So you brought your favorite translucent crankbait for a good game today? And suddenly, the sky becomes overwhelmed with clouds and darkens your surrounding and the water. There is less chance the fish will see your ghost lure through the dark water. Oh! You’ve brought a dark-colored lure as well?

That saves the day! Although the colors of lures are underrated by a lot of fishermen, believe it or not, it still plays a vital role in fishing. So let us see what the best color for fishing lures that are trending today is.

What is the best color for fishing lures?

Question: Dear King of the Catch crew. I am Jayden. I am 40, and I’m from Boston, MA. Fishing has always been a big part of me. Over the years, I’ve experimented with various lures and colors. I know colors do make a difference when it comes to fishing. But I just wanted to know what is the best color for fishing lures from an expert’s point of view. 

Answer: Hi Jayden, I understand your difficulty in picking the best color when it comes to fishing lures. With the availability of so many different colored fishing lures in the market, it is almost impossible to get the right color to fit your needs.

I’ve been fishing for almost a lifetime, and in this time, I’ve come to terms with different fishing lure colors that fit perfectly with different water and sky conditions.

Even so, colors can be a tricky thing to play with.

Colors play a big part in targeting the right fish in different water conditions. However, when it comes to picking the right colors, many beginner anglers become clueless. Just because the color of the lure looks nice and pretty doesn’t mean it always fits the conditions to catch fish. You need to be precise about your conditions before buying a fishing lure. Here are some tips I’d like to offer you.

First things first, when you are shopping for fishing lures, you want to keep the species you’re targeting in mind. Match the color to the prey of the fish you’re targeting. Likewise, match the color to the conditions of the sky and the water.

Most of the colors are ruled by the water condition in both saltwater and freshwater.

The best color for fishing lures in saltwater and freshwater

Saltwater

When you’re fishing in saltwater in the morning, your best colors would be black, blue, orange, and red. When the sun shines brightly overhead, it’s time to change your lure to chartreuse, green, or white. Switch to darker colors like orange and blue when the water gets murky.

Consider the depth you will be casting your lure because the deeper your lure goes, the blacker it will become. If you’re fishing in deep saltwater, choose a blue fishing lure as the color blue retains its color the longest in depths of water. I

f you have a mind to fish in saltwater any time soon, Rapala X-Rap Saltwater fishing lure will be your savior. Give it a try by buying it today!

Freshwater

Unlike saltwater, freshwater will require you to use dark colors both when the sun is blazing overhead or when the moon is above your head. As for when the water is stained or murky, you might want to consider chartreuse color as this color can come off as a bright lure underwater.

Got a freshwater fishing schedule ahead? With Sunlure Topwater Mini Crankbait, you can never go wrong. If you are after large predatory fish, this particular lure is a go-ahead product.

Now that we’ve seen what colors work best for the two water types, i.e., saltwater and freshwater, let me further divide these two into two water conditions – clear water and muddy water.

Clear Water

The term ‘match the hatch’ is quite cliché, but if you ask me, this term fits perfectly when it comes to fishing in clear water. After all, when the water is clear, fish will see your lure perfectly through the water. Natural colors are key here. So use a lure that matches your target’s prey in both pattern and color; that way, it will be easier to trick the target into biting it.

Even if you cannot find the perfect pattern or color, other excellent alternatives include translucent and bright colors. True, dark colors seem like a likely choice as they can project perfect contrast, but they can appear quite unnatural in clear water even to your target.

A great lure to fish with in clear water is Strike King crankbait. Don’t forget to give this incredible baby a try.

Dark Water

Contrast plays a big role in dark and muddy water. While it may sound opposite, you would be wise to use dark-colored fishing lures in dark water. Black, Junebug, and blue will be perfect colors while fishing in dark water as they deliver ideal contrast for visibility.

You can also change the color of your lures according to the water’s level of darkness. If the water is slightly muddy or stained, neutral colors such as orange, red, and blue will work wonders.

If you are fishing in an area where the water is quite tainted, aside from the above-mentioned colors, you can also use vibrant and fluorescent colors that can stand out in the stained environment. Fish might detect them sooner than other colored lures. Zoom Bait, also available in multiple colors, will be a great help if you are fishing in dark water.

Coming to the sky conditions, like water type and conditions, there are two different types of sky conditions that affect fishing – sunny days and cloudy days.

 Sunny Days

We are coming back to the match the hatch cliché again. As a general rule, your tackle box will be full of fair-colored fishing lures on a sunny day.

Keep the colors of your lures as natural as much as you can when you go out fishing on a clear day. Every bright color such as white, neon, chartreuse, and the like works great in this type of climate, but there is one particular color that tops the list: silver.

Natural colored lures will trick fish into thinking that it is forage and will typically lead to strikes. Kastmaster Spoon Fishing Lure will help you win a good game on clear, sunny days, provided your fishing skills aren’t sloppy.

Cloudy Days

When the day is gloomy and dark, you might think that only very bright colored lures will do the trick, but you’re wrong. Well, partially wrong. True, you can opt for a bright colored lure to enhance the visibility, but generally, dark colors work better to suit the water conditions on a cloudy day.

Dark-colored lures are used to accentuate the contrast in the dark water. Colors will eventually become non-existent in dark water on a cloudy day, so it is best to provide a solid silhouette instead of a discolored lure that looks unnatural and invisible.

The best dark-colored fishing lures on a cloudy day include black, gold, and blue, while bright colors can include bright chartreuse. Stick to the extremes without in-between. Strike King Redfish Spinnerbait is perfect when you are going out fishing on a cloudy day.

Color selection is also a major factor to consider in two major fishing situations – topwater fishing and night fishing.

Two major fishing situations

Topwater Fishing

During dawn and dusk, I like to fish with darker lures when I’m topwater fishing. The dark color delivers a great profile as the fish bites from under. But when the sun is up and the day is clear, I prefer light-colored lures as bright things catch the attention of fish.

Night Fishing

Most anglers prefer darker lures such as blue and black when they fish at night. The reason behind this is that darker lures provide more profile as it gets silhouetted against the brighter surface end. This makes it easier for fish such as bass to see at night, which eventually leads to them biting on it.