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Are You Choosing the WRONG Lure Colour? | How to Pick the Right One! — Transcript

by Butchers Bite · 3,525 words · 577 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:02[music]
0:08>> How many times have you found yourself
0:10walking into your local tackle store
0:12only to be overwhelmed by the amount of
0:14different soft plastic colors, sizes,
0:17and profiles? Well, if you answered yes,
0:20this sounds like you, keep watching
0:22because in this video we're going to
0:24tackle this problem and get the answers
0:26you need. What if I was to tell you
0:29you're treating your lures no
0:30differently to how you treat your
0:31fishing spots?
0:33You turn up, you've got your favorite
0:34lure color, you've got your favorite
0:36lure profile, you've got your favorite
0:38fishing spot. Only some days it's
0:40dynamite, other days you don't catch a
0:43thing. What if I was to tell you that
0:44lure choice is no different to spot
0:47choice?
0:48It all depends on the conditions of the
0:50day. So, what is our goal? Well, our
0:52goal is to give our lure enough
0:54visibility that it can be easily
0:56detected. However, we also need to do
0:59this without making it look unnatural in
1:01the conditions and environment it's
1:03being fished in.
1:05Now, why does this matter? Well, fish
1:07won't bite what they can't see or find.
1:09However, if it looks wrong or unnatural,
1:11they may not bite it either.
1:13Too little visibility and our lure can
1:15be hard to see and easy to miss. Too
1:18much visibility and our lure may look
1:20wrong, suspicious, or may look unnatural
1:22in the conditions and environment it's
1:24being fished in.
1:25So, the key is to find the balance, the
1:27right visibility, the right presentation
1:30for the right conditions. So, if I open
1:32my tackle box and I've got 20 different
1:35colors sitting in front of me, how do I
1:37actually narrow that down?
1:39Well, for me, there are three key
1:41factors I want to look at before I even
1:44worry about whether I'm throwing motor
1:46oil, bloodworm, chartreuse, black, or
1:48whatever else. And those three factors
1:51are
1:52water clarity, available light, and
1:54contrast. And the most important thing
1:56to know is that these three things
1:59aren't separate. We need to understand
2:02that they all work together.
2:04So, first up is water clarity. How clear
2:07is the water I'm actually fishing? Is it
2:09crystal clear? Is there a bit of a stain
2:11in it? Or is it proper dirty water where
2:14visibility is really limited? Because I
2:17need to think about this from the fish's
2:18point of view.
2:20In clear water, I don't necessarily need
2:23to make my lure more visible. It can
2:25already be seen. In fact, to go out of
2:28my way and enhance that lure's
2:29visibility any further may in fact make
2:32it more unnatural and be more
2:34disadvantageous for my fishing. So,
2:36that's where I'll generally start
2:38leaning towards natural, translucent,
2:40and more subtle colors. As the water
2:43gets more stained, I'm gradually losing
2:45some of that visibility. And that's
2:47where I might start adding something,
2:49maybe a stronger natural color, some
2:51gold flake, UV, or a bit more contrast.
2:55And once the water gets really dirty,
2:57now I've really got a completely
2:58different problem.
3:00I've got to help that lure stand out.
3:03But here's where people can get caught
3:04out. Water clarity is only half the
3:07story. Because I could fish that exact
3:10same clear water midday, then come back
3:13at dusk or dawn and have completely
3:15different light available underwater.
3:18And that's what brings me to factor
3:20number two, available light.
3:23I'm looking at the sun, cloud cover,
3:25time of day, and importantly, depth.
3:28Because just because it's a bright sunny
3:30day up here, doesn't mean that there's
3:32heaps of light where my lure is sitting
3:34down 10 to 15 m near the bottom. So, as
3:38available light decreases,
3:40colors can become harder to distinguish
3:42and contrast starts becoming more
3:44important.
3:46Which is what brings us to number three,
3:48visibility created through contrast. And
3:51this is probably the one thing that gets
3:53misunderstood the most. Contrast doesn't
3:56just mean bright. I can create contrast
3:59with a bright chartreuse or pink lure,
4:01but I can also create contrast with a
4:03black or a really dark plastic by
4:06creating a strong silhouette against the
4:08right background.
4:10So, these are two completely different
4:12approaches, although we achieve the same
4:15thing. We make sure that the lure is
4:17distinguishable from what's around it
4:19while still maintaining it looks
4:21natural.
4:22So, when I'm standing here looking at
4:24all these colors, I'm not asking,
4:26"What's my favorite color?" I'm asking,
4:28"What's the water doing? How much light
4:31have I got? And how much contrast do I
4:33actually need?"
4:35Get those three questions into your
4:37head, and suddenly those 20 colors in
4:39your tackle box become a hell of a lot
4:41easier to narrow down. So, I've got a
4:43really natural, fairly translucent
4:46plastic here, and we're going to put it
4:47through clear, stained, and the dirty
4:49water.
4:51And most importantly, I'm not changing
4:52the lure. The only thing we're changing
4:54is the water it's sitting in.
4:56Starting with the clear water, we can
4:58see how easily we can actually see this
5:00lure. You can easily make out the shape,
5:03the color, the transparency, and even
5:05some of the smaller details in the
5:07plastic.
5:08And this is why natural and translucent
5:10colors can be such a good starting point
5:12in clear water.
5:14We don't necessarily need to make the
5:15lure any more visible. It's already easy
5:18to detect. In fact, this is where
5:20subtlety can become an advantage. The
5:23fish potentially has a good look at our
5:25lure, so something that resembles a
5:27prawn or a bait fish without being
5:28overly conspicuous here makes a lot of
5:31sense as a starting point. Now, look
5:33what happens when I put that exact same
5:35plastic in the stained water.
5:38Nothing about the lure has changed, but
5:40its visual presence has.
5:42We start to lose some of that fine
5:44detail. The lure doesn't separate from
5:46its surroundings quite as easily and
5:49that translucent body isn't giving us
5:50the same visual presence that had in
5:53clear water.
5:54Now, does that mean that a natural lure
5:56suddenly won't catch fish? Absolutely
5:59not. However, this is where I might
6:01start thinking about giving that natural
6:02presentation a little bit of help.
6:05Maybe I go to a stronger natural color,
6:07maybe motor oil, maybe add some UV or
6:10maybe I use something like a metallic
6:12flake, particularly something like gold
6:14flake to give an intermittent flash as
6:17that plastic moves.
6:19I'm not necessarily jumping straight to
6:21fluorescent chartreuse. I'm just trying
6:23to replace some of that visibility that
6:26I've lost.
6:28Now, let's put that exact same lure into
6:30the dirty water. Have a look at the
6:32difference. At this point, our subtle
6:34natural presentation can become much
6:36harder distinguish at the same distance.
6:39And this is where the problem changes.
6:41In clear water, I was thinking about not
6:44making the lure unnecessarily unnatural.
6:47Here, I'm much more concerned about
6:48whether the fish can actually
6:50distinguish the lure in the first place.
6:52So, this is where I can start to
6:53consider stronger contrast.
6:56That could mean going brighter,
6:58chartreuse, white, pink or another
7:00conspicuous color or it could mean going
7:03the opposite direction and using a very
7:05dark lure to create a stronger
7:06silhouette. And that's something we're
7:08going to look at separately because
7:10bright doesn't automatically mean more
7:12visible in every situation.
7:15So, the biggest mistake most anglers
7:17make when conditions change or a lure is
7:20not working is going from one extreme to
7:23the next. The goal isn't minimum or
7:26maximum visibility. The goal is just
7:28enough visibility to get bit whilst
7:31maintaining a lure looks natural in its
7:33current conditions and environment.
7:36So, this looks like going from some
7:37translucent natural lure all the way to
7:40black or chartreuse.
7:43So, naturally, the next question is
7:45what do we do?
7:47What we need to introduce is the
7:49principle that I go off is to stop
7:51thinking about lure selection like
7:54volume that's either on or off.
7:57We still want to think about it like
7:59volume, but rather than being on or off,
8:01we want to think about it like a dial
8:03that we can incrementally adjust up and
8:05increase
8:07or do the opposite, incrementally
8:09decrease turning it down, which brings
8:12me to my next principle. And that is
8:15don't flick the switch, turn the dial.
8:18Think about volume in your car. If it's
8:19a little bit too quiet, you don't go
8:21from two straight to 10.
8:23You turn it up a couple of clicks until
8:25you find the happy medium.
8:27And I think lure color should work the
8:29exact same way.
8:31If I've got clear water and plenty of
8:33available light, I might start right
8:35down here with something natural,
8:37translucent, and subtle.
8:39The lure is already easy to see, so I
8:42don't necessarily need to do anything
8:44else.
8:45But now let's say conditions change.
8:47Maybe I've got a little more stain in
8:49the water. Maybe the clouds roll in.
8:51Maybe I'm fishing a bit deeper. I don't
8:53automatically jump from this, a natural
8:55lure, straight to this, something
8:57chartreuse. Instead, I can start turning
9:00the dial. I might keep a natural-looking
9:03plastic, but introduce some UV response
9:06or move into a stronger natural color,
9:09motor oil, olive, darker browns,
9:12something that's still relatively
9:13natural, but has more visual presence.
9:16Now, UV isn't the only thing in my tool
9:18kit. Let's now take a look at something
9:20else I can use, which is flake, starting
9:23with gold flake. This can give me a warm
9:25reflective flash when light hits it as
9:28the plastic moves. Silver flake can give
9:30me a more neutral or cooler-looking
9:32reflective flash, mimicking both
9:35mimicking the scales of a fish
9:38and black fleck. Now, this is a little
9:40bit different. Rather than producing
9:42metallic flash, those dark flecks can
9:45add internal contrast and definition to
9:47the plastic.
9:49And if visibility keeps deteriorating, I
9:51might start looking for a much stronger
9:53contrast.
9:55I can go dark and try to create a strong
9:58silhouette
10:00or I can go the other direction and use
10:01really bright, conspicuous colors.
10:04But here's the important bit. This isn't
10:07a strict progression where UV is always
10:09step two, gold is step three, and
10:12chartreuse is step 10.
10:14They're all different tools I can use to
10:16adjust how that lure presents under
10:18different conditions.
10:19That's why I want you thinking about a
10:21dial rather than rules. Start with the
10:24conditions with what the conditions are
10:26giving you, make the smallest adjustment
10:29that makes sense, then let the fish tell
10:31you whether you need to keep turning
10:33that dial or whether you've found the
10:34sweet spot. Because remember, our goal
10:37isn't to make the lure as visible as
10:39physically possible, it's to give it
10:41enough visibility to be easily detected
10:44without making it look unnecessarily
10:46unnatural.
10:47So, if you remember one thing from this
10:49section, don't flick the switch, turn
10:52the dial. So far, we've looked at water
10:55clarity, natural colors, UV, and some of
10:58the other smaller adjustments we can
11:00make with things like fleck.
11:02But water clarity is only half the
11:04story.
11:05And there's a simple way I want you to
11:07think about these first two factors.
11:09Water clarity tells us how easily light
11:12travels through the water.
11:14Available light tells us how much light
11:16have we actually got to work with in the
11:18first place.
11:20Because I can fish perfectly clear water
11:22at midday and then come back to the
11:24exact same spot at dusk. Same water
11:26clarity, however, it's a completely
11:29different visual environment.
11:31And when I talk about available light,
11:33it's not just sunny versus cloudy. We've
11:35got sun angle, cloud cover, shadows,
11:39time of day, and probably the one people
11:41forget about most, water depth. Because
11:44what matters isn't how bright it looks
11:46to us above the water, it's how much
11:49useful light is actually reaching our
11:51lure. So, that's my next question when I
11:53open the tackle box. How much light have
11:55I actually got to work with in the depth
11:58my lure is working? Plenty of light, I
12:01can probably stay subtle. Start taking
12:03that light away, and that's when I
12:05consider turning the dial. So, let's
12:07start with the easiest example, bright
12:09sun, clear water, and relatively shallow
12:12water. So, starting with clear water and
12:14bright sun, we've got good light
12:16penetration and plenty of available
12:18light reaching our lure.
12:20So, visibility generally isn't the
12:22problem. This is where I want to stay
12:25subtle.
12:26Something like this, clear, translucent,
12:29very natural. There's enough light
12:31around that I don't necessarily need the
12:34lure to stand out any more than this.
12:36But now let's start taking some of that
12:38light away. Maybe cloud moves in, the
12:40sun gets lower, we fish deeper, or the
12:43water becomes slightly less clear.
12:45Now I start turning that visibility dial
12:48up.
12:49I might stay completely natural, but
12:51move from that clear translucent plastic
12:54into a stronger natural color, something
12:56with a bit more body and contrast that's
12:58easier for the fish to pick out.
13:01And this is the important part. I
13:03haven't gone from one extreme to the
13:04other. I've simply made the lure a
13:06little easier to see.
13:08If conditions deteriorate further,
13:11that's when I can keep turning that
13:13dial. Maybe introducing a UV, a stronger
13:17natural tone, or some flake to add more
13:20visual presence.
13:21Because our goal never changes, enough
13:23visibility to be easily detected without
13:26making the lure unnecessarily unnatural.
13:28Clear and bright, dial it down. Less
13:31light or less clarity, gradually turn it
13:34up. Now, let's change one part of the
13:36equation. We've still got good available
13:38light, but this time the water is
13:40stained.
13:42Look what happens to the same
13:43translucent lure. In clear water, it was
13:46subtle and natural, but here it starts
13:48to disappear. We simply don't have
13:50enough penetration from the surrounding
13:52water.
13:53So, rather than jumping straight to a
13:55bright color, we incrementally turn that
13:57dial.
13:59Something like motor oil gives us a
14:01stronger, more defined natural color.
14:03We're still keeping the presentation
14:05believable, but we've made it easier to
14:07detect.
14:09And if we've got good available light,
14:10we can make another small adjustment.
14:13Now, we've added gold fleck. With light
14:15available, that fleck can reflect
14:18flashes of light as the lure moves,
14:20adding another visual cue without
14:22changing the natural presentation.
14:25And UV is another adjustment we can make
14:28where useful UV wavelengths are
14:31available.
14:32A UV reactive lure can create additional
14:35visual contrast. So, we've gone from
14:38translucent, stronger natural, and to
14:41flecks or UV.
14:43We haven't flipped the switch, we've
14:45gradually turned the dial to match the
14:47conditions. Now, we're going to make the
14:49conditions a little more difficult
14:50again. We've got stained or dirty water,
14:53but we've also reduced the amount of
14:55available light. So, we've basically got
14:58two things working against visibility at
15:00the same time.
15:02There's less light entering the water to
15:03begin with, and because the water is
15:05stained and dirty, that light isn't
15:07traveling through anywhere near as
15:09effectively as it what it would in clear
15:11conditions. So, if we put our original
15:14translucent lure back in, you can see
15:17how quickly it starts disappearing into
15:19the environment.
15:21That doesn't mean a translucent lure
15:22suddenly can't catch a fish. We're
15:25talking about stacking the odds in our
15:26favor, and in these conditions, I
15:28probably want to give the fish a little
15:30more help finding it.
15:32So, the first thing I can do is turn the
15:33dial up to a stronger natural color like
15:36motor oil.
15:37>> [snorts]
15:37>> We're still keeping that natural
15:38presentation, but we've added more body,
15:40opacity, and contrast, so the lure
15:42separates from the surrounding water a
15:45little better.
15:46From there, I can introduce gold,
15:48silver, or black flake. But, this is
15:51where understanding available light
15:52becomes important because flake doesn't
15:55create its own light. It reflects the
15:57light that's already there. This is
15:59where silver and gold may or may not
16:02work. So, if I've still got enough
16:04available light reaching the lure, those
16:06little flashes can help with detection,
16:08but as that light continues to
16:11disappear, the benefit of reflective
16:13flake can diminish as well.
16:16UV, however, gives us another
16:18adjustment. If useful UV wavelengths are
16:21still reaching the lure and the material
16:23is UV reactive, it can give us another
16:26visual cue without necessarily jumping
16:28straight into the fluorescent color.
16:31But, eventually, we can reach a point
16:32where just making our natural
16:34presentation stronger isn't enough. And
16:37that's where my thinking starts shifting
16:39from natural presentation towards
16:41contrast. I might go brighter and create
16:44something that's more conspicuous, or I
16:46can actually go to the opposite
16:48direction and use a darker lure to
16:50create a stronger silhouette.
16:53And that's an important distinction.
16:55More visibility doesn't always mean
16:57brighter. Achieving contrast can be done
17:00by two different separate pathways,
17:03both brightness and creating a
17:05silhouette.
17:06So, what I'm really trying to achieve is
17:08separation between the lure and its
17:10background. So, again, there's no magic
17:13point where we suddenly flick the switch
17:15from natural to bright. So, these are
17:17complete opposites, but I'm using them
17:19for the same reason, contrast. I'm not
17:22asking which color is better, I'm asking
17:25which one gives me better separation in
17:27the conditions I'm fishing. Now, there's
17:29one last condition we need to talk
17:31about, and that's at night. At night,
17:34we've removed most of our natural
17:36available light. So, the way we think
17:38about lure selection changes again.
17:41Silhouette, profile, action, and
17:43vibration all start becoming more
17:45important. And we've also got things
17:48like ambient light, glow, and UV to
17:50consider.
17:52There are actually a lot of different
17:53considerations at night, enough that I
17:55think it warrants its own video rather
17:57than trying to cram it all into this
17:59one.
18:00I've already got a full UV and glow
18:02lures video in the members section that
18:03goes hand in hand with what we've
18:05covered today.
18:07I'll also be doing a dedicated night
18:09lure selection video for members where
18:11we can go much deeper into it. But for
18:13now, the main takeaway is at night,
18:16don't just think color, think
18:17silhouette, profile, movement, and what
18:20light you've actually got to work with.
18:23Now, there's one last thing I want to
18:25quickly touch on before we put all of
18:27this together, and that's depth.
18:29Depth isn't really another rule, it's
18:32something that changes the amount and
18:34type of light available to our lure.
18:37The deeper we fish, generally, the less
18:39light reaches the lure. And different
18:42wavelengths of light are filtered out at
18:44different depths and rates.
18:46So, two identical casts in the same
18:49water clarity and the same conditions
18:51can actually present differently at two
18:53different depths.
18:55That's why when we're talking about
18:56available light, don't just look at the
18:58sky, ask yourself, "How much of that
19:01light is actually reaching in the depth
19:03I'm fishing?" So, now, let's bring it
19:06all together. Let's do a short recap
19:08because lure color doesn't need to be
19:10complicated. And hopefully, by the end
19:13of this video, things are starting to
19:15make a little bit more sense.
19:17So, first, we can look at water clarity.
19:20How easily can light travel through the
19:21water?
19:23Then, we're going to look at available
19:24light. How much light have we actually
19:26got to work with?
19:27We're also going to consider depth,
19:29because it's not just about how much
19:31light is above the water, it's about how
19:33much of that light is reaching the depth
19:35our lure is actually being fished in.
19:38And finally, we're going to think about
19:40contrast. How easily does that lure
19:43separate from its surroundings, whilst
19:45also looking as natural as possible?
19:48Once I work through those things, that's
19:50when I can start adjusting my lure.
19:53In good visibility, we know that we can
19:55start off subtle and natural. We also
19:57know that as visibility becomes more
19:59difficult, I can start turning that dial
20:02with our stronger natural UV flex, so on
20:04and so forth.
20:06But, the most important thing is
20:08there's no magic color. There's no exact
20:11point where you have to change. You're
20:12simply trying to give the fish enough
20:14visibility to find that lure without
20:17making it look unnatural.
20:20So, if there's one thing that you can
20:21take away from this video, it's that
20:23don't choose your lure color first, read
20:26those conditions, then turn the dial,
20:29and most importantly, remember that this
20:31is just a guideline. The longer you
20:33fish, you're going to learn this lesson
20:36over and over again that the fish there
20:39are no rules, and the fish know that the
20:41rules were made to be broken.
20:43So, anything can happen, but hopefully,
20:47at least come the end of this video,
20:49it's starting to make a lot more sense.
20:52Hope you guys enjoyed it. Let me know
20:54what you think in the comments. I'm
20:55looking forward to seeing you on the
20:56next one. And don't forget to check out
20:58our members section for the more
21:00in-depth videos that are going to go
21:02hand-in-hand with this one. Thanks,
21:04guys.
21:11>> [music]
21:13>> Woo!

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