The following is from Doug Olander's feature "Color Coded," which examines underwater images of various lure colors to give us a glimpse of how fish really see the world. To read the entire article, pick up the October 2007 issue of Sport Fishing...
No matter what conclusions one might draw from surprisingly revealing images of lure colors as seen from the perspective of a fish, it's always hard to argue with success. To try to get a handle on just what lure colors some top skippers have come to rely on to put anglers on game fish, I compiled responses from about 20. (I had hoped to include some Pacific nearshore game fish in this little survey but received too few responses from out West to justify any conclusions.)
One color stands out in popularity among inshore guides: chartreuse. Offshore, at least for tuna and wahoo, blue/white came in as the top choice, hands down.
In some instances, though rarely, skippers find lure color almost irrelevant: "It's the lure action that seems to make the difference for blue marlin," says top Bermuda captain Allen DeSilva (www.fishbermuda.com). "Blues seem to eat any color [if the action attracts them]."
For others, the conditions tend to dictate colors for most game fish, particularly inshore. "My general rule of thumb is the darker the water, the brighter the bait," says Capt. Gary Dubiel (www.specfever.com) of New Bern, North Carolina. "And the clearer the water, the more pale or more natural the bait."
Specifying his choice for topwater lures, Capt. Mark Bennett (www.tarponsnook.com) of Port Charlotte, Florida, says, "I generally go with a color that I can see — red/white, fluorescent orange/white, chartreuse/white, and so on."
For a few species, skippers' color choices were all over the map but for many, some trends could be discerned, as follows.
Redfish — Two colors stand out: gold (both in soft plastics but also as the old standby color of the widely effective weedless spoon) and chartreuse. For Capt. Dave Sutton (www.saltwater-flyfisherman.com) of Homestead, Florida, dark red with black/metallic flakes is the go-to color for south Florida reds. On the other hand, Capt. Jorge Valverde (www.lowplacesguideservice.com), who fishes the same general area, chooses white pearl most often.
Seatrout — Again, chartreuse has the most followers, mentioned as the main color (or along with another color) by about half of the skippers responding. Two others also stand out: white (or pearl) and root beer. For Capt. Greg Poland (www.gregpoland.com) of Islamorada, Florida, chartreuse is tops for both trout and reds. But Capt. Bill Miller (www.billmiller.com) of Tampa, Florida, says he's been relying on red/white and yellow lures for trout for many years: "I've tried all the exotic colors and combos and they work fine, but I still go to my old standbys." Bennett is a root-beer aficionado, rating it tops for reds as well as seatrout.
Bluefish — Light and bright seems hands down the way to go: whites, silvers and combinations of those colors, anything shiny. That said, some skippers such as Capt. Gary Cannell (www.tunahunter.com) of Rockport, Massachusetts, prefer hues that imitate mackerel or herring — for stripers as well as blues.
Cobia — Cobia hunters choose chartreuse lures or those that are all or partly white. Still a number of cobia skippers go the other way and pick lures black or partly black in color. Perhaps this simply reveals that hungry cobia show their true colors by being pretty indiscriminate: "Anything presented to our Gulf cobia seems to work," says Sutton. Roger that, says Bennett: "Whatever you have the most of. Cobia aren't too bright, which I appreciate in a fish."
Snook — Think light. About half the respondents cited pearl, white or chartreuse.
Yellowfin tuna — Several offshore skippers cite blue/white as their favorite color combo. About the same number prefer a black/purple pattern. Also ranking high were patterns with yellow or white and some darker color.
Dolphin (mahi) — Again, blue/white stood out as a clear favorite, though orange/yellow or green/yellow ranked highly. For Miami's Capt. Bouncer Smith (www.captbouncer.com), none of the above is top-rated: "An international orange lure will bring 'em all the way across a spread to attack." (He also suggests that when tossing to a school of dolphin, anglers stick to one color; then, as the fish begin losing interest, all switch to a different shade.)
Wahoo — The majority of skippers who fish wahoo country like black with a second color (most often purple). Lures that are all or partly blue come next on their preferred list.
