I’ve heard a lot of pros say that lure color doesn’t really matter, but after 30 years of experimentation with different colors, I’ve proved to myself that it makes a big difference. In the fall, from September through November, I use one color pattern on my crankbaits: dark lime back with khaki sides and a pink belly. I’m so sure about it that I send my crankbaits off to a guy in Ohio who paints them for me. Big deep-diving crankbaits, shallow-running squarebills – it doesn’t matter. They all get that color pattern and it works in muddy water, dingy water or clear water. I think it has something to do with how the water starts cooling off in the fall and shad go through a gradual and subtle color change as they move back into the creeks and coves. Strike King has a crankbait color pattern that’s lime green on top, white in the middle with a touch of red under the chin and that’s pretty close. It’s not just a color pattern for crankbaits, either. For instance, I like a lime and white skirt on a spinnerbait in the fall, and I’ll paint the head pink. There’s something about that color combination that works in the fall. I don’t wonder why too much; I just believe in it.
—- Walmart pro George Cochran of Hot Springs, Ark.