Color Test?

[NealCO]

I was reading a post about bait color on another site and it got me to thinking.

What if you took two equally skilled anglers and put them on the same body of water for a whole season. One could use a diverse selection of colors. The other would be limited to Black Silver (baitfish) for clear water and Firetiger for cloudy water. Who would win?

My guess is, all things being equal. The guy with the limited selection would still have a shot!
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[DonInDenver]

Ya know, Neal, I think you might be right as long as the lake had a primary forage base of bait fish. If the primary forage is crawdads, the guy with no brown, pumpkinseed, or dark green might be at a distinct divantage.

Frankly, I've never figured out color. I know I have some "confidence colors" and "go-to-colors" and they vary depending on which lake I'm fishing. For example, I've fished smallmouth a lot at both Flaming Gorge and Lake Powell. Although both are extremely clear lakes, the colors I have done well with for the larger smallmouth are completely different. Not sure why. Just one of those great mysteries of life.

I was fishing a little lake up by Ft. Collins with a friend yesterday for largemouth. For a while the only thing I could take a fish on was a chartreuse Senko. Then they went to brown/green flek, then back to chartreuse. This was over a 6-7 hr. period and all within a 300 yard stretch of shoreline. I couldn't figure it out (except the last round when they were on chartreuse was right at dark - so maybe it was more visible).

Geez, maybe I should rummage through my basement and dig out that old Color Selector by Dr. Oren Hill. Remember that? Another of my very valuable "must-have" fishing acquisitions! LOL
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[NealCO]

I guess I was thinking along the lines of crankbait color patterns, but you right, crawfish are important. I guess the guy stuck with just two colors could have one one rod with a three inch Power Craw just in case!
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