Crawdad Coloration vs. Lure Color…Most Anglers Make THIS Mistake

Randy Discusses the biggest myth most bass anglers fall for surrounding the color of crawdads versus the color of the Lure your fishing…#bassfishing #crawfish #crawdad #fishthemoment #fishing #bass
Baitwrx link…bait-wrx.com/?...

[@Buford_T_Justice]

In nature, the best way to not get eaten is to blend in with your environment or the rest of the pack. The critter that stands out from the rest generally gets eaten first. It's nature's way of limiting mutations. We obviously want our baits eaten so it stands to reason that you don't want it to look exactly like all the other forage in the lake.

[@chief1193]

I have always said that I don’t think fish hit jigs because they think it’s a crawdad, but more because they think it’s an injured baitfish.

[@ArkansasBadBoy]

So many opinions, but at 52 years old and a Largemouth Bass only fisherman all my life, I can say this video is spot on. I don't care where you live, you will NEVER catch any numbers of bass with crawdad-imitating lures with any consistency or pattern.

[@catchofthedave8681]

Those jordan lee berkley crawdad softplastics look sooooooo good, they look so real, they are amazing. I figured “these have to be the best craws in existence”. After a whole season i havent caught one fish on them. Im still catching them on gambler and reaction innovations creature baits but not the scented super realistic ones.

[@chrisboyd1408]

Thanks for sharing

[@valentinmalinin]

I guess you can't go wrong with basic green pumpkin and black and blue

[@theultimatesteelshooter8610]

Crawdad color can vary wildly on a large impoundment. Just because the crawdad color at the ramp is red does not mean that’s the same color they are 20 miles down from the ramp

[@erniesanders3724]

Your experience speaks volumes Randy. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[@bhmsupra]

Good reminder to consider other perspectives on “match the hatch”

[@erniebrightfishing]

Profile and speed of retrieve is more important than matching the hatch. I agree with what your saying. I can't catch anything trying to match the hatch whether it's craws or shad. I've never seen a bright pink shad but I can catch fish on that color for some reason.

[@TK-uk2yy]

Thank you Randy!

[@murraysmith1935]

Good info

[@lexm0]

I live in central Minnesota and was wade fishing the Mississippi for smallmouth. Had a couple fish spit up little 2" orange and olive green colored craws. Only had one pack of zman bamabug (green pumpkin/junebug) colored TRD bugz as a ned bait. Put it on a ned head and absolutely started lighting up the fish. My buddy came down and joined me an hour later with a jig that was a perfect orange and olive green coloration to what the smallmouth were spitting up. I was catching fish 5-1 against my buddy on that bama bug ned rig. I think the profile of my bait was close enough to the size of craws the fish were eating but, I think the slight color difference in my bait allowed the fish to key in and target my bait better

[@rippinlipsinc.2200]

Another great video. Thousands of lures.. Confidence counts!

[@spencerb891]

The fact that they eat senkos and whopper ploppers goes to show realism doesn’t really matter, it’s about causing a reaction.

[@sethook-ro4xh]

From Oklahoma and Crawdad is the best way to say it. Crawdad colors get the best bites.

[@marcolson4493]

Thank you, you are a myth buster! Match the reactionary strike.

[@RoKnRuiN]

Randy, I trust you so much, brother.

[@richardbumpuscjf347]

I had the same experience a month ago. I had a bunch of smallmouth cough up orange and green crawdads in my livewell. Went and bought exact imitation and could not get a bite. Threw in a green pumpkin, fish on!!!

[@kenneth9874]

Could be that the straight green pumpkin looked like a crawfish molting which is vastly preferred

[@jakebridgetimpastato5622]

Great to read all the comments! Everyone certainly has a different experience. I make baits and I fish a lot. I have bass fished for over 30 years. Just going to add some of my experience to this. Color is the first issue. People say it doesn’t matter, but that’s because most people are throwing some pretty good colors that bass are known to eat. Wonder why nobody is throwing a pastel green, red or other nasty looking color like that. It’s because it doesn’t work as good as a watermelon, June bug, or green pumpkin bait. Now size absolutely matters tremendously. Bigger baits catch far less bass than small baits, period! And jigs should never be used to compare anything because soft plastics out fish them number wise day in and day out. So saying they don’t bite a jig that looks like a crawfish(which they don’t compared to a plastic craw) really is not a good comparison. Anyway that’s my take on it after catching literally thousands of bass on the Louisiana Delta.

[@shanehamilton6708]

Great advice, I have noticed that as well. It’s so good to see this channel grow!

[@chmaximus319]

I respect that you will buck convention in order to tell the truth based on your experience.

[@crowe1974]

I've never had luck trying to match the crayfish. Thanks for showing me it wasn't just me. Love the vid

[@94TheFisherman]

Typically I agree, the one exception is the hand-painted Huddleston Huddlebugs. When things are tough, and there is a lot of tournament pressure, they eat that thing out here on these east-coast, deep clear water, rip-rap lakes like nothing else

[@nicholascarney2063]

Always great info Randy! Noticed my drop shot that matched the local craw color last time I was out was getting bit best. Definitely eye opening, was probably more that it was an appropriate color for the water clarity than the fact that it matched the hatch. Keep em coming. Always called em crawdads myself

[@jbagelfishing2907]

Man, thats exactly how i got into nature. Flipping rocks, waiting for the mud to settle and pinning craws down

[@zrulz]

I put a dab of orange marker dye on the pincher tip and just behind it put a thin blue dye line and those claws in the water will show up well and sometimes they bite my craw more than my partner's with the same base bait. Try it.

[@SpookyRedz]

Loved it , thanks

[@MrJohnB-qs6dp]

Thanks for your explanation on the crawdads!!👊🏻 Makes sense to me and I'll keep that in my mind!! Stay Safe & God Bless!!!1

[@NeilGraham.I.M.F]

I wish you had stickers. Love your videos. Id love to see an on the water video

[@mnjcosby]

I wonder if the uncanny valley theory could be at play here in some way, in an attempt to come too close to realistic we actually give away how fake it is, just thinking out loud, thanks for the insight

[@tngreenevfl2022]

I read somewhere that it said there is 600 different colors of crawdads and today my buddy caught a bass on a black and blue jig and bama craw trailer and caught bass today

[@335elkhunter]

Can you go more into what color lure works with what color and tint of water?

[@scottvaughn9565]

I think when they are blowing up a school of shad it's a good idea to match the hatch but then again I've never tried to throw a craw in that situation lol

[@keithhahn1266]

I appreciate your truth fullness, always learn something from your videos.

[@bobschlotterfishing2678]

Not craw related but still related. I ordered some mega bass dark sleepers from bait wrx and accidently ordered these crazy fluorescent green semi transparent baits. Not even close to any of the bait fish in the creeks i fish. BUT dam they get the job done. Not sure if its the Gin clear water and the bass only get a quick view of them here and there and they have to just react on it or what but they work.

[@stevegragg7935]

Thanks for the info...you really opened my eyes to jig colors and some of the things I was thinking...thanks again

[@tomselick6983]

Thank you, im not crazy!!!

[@micheledaugherty275]

Hard to go wrong with Black/ Blue combo in many situations. Another tip is to Carry some Dye “ Markers “ , you can use the markers to add just a slight amount of color accent to the jig trailers ( less is more- sometimes ).

[@garymitchell625]

I totally agree. Water color is the key. Blend the jig so the bass can just make it out.

[@erichildreth7562]

Great advice Randy and I will keep this in mind. Thank you sir! :)

[@larryn1929]

I still enjoy going down to a local stream and catching a bunch of craws. Then I start hitting the holes and hammering the smallies. I also enjoy catching a bunch of craws and enjoying freshwater lobster tail for dinner!

[@dannyhardy878]

I greatly respect your opinion- but this is one of the few times I don’t agree with it. First - The Guido Bug was probably the best jig trailer ever made. I bought them by the 100’s. I still use Zoom’s Big Critter Craw because it resembles the Guido bug. Fishing in river systems I prefer a trailer that I thread on my hook. I like them because when I pitch/skip my jig way under low hanging trees to reach the bank- it doesn’t roll up on the hook and cause me to not get a good hook set like chunks do. I know all the tricks about chunks as well- Guido bugs just work better at that application. I will use chunks when I go to wide open reservoirs where castings a lot easier. I’ve also found many many times- more in clearer water conditions- that matching the hatch is critical. I recently fished a tournament and went through a creek that I’ve killed them on a black & blue jig under the same conditions, time of year, etc…. I was about to give up but finally caught a fish on my jig. When I looked in her mouth she had a big bright orange pincher in her throat. I cut off my jig - grabbed a Alabama Craw colored jig I have made and paired it with a green and mostly orange craw. Turned around- fished back out of the creek and then back in covering the same water and caught several nice fish. That’s happened to me many times. I had a very similar situation on Lake Mitchell last month. I do agree you’ve probably thrown a jig more than me in the last 40 years- but I’m a very very close second.

[@rogerdolan8562]

In my experience color is key but the size is just as important I have to disagree on this one but still great topic and viedo .

[@CasualBassGuy]

That’s strange. In clear water I have by best luck matching the hatch. In dirty water, it doesn’t matter at all

[@ronniemitchell9221]

I have actually seen a bright orange crawdads as well and I’ve also seen really bright blue crawdads. I was shocked how vivid the colors were on some of these crawdads

[@johndoran7331]

I like to keep my colors simple. I've always believed that colors sell fisherman more than fish.

[@jaybourg7558]

Try yum crawfish or vibe claw or mega bites crawfish as trailers for jigs in Louisiana it works awesome with crawfish scents

[@buffalobob870]

Being color blind; I don't think in terms of color per say... for me, it's about light, medium and dark; natural and unnatural and a combination of water clarity and ambient light dictate starting point. In addition, light spectrum is filtered out in water...watch videos of divers with and without lights. A walleye fishing pro, I think Keith Kaviez??, talked about flash patterns with cranks...makes a bunch of sense to me and I think another really big set of variables is speed and profile...both in the vertical and horizontal.

[@lennyhom8140]

Very interesting and informative video. I've always wondered why people try to imitate crawdads using jigs, when they could just use a plastic crawdad. I guess the answer is that the plastic crawdads just don't work. I have used several versions of crawdads and have only ever had one catch on them.

[@63Bare]

That is very surprising to me. I have caught 100's of bass on the Yun Craw Papi. I rig them on a Charlie Brewer Spider Slider head. I always use scent on my soft plastics as well.

[@shaneh8128]

I thought the jig comment at the end of the video was hilarious. The only person I could think of that might have more experience is Tommy Biffle.

[@jinxthecat3822]

Went out yesterday morning. Going to get HOT as Hades down here in Texas, so, morning fishing only. Keep two colors on my lipless rigs at all times. Just a chrome and a red. Which one will they hit? You would think this time of year, the chrome would do the job. Nope. Red got the bites. Water was 1 - 1 1/2 visibility. And almost dead calm wind. So drilled them on a Yellow Magic Popr and red ratltrap. Got about 10 before it got too hot. Nice 5 pounder on the topwater.

[@scotth.721]

Well… now I can justify my lure buying addiction to my wife 😁

[@Alexwilson225playsMC]

The movement/action of the jig seems to be what the bass react to more than the color.

[@WesleyKennedy]

Can you do a video on matching the water color/clarity to the color you are throwing?

[@michaelkolbe5963]

Believe bass only see colors as shades of grey ! Was told only three colors they see natural !

[@georgeadcock2347]

I never had much luck with the Guido bug either. I threw it a lot too.

[@jamescaspersamanthalintner4767]

If I'm being honest I would have to say that every super realistic crawdad imitating soft plastic I've ever used don't work I've tried several high-end ultra realistic crawdad baits and my rage crawl for my zero catches way more bass than those do. One of the biggest disappointments I ever had was when I bought the Berkeley champ craw. It looks good it's pretty realistic I think I've caught two Bass on them the entire time I've had them I've tried them on jigs I've tried them Texas rigged all kinds of ways

[@terrytresemer2864]

In looking over the comments I would say the pot sure got stored.

[@JP-dj1ow]

I've colored tubes and various soft plastics to look exactly like the crawdads in the local river and could never produce the results I thought it would. I would waste so many baits trying to duplicate the craws I'd find.

[@ricksonora6656]

I don’t know enough yet to use this information. There must be another episode about how to match the water. And should the same color be used for all types of lures? Still a 👍

[@ScruffyCityFishing]

Great info. Do you think this goes for other imitations? I’ve caught more fish on lures that vaguely look like shad than lures that look exactly like a shad.

[@audirtybird]

I've seen a good number of white and blue crawdads here in central Alabama, but you rarely see white trailers on store shelves or hear anglers talk about that color. Thoughts?

[@spaceman8839]

Watching from the moon 🌙

[@ianblaylock6181]

Does the rule change for muddy water? Do you stick to the fine line or want a lot of contrast?

[@jeffniebanck6387]

Totally agree Randy. Have some plastics that look exactly like a crayfish. Never did well on them.

[@clintperry799]

Okies call them crawdads to.

[@matthewryan8791]

When in doubt black and blue out

[@johnkent9019]

Didn't the Color-C-Lector recommend lure colors based on water clarity and light penetration? Did you ever use one?

[@hillbillybassfisherman8181]

Amazes me how everyone thinks im talking about livescoop i been fussing about side imaging down imaging that what started the down fall of the DREAM to be bass fisherman that made the pot go from 1\2 million to 100 thousand why if they making all these millions off electronics why is the pot not bigger than ever?

[@Macdaddy8124U]

Always "match the hatch" up north.

[@Macdaddy8124U]

@@jamesh7469 yep, you nailed it. Always have to watch the information given from the southern anglers or Highland reservoir anglers. Where they live match the hatch isn't a big deal. Up north, it's a difference of a 15 fish day or a 80 fish day

[@jacobanderson4101]

Randy, ask for the sub up front, and get right into the content. Your channel will grow.

[@hillbillybassfisherman8181]

best trailor ever in history of fishing is a frog trailor that what all the most selling trailors or is a 2 leg kicking frog.what made the A=rig so deadly it was about the one bait that was different i showed everyone i could make the bass hit which ever bait i wanted every single time.I know they thought the bait was farthest back i busted that myth i catch bass on a top water lure on which ever hook i want them to bite i have amazed lot of guys

[@ericyokley334]

The hell you say

[@fadethenoise9704]

Most Pro’s say match the hatch and you say it’s a myth. I’m so confused.

[@steveparker7240]

So, what color jig/trailer do you throw with 3 foot visibility then the crawfish are green with orange pinchers? I know I can get bit on green pumpkin blue in those conditions. That's what I would throw if I didn't know what their color was, that or black. I catch a lot of Ozark fish on black.

[@tucowept]

Is it fact that bass even see color?

[@johnlantz7278]

Match the hatch , a term used by fisherman to avoid the real question when asked ,don’t give a bass to much credit if you do something repeatedly you get good at it , a more stealthy approach My just be what is needed ,

[@fryeguy9939]

My opinion is that not so much the color as the presentation.. If you can make the jig or lure act like the real thing , you have a better chance of getting a bite.. Again.. Just my opinion.. The Frye Guy..

[@josephvanchierijr.2486]

To me if you keep matching,what bass are eating you are giving yourself less odds. You are competing against them. Put out something a little different with different action.

[@valentinmalinin]

Match the pattern, not the hatch

[@whitey5584]

First

[@mikeream2696]

Quit stirring the pot! Too soon?

[@alexhendrick8288]

Check out HD craw they are Missouri boys. OAF members. Great product