clemmy Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 Action vs. Color? Action. Not to say color is unimportant. Realism vs. basic? My belief is it depends on how/what you are fishing. I believe realism can be important, especially with slow moving baits in clear water, for example a suspending jerkbait for smallies. For faster moving baits, or turbid/muddy conditions, I believe contrast is the key. And yes...I believe many paint jobs are for the fisherman...especially if you've done any research into color vision of various species/underwater physics of light and color. However, before you completely discount ultra-realistic finishes as a waste, do some research on specific prey image theory...The basic permise is that predators become used to certain prey appearance, and so look for that. Novel images might spur attack from curiosity/anger/territorial reasons, but not initally due to feeding. That said, I personally do not photo finish. Clear as mud... Clemmy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat28 Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 I would be tempted to add that there is a religion among musky anglers that says that the best three colors are black black and ... . I will admit that when I want to test a new lure, I buy any "fancy" color and when it fails to catch anything, I paint it black with a simple can of black spray paint. No eyes, no gills, no &?%$$$$h0000le. Then I get to know whether the action is good, 'cause I'm sure the color is. Just like any other fisherman, I used to love filling my tackle boxes with hundreds of colors, but when one is in a transition between smaller plugs that sell for 2-10$ and the larger musky plugs that can go over 40$ very easily, one has to become more selective (not to mention that space limitations are also a factor for these big ones!). I met with Musky guide Marc Thorpe for the first time some 5-6 years ago, and he changed my perception of lures completely. To him, there were five main color patterns: perch, frog, chartreuse, white, and black. OK, a purely black lure is not "sexy" on a store layout, and it certainly won't sell as well as that new "chartreuse-orange-dot-grey-scales-pink-belly-popsicle-finish" that is right next to it, but I'll bet anything that more fish will be caught with the ugly black one. This being said, now that I paint my own lures, I will still appreciate painting fancy patterns just for the challenge and the satisfaction I can get in finishing a good-looking plug. But I will still test my lures' action in solid black... :-) Pat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
