 PULLING LURES: Part 5 — Choosing the right colours — By Ryan Williamson
IT has often been said that lures are made to catch fishermen, not fish, and when it comes to colours, I wholeheartedly agree. Tackle shops worldwide display thousands and thousands of lures, and most of them sport different colours — many of which make me cringe. But people do buy them — everything from “gorgeous pink” to “pitch-black” — proving that we human beings have the most diverse perceptions.
Somehow we think we can put ourselves into the minds of fish and know exactly how they think, what attracts them and makes them want to feed. This is what we try to do when we go fishing, sometimes more successfully than other times.
As I said in the first part of this series, I have been around lures most of my life and have been part of the design, making, marketing and use of more than 600 different coloured lures and skirts. I have a pretty good idea of what colours work and what doesn’t work. But before I give my views on choosing the right coloured lures, we need to take time out to look at this aspect from the point of view of the marlin, sailfish, tuna and other predatory fish.
All the major predatory fish species — from bonito to the mighty blue- and black marlin — hunt their prey in the top part of the ocean’s water coloumn. This section of the water is exposed to lots of light — sunlight in particular — and brings into play the fish’s sense of sight to target shoals of baitfish. To make proper use of the speed and manoeuvrability afforded them, they have to be able to see their prey before commencing their attack.
The prey themselves use the art of camouflage extensively. Nature has provided them with darkened backs and silvery-white underbellies to use in the layer of surface water that is chopped by wind and currents. The light rays trying to penetrate the water column are dispersed. In this layer of water, in the scattered light, baitfish such as bonito, mackerel and tuna blend in with their surroundings, using it to their best advantage to escape the major predators.
Read the full story in the January/February 2010 issue of SKI-BOAT.
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