Fish see in a different way to us so who knows if they can see colour at the surface? I’d suggest the action is more important for a surface lure!

 

For the very most part I think you are totally right, yet it does seem to make a difference?
Weird.

 

I'm not sure to be honest, I like my topwaters to have natural ghost,ayu or white colours, but most of mine have a white belly, I think it's more to do with the action and confidence in a lure. I'm sure if I took a bright pink sammy out on the coast in july/august I could still catch on it, but I would rather stick to what I know

 

bright pink

Don't knock it until you have tried it......cracking night time colour as well.

Just as well I don't do meets....some of you would puke if you saw my lure box.......the airbrush is coming out later in the week and will be whizzing dayglow orange over a few lures to put them head to head with my dayglow pink ones.

I was well chuffed when I saw the bad boy knock offs are now available in revolting pink. Exact match of this colour scheme.

 

Thanks for your responses and please keep them coming. I can see the logic behind different colours for sinking/diving lures where bass can see these from side on or above and appreciate that lure action is probably more important than anything else. What I am finding it difficult to get my head around is what makes the different colours of the top of surface lures more or less effective in various situations when essentially you would think all the bass would see is the underneath of the lure.

Also wonder what situations are red/ orange belly surface lures most effective in as I can't think of any fish, at least in UK waters, with this type of colouring on its underside . Every fish I can think of tends to have a variation of darker top and paler underside. Even bottom dwellers like flatfish and rays are white underneath.

 

One theory for orange working at one mark I fish was that there’s an abundance of spider crabs so they associate this colour with food. Orange certainly works there!

 

the colour on the sides an backs makes loads of difference.

 

gunfish in action underwater video
Sides would appear very visible.

 

Color, profile and action..
in that order...
and i do feel natural colors will stand out above the rest.
i do believe in a touch of red ,.and feel it is part of the gunny's success.
The rattle helps..but that is another subject Imo.
As ..some rattles i feel, are too much .
Remember, it is a curios , aggressive and opportunistic creature,.
Blind it's not..Some will be had on colors one cant believe is possible,but i think if one was to tally it up ,
natural colors will outclass,.

 

Not sure if it's relevant but I use clear Drennan Piker floats for mullet fishing and they are irresistable to garfish and pollack. They keep on attacking the stationary float!
For this reason I do have confidence in clear or ghost lures.

 

I feel It’s all about the silhouette of the lure along with the water displaced, whether that’s from the splash or the wake left behind.

I never get hung up on surface lure colour.

 

Don't knock it until you have tried it......cracking night time colour as well.

Just as well I don't do meets....some of you would puke if you saw my lure box.......the airbrush is coming out later in the week and will be whizzing dayglow orange over a few lures to put them head to head with my dayglow pink ones.

I was well chuffed when I saw the bad boy knock offs are now available in revolting pink. Exact match of this colour scheme.

Those lures (not tried the pink though) were great for me the last few months of last year thanks to the thread you had up at the time, literally second cast first time out I caught a four pounder and it became a lure in my "very confident of" lure box due to dozens of more in the weeks after. I'm gonna buy up a few pinkies on Ali this week for next months start.

 

go with what my mentors taught me
mark and geeman
go with naturals
ghosts mullets ect
mine is the z.claw phelleps 86 and the large one both in mullet
then the big patch in bone white and the 500g

 

Those lures (not tried the pink though) were great for me the last few months of last year thanks to the thread you had up at the time, literally second cast first time out I caught a four pounder and it became a lure in my "very confident of" lure box due to dozens of more in the weeks after. I'm gonna buy up a few pinkies on Ali this week for next months start.

Glad they are doing the business for you. I have a lot of confidence in them having had the blank saved several times last year by the sub £2 cheapie. Most on home brown backed, second best being one I gold foiled on the top, chromed the sides and raspberry belly ......got several specials done over winter.

My mate is not long back from Thailand and after the pink one doing the business out there for him so well he is stocking up on them. Survived 'cuda attacks unscathed as well so tough as old boots.

If you an find a deep dished clothes button about 17-20mm across......two hole preferably...you can cut and file between the holes and slot it over the nose ring and glue it solid and you have a cracking mini badboy alternative. Pops,walks, wakes or just swims subsurface at even slower speeds. Absolute revelation. I did see someone selling bags of 10 clear unpainted lure bodies (£8) at the weekend but the listing seems to have disappeared, peed off about that as a couple of nice ghost colour version would have been handy. Fish catching topwater that can outrage just about anything all for less than £2 and a bit of handywork, what is not to like.

 

They're back, 10 now on order. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...5846131723952483ec21d&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

As they are going to be topwater or at least ultra shallow and that is the theme of the thread. First ones are going to be 500g and ghost brown back for natural schemes and clear orange and clear pink ones for the lurid attention getting side of things.

 

ive no idea how the bass thinks, or how its eye works, wavebands, refraction.
I do know colour is all important from breeding to warning to camoflage to threat in the natural world.
so to write colour off with lures is just crazy.
natural everytime.

 

I remember when i started out using top water lures for the first time years ago. i had absolutely no confidence in them.. but after many many hours spent using them and figuring out the Bass i find it's more about the time tides and the conditions that are vital to catching with them.

My Patchinko 100mm and 140mm don't have skins on them anymore from use, they look like crap but they catch better than ever now.