Pan Fish Color and Condition System
written by: John McBride
I am one of those that keeps a log of
each fishing excursion, (weather, depth, hand drawn maps with
location, flies/ lure, color/action, stomach contents, etc...) so
for the last twenty five years I have gathered a lot of information.
According to my records, all of my biggest
fish were caught three days before or after, either a full moon, or
a new moon (Strange huh?).
With the start of a new millennium, I have
started comparing notes and finally gotten around to creating a pan
fish (Bluegill, Crappie, Pike Walleye and Perch.) color, and
conditions system.
These are just my rule of thumb observations, it
still varies somewhat because of the type of lake bottom, and if you
use some type of bait with the fly or lure.
Deep water
1. blue
2. green
3. purple |
Shallow water
1. red
2. yellow
3. orange |
Muddy water
1. black
2. chartreuse |
Clear water
1. red
2. green |
All natural colors
work best fished vertically, and slow. (Trolling, bottom bouncing,
and casting.) And it seems that all the gaudy colors work best
horizontally, and fast. (Jigging.)
Stable weather
1. orange
2. yellow |
Pre-cold front
1. chartreuse
2. green
3. naturals |
Cold front overhead
1. brown
2. black |
Post-cold front
1. olive
2. dark green
3. black |
These are the
colors that I always start with, to match the conditions. Try these
combinations and see if they work better for you.
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