Mick Brown
Angling Services
Angling Services
Posted on November 15th 2011
| LURE FISHING Does colour matter? |
I'm frequently asked whether lure colour is important. In my opinion it is and this can easily be proven
by trial and error. Experience has shown me that there will be an optimum colour for any situation, and
when I go lure fishing my priority is to find it. Sometimes you can be lucky to find that predators will
attack anything that moves, regardless of colour,but this happens too infrequently to rely upon. This
week I am using the Rapala X-Rap Shad Shallow range of lures to demonstrate what I mean.
by trial and error. Experience has shown me that there will be an optimum colour for any situation, and
when I go lure fishing my priority is to find it. Sometimes you can be lucky to find that predators will
attack anything that moves, regardless of colour,but this happens too infrequently to rely upon. This
week I am using the Rapala X-Rap Shad Shallow range of lures to demonstrate what I mean.
| To read entries from previous weeks - click on articles link above. |
Archive of old and
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my work.
deleted web pages
of interest.None of
this is valid today
but might interest
anyone following
my work.
Rapala X-Rap Shad Shallow 8cm/14g. Dives to 2.1 m ( 7 ft)
The UK range consists of four colours,
carefully chosen from the 10 colours
available worldwide, to suit UK fishing
situations. There are 2 perch style
patterns, Firetiger and Nordic Perch.
The Firetiger is bold and bright while
the Nordic Perch is more subdued. The
Silver colour resembles a small roach
whilst the bright orange Hot Head is an
attractor colour looking nothing like
anything which swims in our waters. I
took all of them out for a day pike
fishing on a clear shallow gravel pit to
see which one proved to be the 'killer'
colour for the day.
carefully chosen from the 10 colours
available worldwide, to suit UK fishing
situations. There are 2 perch style
patterns, Firetiger and Nordic Perch.
The Firetiger is bold and bright while
the Nordic Perch is more subdued. The
Silver colour resembles a small roach
whilst the bright orange Hot Head is an
attractor colour looking nothing like
anything which swims in our waters. I
took all of them out for a day pike
fishing on a clear shallow gravel pit to
see which one proved to be the 'killer'
colour for the day.
I chose this lure because the water is generally shallow,
up to 8 feet deep, and there is a thick covering of
bottom weed. My plan was to work the lures just above
the weed, varying the speed of retrieve to do so and
keeping the rod high to work them where the weed
rises higher in the water. The X-Rap Shad Shallow sinks
very slowly and it is quite easy to make it look attractive
using up-strokes of the rod tip. Using the four colours
evenly through the session, one thing stood out like a
sore thumb. The Firetiger pattern was the one they
wanted, time and time again. The Nordic Perch also
scored quite well but the Silver and Hothead patterns
were largely ignored. When one finally took the Hot
Head, it swallowed it well into its jaws, typical of an
attack on an attractor colour.
up to 8 feet deep, and there is a thick covering of
bottom weed. My plan was to work the lures just above
the weed, varying the speed of retrieve to do so and
keeping the rod high to work them where the weed
rises higher in the water. The X-Rap Shad Shallow sinks
very slowly and it is quite easy to make it look attractive
using up-strokes of the rod tip. Using the four colours
evenly through the session, one thing stood out like a
sore thumb. The Firetiger pattern was the one they
wanted, time and time again. The Nordic Perch also
scored quite well but the Silver and Hothead patterns
were largely ignored. When one finally took the Hot
Head, it swallowed it well into its jaws, typical of an
attack on an attractor colour.
Knowing the water quite well, it was clear to me why the 'perch' style lures worked best as the
predominant prey fish in the lake are perch and the pike are primed to attack anything which it
recognises as food. On another water, it could be that the Silver pattern scores better or in waters of
poor clarity, the Hothead might come out as top colour. Experience will eventually tell you which
colour to try first but one thing is for sure - if you don't try a range of colours you will often miss out
on the action. Remember also that the pikes preference can often alter as light conditions change,
particularly at dawn and dusk as different colours appear differently with variation in the light falling
upon them.
predominant prey fish in the lake are perch and the pike are primed to attack anything which it
recognises as food. On another water, it could be that the Silver pattern scores better or in waters of
poor clarity, the Hothead might come out as top colour. Experience will eventually tell you which
colour to try first but one thing is for sure - if you don't try a range of colours you will often miss out
on the action. Remember also that the pikes preference can often alter as light conditions change,
particularly at dawn and dusk as different colours appear differently with variation in the light falling
upon them.
I have chosen the X-Rap Shad Shallow as an example but this thinking applies to all lure types. Further
benefits of the X-Rap are it's internal long-cast mechanism which gives more casting distance and
accuracy. They also have an internal rattle which can encourage strikes if you 'rip' the lure through the
water, something worth trying if you are not catching with normal retrieves. They are also 'suspending'
lures and will hover on a pause, allowing predators to take a closer look. Giving them a twitch a few
seconds later often induces a strike. Because they are critically balanced to suspend, variations in
trace weight can affect how fast they sink and for how long they suspend. Advanced lure anglers might
want to consider fine tuning their traces to get them perfectly matched to their lures. You can easily
alter the trace weight by adjusting the length of wire and using different sizes of swivels and clips.
benefits of the X-Rap are it's internal long-cast mechanism which gives more casting distance and
accuracy. They also have an internal rattle which can encourage strikes if you 'rip' the lure through the
water, something worth trying if you are not catching with normal retrieves. They are also 'suspending'
lures and will hover on a pause, allowing predators to take a closer look. Giving them a twitch a few
seconds later often induces a strike. Because they are critically balanced to suspend, variations in
trace weight can affect how fast they sink and for how long they suspend. Advanced lure anglers might
want to consider fine tuning their traces to get them perfectly matched to their lures. You can easily
alter the trace weight by adjusting the length of wire and using different sizes of swivels and clips.
