When choosing a jig color

[HD]

The color water your fishing in, may change the way fish perceive your jig color.

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[mike89]

Wow!! 

[Rebel SS]

Cool! 

[LPS]

Amazing. 

[Gunner55]

  Quite the difference!

[Boar]

ok soo what do the cusions tell us to do oh great hdswami...

[Rebel SS]

Drop a lure a few feet into the water, the stick yer head under to see what they look like.    

[Gunner55]

Drop a lure a few feet into the water, the stick yer head under to see what they look like.    

[HD]

Here are 2 charts to be a guide.

One is for type of water, and the other is for colors in different depths.


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[HD]

Aside from mimicking prey items realistically, a variety of lures play on the way the eyeballs on fish interact with specific colored baits at varying depths, water speeds and light availability.
Reflective lures, despite their color, will offer flash and visibility even in deep waters. Keep in mind, too, that clearer waters allow light to penetrate deeper, meaning your lure’s color will remain visible for a little while longer.

Up to 20 Feet

All colors will gradually dull as they go from shallow to deeper water, but warm colors like red and orange are the first colors to fade. To a fish, lures in these colors will remain vibrant up to roughly 20 feet deep, but then their visibility will decrease.

20 to 35-45 Feet

Orange is the next color to fade. Bright crawfish and orange firetiger patterns will do well until around 40 feet or so.

50 to 75 Feet

This is where yellow lures will begin to lose their vibrant appeal, so you’ll want to switch to the chartreuse and Oxbow color patterns.

Deeper than 100 Feet

Blue and green lures will remain visible for as deep as the light will penetrate the water. In waters with current, however, the opposite occurs, and blue or green lures lose visibility first.

Aside from how light and water depth affect the appeal of a lure’s color pattern, it’s also important to consider how fish eyes work. A fish’s retina contains two types of cells: cones and rods. The cones are used primarily in the day and are able to discern color, while the rods are used for seeing at night and while they can distinguish light, they can’t do the same for colors.

[Boar]

hmmmmm so why is red so effective on LOW  when i dissapears first and is the lowest of the color spectrum for walleye tonsee

[LPS]

Gotta glow for me. 

[HD]

hmmmmm so why is red so effective on LOW  when i dissapears first and is the lowest of the color spectrum for walleye tonsee

How deep are you using red lures?

[Gunner55]

Just the opposite for me natural colors seem like they work better unless there's a lot of snow cover. Clear water due to the Zeebs & there's quite a bit of 30-40' in our bay. Yellow perch, green, brown, silver, copper to name a few.

[Rebel SS]

hmmmmm so why is red so effective on LOW  when i dissapears first and is the lowest of the color spectrum for walleye tonsee

How deep are you using red lures?

That's the key right there........AND the time of day. I did a bunch of reading up on the color spectrum vs time of day and how the rods and cones in the eyes of fish react at those times some years back for an article. Had some great online charts which I've since deleted. Anywho, after the researching on all this stuff, I just follow the basic rules: in stained or muddy water, I use a white, chartreuse, or yellow jig. (all glo-jigs) Clear waters, I'll use a combo of all colors, and will use silver and gold lures like my Marmooska's in all conditions. The silver & gold do work better on bright days. As far as red, never had much luck with that, but a glo-orange forage fry is probably my favorite lure/color for pannies. That's what works for me.
 
If ya wanna read the techie rods and cones stuff, I still have some I kept.....

http://www.rockportflyfishers.com/articles/can_fish_see_color.pdf

http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/newsletter/2012/07/science_through_the_eyes_of_fish.html

[Boar]

hd, any were from 22 to 32

[HD]

hd, any were from 22 to 32

If I remember right, LOW is a tea stained water for the most part. So yes, a dark red would work. (just as a color, excluding glow)
Using the chart as a guide, after the 25'ish mark, red would be invisible, and then they can only see the bait and not the lure. Maybe that is why it works?
I think the lure I used up there, was more of a hammered copper blade that worked best in deeper water.

[Boar]

yeah its interesting to think about,  red dissapear first in the eye color spectrum, but can rain supream alot of times up ther in the rootbeer, and even when thers 2ft of snow darkening things even more.