# How do you find out what color they are hitting that day?



## ManFish (Oct 2, 2007)

How do you narrow down what color the big guys are after. Say you have a 7 line spread. Do you use 6 lines all the same color and 1 line different? Or do you just put out all different colors and see what they hit the most. Then change your spread to that color. I know fish school with each other. Not all different kinds in one school. I know you are trying to imitate a school of fish that they are after that day. Color could be the difference of raising or not raising. How do you find out? Or is it luck?


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## gator7_5 (Oct 4, 2007)

since most of the fish will strike from below (Its been documented that some blueswill travel behind a bait for over a half an hour), I tend to use bright colors in the morning and evening and when it is cloudy. When the sun is up, go dark, its easy to see a Black and Purple schneider against the bright sky. However, There are certain colors I pull all the time. A blue/white, green/black, and dolphin colored lure are pretty much always in my spread.


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## Wharf Rat (Sep 27, 2007)

> *gator7_5 (4/30/2008)*since most of the fish will strike from below (*Its been documented that some blues will travel behind a bait for over a half an hour*), I tend to use bright colors in the morning and evening and when it is cloudy. When the sun is up, go dark, its easy to see a Black and Purple schneider against the bright sky. However, There are certain colors I pull all the time. A blue/white, green/black, and dolphin colored lure are pretty much always in my spread.




why is that? I mean, somehow, I just don't see fish being that weary of every meal that it eats?


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## SUNDAY-FUNDAY (Apr 17, 2008)

bro that question is opening up a monster can of worms!!! in my opinion color is not nearly as important as plug selection and proper placement in your spread coupled with the correct speed. certain spots on your boat are going to get hit 3 or 4 times more often than others. kind of a SWEET SPOT. for instance, on our boat the left long corner for some reason catches 60% of our fish: regargless of color and/or bait style. different boats just throw diff wakes. run 2 or three flat nose in various colors and try some bullet style heads as well until you key in on what they want. we always run a naked horse on the shotgun for those finiky fish that wont enter the spread. the real key is having them riding the front edge of your wake perfectly and getting that sexy smoke trail; and finding the speed they want that particular day. i honestly dont think a fish can discern whether your $125 black bart has sparkles on the bottom when its being ripped along at 8 knots. check out the post someone put on here from marlin mag that tread barta wrote about bangin up lures.........

good luck 

and tight lines


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## BLKFLYZ (Sep 30, 2007)

When billfishing I think presentation of the bait counts more than color. The same lure will run different in different locations in the spread. Therfore the presentation changes when you move it around the spread.We have ran lures on the long rigger and its gets hammered all day long. Putthat same lure in the mid and it wont get touched. I would say get a spread that runs and looks good moldcrafts, islanders, black barts..etc.. if nothing produces after awhile then start changing colors but keep that same style lure in that location.Make sense?


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## BLKFLYZ (Sep 30, 2007)

Uhhhh what Sunday says..........:doh


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## ManFish (Oct 2, 2007)

thanks fellas. WE have all those lures in different colors. I guess what its boils down to is practice and putting our time on the water.


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## SUNDAY-FUNDAY (Apr 17, 2008)

time, luck, and deep pockets for fuel. not necessarily in that order! hahaha


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## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

> *SUNDAY-FUNDAY (4/30/2008)* check out the post someone put on here from marlin mag that tread barta wrote about bangin up lures.........


That would be my commentary on Tred's theory. Here is the link

http://fishthebridge.com/fishingforum/Topic74970-26-1.aspx?Update=1


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## Xanadu (Oct 1, 2007)

I'm going to try to give a short answer to a very complex question.



First, Tred Barta is an idiot and a psycho crazy jackass.



Now that we've gotten that out of the way, Woody's right that the chewed Bonita works better than a new one for wahoo. I don't know why, but it does.



As for color, I'm assuming you're talking about billfish and their eyes are different than ours. The color you see is not what they see and they see things in lures that we cannot. Black Bart, Peter Pakula, Erik Rusnak and probably others are mixing "secret" ingredients into skirts and heads that supposedly appeal to billfish eyes. They've described it as similar to how humans see neon, but who really knows. There are many theories of color and they're probably all right to some degree. Dark lures on bright days provide a better silhouette, but from underneath looking up into the sun, all you can see is black so who cares what color? On dark days, bright lures might be a good idea or it could just be that if you drag a lure in front of a hungry or pissed off fish, it will eat it.



Personally, I think its more action and presentation than color. That said, you always want to match the colors to the prevailing bait in the area. Around here, we have lots of flyers, so blue and white are good. Pink works great and can look like squid, bonita or flyers.



One more thing in response to some saying that each boat has a soft spot that gets hit more. I disagree. Yes, all boats have different wakes, but you should get equal hits in each spot. If you're not, you need to change out the loser baits for better ones so they get hit more. If not, then why not just drag the one that's getting all the bites?


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## Heller High Water (Nov 1, 2007)

I agree with Xandu. The presentation is first priority. Some times seas depict how fast you want to troll depending the baits presentation in the line up. Not all rigs will pull the same, it may not be the color that is not working but rather that lures presentation in the water. BUT, color plays a big role, color can also very depending on the depth being pulled. If we troll something deeper we will usually go with something a little more shinny, to reflect what light makes it to that depth. The colors noted in the above post are great starting place.


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## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

> *Xanadu (5/1/2008)*
> Pink works great and can look like squid, bonita or flyers.


To second the pink theory, look at a yellowfin as soon as it comes out of the water-especially a juvenile. It has a whole mess of reflective pink on its underside towards the tail.


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## ManFish (Oct 2, 2007)

I really appreciate the info fellas.


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## fmitchell (Oct 19, 2007)

Xanado - Ted Barta deserves better than that. Come on - he is the only show on TV that comes up with about a 70 / 30 kill/catch ratio amd yet peaks your ( and mine) interest. Like is not about a 100% right / wrong struggle. Live and let live dude! Ted Rocks. And yea - he don't know squat about no gulf!


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