Dark water= dark baits
Clear water = lighter colored and natural colored baits.
l’ve been using them for a number of years and have gotten many quality bass on them. l use soft plastics 90% of the time.

l have found the smaller flukes and 4″ plastics in clear or smoke with a silver flake to produce in bright sun conditions in my lake. early morning or late P.M., l use darker plastics like cinnamon with a green or blue stripe in it and red flakes. any time the water is dirtied a bit through wave action or algae growth l use these darker colors. l will go as dark as an oxblood/red flake “roboworm” up to 7″ long depending on light intensity. at night l use BPS 8″ or 10″ tournament worms in black.

if you’re fishing during a solar eclipse, go with the oxblood roboworm.
l use topwaters about 10% of the time and everything else wherever l can squeeze it in.
topwaters are working good for me right now as the shad are up all over the lake and bass are busting them everywhere. l mostly use a “rico” popper by lobina but as these are a bit costly ($25.00 each), l’ll also find myself catching a few on a rebel pop-r or zara spook.

There are so many variables it’s truly hard to give the best advice- accept – Rules to live by:

Let me add a bit here too. Today one is hot and tomorrow, you may need a different color. Today a fast retrieve is good. Tomorrow a fast retrieve does nothing. Meaning, the favor always leans towards the fish, Red, yellow, green etc.

You have to experiment to find out what the fish will bite on every time you go out. When you get the magic combination keep catching. This can also change as the day passes. Cloudy, sunny, in the shade, or in the bright sun.

All lures work when presented to the fish under the right conditions. YOU have to learn how to present them.