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Most fishermen know to throw natural-pattern baits in clear water. But the most savvy anglers have additional tricks to get bit in gin-clear conditions.
Walleye guide Tom Neustrom and bass pro Brandon Palaniuk are among them.
“Natural-color minnow-profile baits are great in clear water, but I also really like something with a little bit of an orange or red throat or belly,” says Neustrom, a Freshwater Hall of Fame “Legendary Guide” and Rapala® pro.
He’s not alone.
“A lot of anglers believe in orange or red on the underside of baits — whether it’s a throat burst or a full belly,” says Mark Fisher, Rapala’s Director of Field Promotions. “It definitely gives that bait a different flash.”
That flash attracts predator fish like walleye and pike, which tend to attack baits from below, Neustrom explains. “Because of the position of their eyes in their heads, they don’t necessarily dive down after a bait, they look up a little bit,” he says. “Especially walleyes … and especially during the day.”
Many Rapala baits are available in natural patterns with orange and red throats or bellies. In the venerable Shad Rap® line, there’s Bluegill, Holographic Shiner, Holographic Blue Shiner, Perch, Silver, Yellow Perch, Bleeding Olive Flash and Bleeding Original Shad.
The Husky Jerk® family – another great choice for spring walleye and pike – features Glass Perch, Gold, Silver, Silver Blue, Tennessee Shad and Yellow Perch.
In the Scatter Rap® family – a Neustrom favorite, especially in the spring – natural-pattern baits with red/orange throats include Bluegill, Penguin and Smash in the Scatter Rap® Crank line. In the Scatter Rap® Minnow and CountDown® lines, there’s Blue, Gold, Perch, Silver and Yellow Perch. And in the Scatter Rap® Shad line, there’s Bluegill, Perch, Silver and Yellow Perch.
Natural Patterns for Clear-Water Bass
Unlike walleye and pike, bass often do strike downward, especially in the spring, when bottom-walking crayfish comprise most of their diets. So in clear, cool water, brownish or greenish crawfish patterns will often out-produce red craw patterns.
“Early in the year, when the fish first move up in pre-spawn, that’s when I’m going to be throwing a lot of those [non-red] craw patterns,” says Palaniuk, the 2013 Bassmaster Classic Runner Up, and a Rapala and Storm pro. “It’s about the same time crawfish are starting to come out of hibernation.”
Palaniuk mimics crayfish by grinding Rapala DT® Series, Storm® Wiggle Warts® and Storm® Arashi™ crankbaits across the bottom. One of his favorite clear-water craw baits is an Arashi in the Rusty Crawdad pattern.
On the final day of the 2013 Classic, which he almost won, Palaniuk caught caught four of the five fish he weighed on a Wiggle Wart in the Phantom Green Crayfish pattern. Other good early-season, clear-water Wiggle Wart® patterns are the classic Brown Crawdad pattern and the newer Green Crawdad, Naturalistic Brown Crayfish, Naturalistic Green Crayfish and Phantom Green Crayfish patterns.
Rapala DT® crankbaits also come in several brown/green patterns: Dark Brown Crawdad, Olive Green Craw and Purple Olive Craw. Scatter Rap Cranks and Scatter Rap Shads come in two non-red craw patterns: Dark Brown Crawfish and Mardi Gras.
DTs and Scatter Raps also come in special blue patterns to throw when crayfish are shedding their old shells, a process called molting. DTs are available in Molting Blue Craw and the new Scatter Rap Crank Shallow and Scatter Rap Crank Deep come in a blue pattern called Bruised.
“Most crayfish, when they come out of molt, they’re blue,” Fisher explains. “A lot of anglers understand that crayfish are most vulnerable when they’ve molted – when they’ve crawled out of their shell. Fish know too, instinctively, that blue crayfish are an easy snack. So for the guys that really know, blue’s a great color.”
Crawfish molt at different times in different parts of the country. To determine when you should throw blue craw patterns, look for empty crayfish shells on the shore. But don’t misinterpret the color of those shells, which will most likely be red, pink or orange.
“People find red shells during the molt and they think the crayfish just went red,” Fisher explains. “But that’s not the color of the crayfish, it’s just the color of the shell material after it’s been shed.”
Post-Spawn Bluegill and Shad Patterns
As bass transition from the spawn into the post-spawn, Palaniuk will transition from crawfish patterns to baitfish patterns. In clear to lightly stained water, he favors “lighter, more natural colors” in bluegill and shad patterns.
“One of my favorite around-the-spawn, immediate post-spawn colors in clear to mildly stained water is a bluegill pattern,” Palaniuk says. “Because a big bass on a bed or in a bedding area hates bluegills. And in the post-spawn, a lot of the big females will come off beds and move to bluegill beds and feed there.”
Arashis, DTs and Scatter Raps all come in bluegill patterns.
Among Palaniuk’s favorite post-spawn shad-pattern baits is the Arashi Black Silver Shad. “Because that time of year, you’re also starting to get into a shad spawn,” he explains. “Black Silver Shad imitates that really well. It’s a color that works excellent in clear water. It’s a very natural color. It’s just a good all-around color.”
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