What color lure should you be using?

When choosing lure colors there are a few main variables that need to be taken into account.

These variables include:

- Water Color/Clarity

-Weather Conditions

-Depth Fished

As a general rule of thumb, I like to match my colors to the weather and water. For example in clean blue water with clear skies, I opt for a lighter color spread such as Blue/White, Pink, Pink/White and White.

Early in the morning and late in the evening, or under overcast and rainy conditions when there is less light in the water switching over to some darker colors typically pays off. Red/Black, Purple/Black, and Blue/Black can be good choices.

When the water has a greenish tint to it, I've found pulling some lures with chartreuse in them does fairly well. Especially with some flash to catch the light.

When the water gets chalky and dirty the thing that makes the most difference for me is making sure I have something with flash. The more the better. In low visibility the more flash a lure has the more it stands out in the water, therefore the easier it is for fish to find.

Another thing to remember about color is how color is absorbed into the water as depth increases. Below are the approximate depths colors are absorbed.

When trolling on the surface, these numbers don't mean much but when you're fishing a planer its worth taking note of this. A pink lure fished 60 feet down doesn't look like the pink lure you looked at in the boat. If you have done any diving this can be observed when diving around red snapper. They look grey or almost white when down on the bottom then as you swim up with them they slowly regain color.

Of course this is fishing, and as most fisherman know, fish don't always go by the rules we think they should. Ive found it best to fish your favorite ''go to'' color at first but if that doesn't work, throw a couple different colors out there and see what produces. Sometimes a quick color change makes all the difference.