Lure Color Selection: How Water Clarity and Light Change Everything

Every angler has a tackle box full of colors. The trick is knowing which one to tie on first. Use these simple rules.

Rule 1: Match the water clarity

• Clear water: natural, translucent colors (ghost shad, green pumpkin, silver). Fish get a good look, so realism wins.
• Stained water: add brightness or flash (gold, chartreuse, firetiger, copper).
• Muddy water: go loud. Bright chartreuse, or solid black for maximum silhouette. Add rattles or blades for vibration.

Rule 2: Adjust for light

• Bright sun: natural colors and subtle flash.
• Overcast: brighter colors and more flash stand out.
• Dawn, dusk and night: dark colors like black and blue create the strongest silhouette against the sky. Glow colors help too.

Rule 3: Think about depth

Water absorbs color with depth. Reds and oranges fade first, while chartreuse, white and black keep their contrast deeper. If you are fishing deep, favor high-contrast colors.

Rule 4: Match the hatch

When in doubt, imitate local forage: shad and shiners (silver and white), bluegill (green and orange), crawfish (brown, green and red).

Try the color picker

Set your water clarity, light and depth in our free lure color picker and get three colors to try first. Then restock from our lures and baits.