perceive as color, e.g. a blue color reflects blue wavelengths.
Black is a an exception because it reflects NO wavelengths (or it absorbs all wavelengths), and white is also an exception, because it reflects ALL wavelengths.
Based on that it is pretty clear why white is so visible in dark water - it basically reflects any light that hits it.
Will you please add the fish color blind video filter to this video? That would really be a great video!
That is an excellent idea. Thank you!
Someone brought up a good point one time; a bass' prey doesn't change color regardless of the amount of light. You may need to be a little more precise with your casting but natural colors seem to be a little more effective sometimes. That being said, I am still throwing a chartreuse spinnerbait in stained water!
I just about added a whole section to this video about that, but it was going to add a lot of length to it. I still need to do it though. Thank you so much for adding this for everyone!
I'd like to see some of these comparisons in gin clear water or water with slight tint. Thanks for the amazing content!
I will have to try and get that done soon. I am actually putting together a video right now with colors and what a bass's dichromatic vision actually looks like against those colors. I hope that makes sense. Lol. Some pretty interesting results. It should be dropped for viewing on Thursday.
Near my home we have two ponds the water is about the clarity you did the experiment in on a good day and I can tell you I have caught most of the bass and crappie on a white shad swimbait with a spinner.
It’s amazing what a difference there was. I have a lot of confidence now when fishing water with color I will have both white and black always at the ready. I like to use the black now when fishing up in the water column on bright days to help with that backlit silhouette and white the rest of the time. Complete opposite of what I grew up doing in stained and dirty water.
Thanks for all your effort and hard work Steve great lessons. God Bless you and your family.
I don't have a preferred color in lakes yet, but tequila sunrise worked in ponds and dad's blue flake powerbait worm. I fished a friends pond where green pumpkin was the only color that worked.
That tequila sunrise is a really nice color. Thanks so much for adding all this for everyone!
Great video. Would you be interested in running the experiment again but with spinner blades? I’d love to see chrome vs gold vs hammered vs white vs pink. I can build a rig for you that spins the blades at a normal speed.
I think that would be a great experiment! I definitely would be interested.
Great. I sent you an email.
We also need to keep in mind that bass see colors differently then we do,, for example the color chartreuse the bass see as a shade of white,,
Absolutely. Thanks for sharing!
Remember bass can see even better then that camera in dirtier water. But a very good observation. I like white chartreuse in anything
The thought that most prey species are going to want to "disappear " @ a "safe" distance has to be kept in mind!
I fished Eufaula Oklahoma this weekend. Water was as muddy and RED (if you fish Oklahoma, you know what I'm talking about). I watched my lures disappear completely at 2" of depth. Hands down, the best fishing was a loud bait on the surface when the morning bite was on close to shore. Caught about a dozen using a black whopper plopper. They were smashing it. But Im sure the sound was the attractor, and if not for the black profile as they approached from underneath, they'd have missed the bait every time. I had plenty of reaction strikes where they missed the bait entirely.
The other comment is that fish have different color perceptions, just like many animals, that process color differently. Like (I believe) bass see the color red better than others. So you gotta take that into account.
I will say i did catch 1 bass back in a cive where the water was marginally better, and that was on a chartruese/white spinner with a big colorado blade thumping the water column.
Very true. That lateral line is so important and definitely we can't replicate their eye sight. Lots of our lakes got mudded this weekend, not as bad as that though. Thank you for sharing for our viewers!
Well damn I didn't know thanks !!!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching.
Cool observation. Im curious how this same test will differ, if any , what these colors look like from a bottom view looking up?
That is a great question. I should rig them up on a horizontal platform and do that. Thank you!
Contrast is the name of the game. The thing to try to determine is, are the fish feeding up or down? Dark colors will contrast/be more visible against all but the darkest skies, and light colors against most bottoms. One exclusion that comes to mind is sand. But even so, all bets are off in clear water where one color can be seen about as well as another and natural colors will usually win the day. I have caught more crappie in the tannin-stained water where I live on the opaque -- as opposed to solid -- chartreuse color which is as you know neon bright above the water, but as you may not be aware, is just short of invisible at any depth. I can only surmise that a color can be TOO visible.
So....full circle. All those calculations later, my #1 fishing partner throws whatever was tied to his line when the previous season ended and catches as many or more than I do.
Lol. I have a fishing buddy that is the same. Makes me rethink all my rethinking.
I've caught most of my weightless-Senko bass on white, I've just started using GP-297, was using black.
It can really be seen a long way off with that nice fall. Great presentation!
@@SteveRogersOutdoors They've picked motionless white off the bottom, I got distracted, pick up rod, fish on!
Please do a follow up difference on your experiences. I tried fishing a white craw and a black craw solely for a comparison. But don't didnt get a bite on either that day lol. My luck
I definitely will! Thanks for watching.
You should try a test of spinner bait blades/color combos in Muddy water
That would be a good one! I will definitely try and add that to my list to get done.
I just saw this a year after you posted it. I also wonder if looking up at a bait (top waters or lures fished high in the column) changes visibility as opposed to looking sideways as you did here.
When I know I'm going to be in the top part, like with a frog, I will use solid black a lot because of the more defined silhouette from backlighting. Especially on sunny days. I would like to make a follow-up to this one. Maybe I will get it done this spring. Thank you for adding this!
A caught 5 largmouth bass yesterday all on a White wacky rigged senko. Dirty pond
Awesome! Thank you for sharing this.
@@SteveRogersOutdoors fish on brother
Just saw this video as the weather is warming and prespawn here in Indiana is sure to begin. Now I'm thinking that I need to set aside my black/blue and junebug colors and grab some whites since all the water I fish is stained/dirty. Was there ever any follow-up video or real life experimenting for this information? Thanks for posting!
I didn't get another one done, but when I have been fishing water with more stain to it I have been using both black and white. When I am fishing up in the water column I have been using the black if I think the fish are looking up into the sun since the profile is going to be black with a backlighting situation. When there is no sun and just dirtier water I have been using straight white and my confidence has definitely gone up and the results have been good. Thank you for watching!
@@SteveRogersOutdoors This kina puts us right back where we started. Once again, the age old, "It depends" is unescapable.
When overhead I think the blues and black silhouette better. But can't say 100%. Just thiught I would throw that out there.
I definitely think so. I really like the black for that very reason.
Okay I just found this video and it’s been 2 years since you posted it. Now how about an update on the experimenting you said you were going to do with lure colors while actually fishing! I used to do a little scuba diving and knew about the colors. But I know nothing about how fish see colors, especially in different water clarities. Thanks!
Here is one I just a couple of months ago that uses high contrast colors like the chartreuse and white talked about in this video: czcams.com/video/nT9ro3Qp6pc/video.htmlsi=k5hDWzTx8qA4eOi8
The bass were definitely preferring the bright colors this particular day. Thanks!
@@SteveRogersOutdoors thanks! I’ll check it out! Tight lines!
I'm wondering what would they look like of you were looking up at them and they were backlit by the surface lighting?
Great question! I’ve actually done some experimenting with that and it is a black silhouette like you would expect. In those situations a solid profile lure is a great choice.
That's not muddy water. That's mildly stained. Black looks different in true muddy water.
I will definitely work on getting that one put together. Thank you for sharing.
For the real world test how about rigging the white and the dark color on basically a two arm umbrella style rig?
That would be a very good test. Thank you for sharing that! I will have to work on that.
Was it Bill Dance or Roland Martin that said, "I'll throw any color as long as it's white?"
I don’t remember for sure, but if I was limited to one color only that would be it. Boy, I sure miss waking up early as a kid and watching those tv shows from those two. And Hank Parker!
I think they see turquoise better than any other color. Only color I use in in dirty water. And I mean dirty. Like sexy dirty
YEA!!!!! I want you to put the worms horizontal and aim the camera up from under the worm. ps Please keep you videos under 8 min. .
When it is backlit by the sun they get that dark silhouette to them. Thanks for watching!
Next time add junebug or blue Fleck to the mix.
Junebug is a great one for sure!
Now that it has been a year since posting the video I'm curious if you had good success with white in colored water.
I have! I still will have both tied on, but the white does really well for me. It could be something as little as I have a lot of confidence in it after doing this so I fish it with confidence.
Maybe that's why bubble gum works so well in dirty water.
Definitely could be!
Awesome experiment! Very interesting from a human perspective, however we must remember that a bass can receive five times more light than the human eye so I would imagine they can see all these lures better than us.
I would agree. It would be interesting to see at what distance they start to lose clarity.
@@SteveRogersOutdoors is there anyway we (you) could figure out how to multiply the light x5 and do this again. Super curious now lol
PS I love your content, quick and to the point and very educational
@@oneonangling that is an interesting question. I'd have to think about how to approach it. If I cranked the exposure by 5 that would probably just blow out the image brightness but not help with distance. I will have to try and figure that one out. It would be very interesting to put together.
Bass do not have the same cones in their eyes (responsible for color vision) as humans. If you wanted this test to be truly accurate you'd put a colorblindness filter over it and see what they see.
I don't understand something. Steve's videos are very useful but he gets "only" 619 likes (this video) and 12,5k subscribers (his channel). I wrote "only" because other channels (that sometimes just try to sell us stuff) get many more viewers.
Hopefully, the channel grows a lot this year. The last couple of months have been very good. I really appreciate you watching and commenting! Thank you.
This is interesting. Contrary to popular belief. However this test is highly flawed due to the basses eye being designed completely different than ours. Only way to justify this would be a field test
Most definitely. Field testing is always the best. Most fun too! Thanks for watching!
Just To Add One Thing If I may Bass Also i Believe i Read They Can See Like 7 Times Or More Then a Human
That is definitely a factor. I think that has to do with distance underwater, but I could be wrong. For sure their world! Thanks so much for adding this.
Take a partner, use both colors and cast at the same spot.
Would be a great experiment!
how about a night time video with moonlight and one without.
I have never done a nighttime video. I need to! That would be a fascinating test.
This IS an eye opener.
It was super fun to work on!