Swim bait color?

[Jhenson86]

Just wondering what color swim bait is ideal for Stockton. Have been fishing a single swim bait with no luck and also have thrown the A-rig more then I want to with no luck. Thinking I need a different color. Thanks 

[Ketchup]

Location will play as much a roll as bait selection. Remember the fish are moving out to their winter haunts, so if your current areas didn’t produce, try moving out to the next depth with the same baits. 
 

 

[MrGiggles]

I used shad colored Keitechs. Only thing I ever caught on them was big crappie though.

When it comes to active fish I don't think color means much of anything.

[Big Keene]

external factors influence color choices as much as anything. water clarity, clouds/sun, etc... i would at least keep one natural color and one unnatural(chart, black, pink,...) ready to go. if the graph shows fish should be there, then i wouldn't leave the area without throwing at least 2 or 3 different colors.

 

[Big Keene]

any sort of natural with green or purple in it seem to do well for me on Stockton.

Keitech Electric shad and Silver Flash Minnow are 2 of my favs

2-3" for crappie

3-5" for bass/walleye 

[tjm]

As a long time fly only fisher, I don't even know what makes a plug or lure into a swim bait, but the question of color is always bandied around and while I agree with @Ketchup that the key is location (and that applies year 'round); fish in a pond move around as the conditions of the pond change, they have comfort temperatures that they seek and they also follow prey that moves to comfort zones or change food sources with the seasons. So the first three considerations are always location, location and location; but one factor of location is depth and colors lose visibility at depth, with red fading first and blue being most  visible  at depth. 

So given a depth of 30' your greens, blues and violets will be more visible than your reds and yellows. If the water is discolored, light is low or the surface is disturbed by wind the depths are all reduced, so that in some under some conditions red for example might fade at 10' rather than 25'. Blue fades quickly in discolored though, so green is a better choice then.

The other aspect of the "does color matter" question is what fish can see color and do they see it the same way we do? Some fish do see color in good light and some don't; but if we assume that our target fish sees color just like we do, we can adjust the color according to light conditions and the depth we are fishing. At night (or any extreme low light condition) fish can't see color at all just as we can't, so...  Personally I think that contrast is more important than shading, so something grayish at or near the surface and increasing darkness as depth increases. It's also useful to have contrasting colors on the lure so that the fish has that contrast as well as the contrast with the water.

[fishinwrench]

On 12/4/2020 at 8:56 PM, tjm said:

.  Personally I think that contrast is more important than shading, so something grayish at or near the surface and increasing darkness as depth increases. It's also useful to have contrasting colors on the lure so that the fish has that contrast as well as the contrast with the water.

I don't think you can go wrong with that mindset.  

If given one color of swimbait/jerkbait/crankbait  I'll always choose something with a pearl belly and a dark gray, blue, or black back.