Soft Plastic Lure Colors: Top Three Picks

When it comes to soft plastics, there are about a million and one colors and color patterns to choose from. Of course, it’s no secret that many are made more to catch your eye at the tackle shop than they are to catch the fish. So, how are you supposed to cull through the choices and know what to stow in your tacklebox? The bottom line is that there’s just no telling what the fish will want on any given day. The hot bait could be white today, and starburst-rasta-purplicious-WTH tomorrow. That said, if you keep these three top picks close at hand, 90-percent of the time you’ll be able to offer the fish something they’ll eat.

1. WHITE – For all-around use, white is the number-one top pick. It will work in virtually all conditions on virtually all species, commonly does a good job at matching the hatch, and proves effective in most light levels. If I opened up my tacklebox right now you’d see plenty of options, but you’d also notice that I carry twice as many whites as any other single color – and they get resupplied a heck of a lot more often than any of the others in the selection.
2. PURPLE – In very turbid and/or off-color water, or in very low-light conditions (including at night) dark colors shine. And in my experience, the one that shines the brightest is often a deep purple with glitter in the plastic. Purples sometimes do just fine in clear water and broad daylight, too, but are mostly reserved for those other conditions. It’s no coincidence that turbid water and very low light are times when white drops in effectiveness; this is the top alternative.
3. ELECTRIC CHICKEN – This pink-and-chartreuse combination is the one rather unusual color to make the grade. For whatever reason, there are lots of times when electric chicken out-catches anything else. When the bite is tough this is almost always a good one to try out.

Should you still carry a wide selection of colors ranging from bubblegum pink to jet black? Absolutely. There will be times and places when these top three aren’t producing, but for some strange reason another color does. Experimentation is the key to catching fish on those days. But 90-percnet of the time, white, purple, or electric chicken will do the trick.