Over the last month I’ve been giving seminars at Cabela’s and fishing clubs and I’ve noticed a common question being asked: How do you pick which baits and colors to use? Here are some key points I consider when making these decisions.
Disclaimer: For those who fish the same fisheries week after week, year after year, I hope by now you have found locations and techniques that are productive. This post is presented to be more for people who may be planning a trip to somewhere they’ve never been or know very little about.
My suggestion is to do your homework! What I mean by this is ask yourself what is the main forage of that particular fishery? Those are the color schemes I key on. For example, if I am going to Oahe reservoir, it is smelt. Devil’s Lake is fresh water shrimp and perch. Mille Lacs Lake is perch and shiners. These are color patterns I key in on and they usually produce. It doesn’t matter if I am pulling crank baits, spinners, jigging or rigging. I like to use the colors that relate to the forage base of that fishery. I have lived and fished on Lake Mille Lacs the majority of my life and rarely will colors other than gold or silver shiners or the greens and oranges of perch be out-produced, unless I am mimicking crayfish on the rocks, using blacks, browns and reds. I have found this holds true to most fisheries across the country.
In the nineties, people laughed about pinks, purples, and blues being such different colors even though they were working on the Great Lakes. It wasn’t a fluke! Those were the colors of the bait fish the walleyes were feeding on and they continue to be the hottest colors on the Great Lakes today.
The only time forage colors are not such a factor is when I’m in really stained or dirty water. That’s when I like to use bright colors to allow the fish a better opportunity to see my lures and use a scent of the bait or plastics to trigger the bite.
So, as you plan your fishing adventures this summer, please keep my advice in mind so the time you spend on the water is quality time. Also, always remember: water temperatures really impact your bait selections. With cold water in the spring, slow and smaller baits are usually best and as the water warms up, the fish become much more aggressive. Aggressive fish allow you to use bigger bait presentations and move faster.
While I am still waiting for the ice to melt outside of my house, I wanted to give everyone a first hand account of Lake Mille Lacs during this time of the year. Please enjoy the video below!
