Everybody Wants to Find That Hot Lure and/or Color That'll Work Every Time

Staying one step ahead of everyone else is a good way to be in the fishing game. Figuring out what works, what doesn't, and where the fish are constitutes three things every fisherman wants to know when they hit the water.

Anglers always can figure things out by using knowledge from experience, as well as trial and error. Most of the time, however, they would rather have an extra hint or two that helps them achieve success a bit sooner.

Whether those hints come from the old man at the local bait shop, a friend, or as the result of something you've personally witnessed a fish eat at one time or another is really irrelevant. Even though it's called fishing and not catching, we all just want to be out there getting hooked up with great ol' big 'uns...the bigger, the better.

The more creative we are means the more fun we can have.

Take the fella in the accompanying photo at right. He's truly trying to stay one step ahead of everyone else by getting the bass in the local tackle shop's big aquarium to tell him what they like and don't like before he even buys any lures. Wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't also have one of those pocket fishing rods handy to tie the lures onto and give 'em the real acid test before heading to the cashier's stand.

When it comes to choosing what colors to buy, most anglers rely on the general rule of picking dense colors for use in dingy water and lighter, more translucent colors for use in clear water. That's pretty straightforward until you consider the vast number of colors available on store shelves these days...starting with names like scuppernong, roadkill, foxy momma, and chaos. Those may sound like some silly, freaky colors, but you can bet there always are some bass around that will love 'em.

If you get lucky and find one color that works extremely well in the beginning, just don't make the mistake of running out and scarfing up as many of 'em as you can afford. I speak from experience in this regard. I have several boxes in my garage to this day filled with bait colors that only worked but for a very short while.