While it's not always true that fishing lure finishes and colors are designed primarily to catch fisherman first, and fish second, it's true enough to take a closer look at the subject.
Lure makers are compelled before every season to come out with new super realistic baitfish finishes or color combos because fisherman demand it...the fish tastes in any particular year don't.
The reality is a fish catching lure need only be dark or light to be effective from a coloration perspective. In this article, we will delve into why the darker shades are so downright effective.
The problem with dark or black lures, from a retail perspective, is that they are not as sexy or exciting as a photo realistic finish version of the same lure. It's boring and plain jane to look at and can sit on the shelf for awhile, while the 3d finish lures fly off the wall.. but, the reality is, black is one of the most effective fish catching colors in nearly every fishery in the North East. Let's look at it from the fishes perspective to see why this is the case.
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What Does the Fish See??
Everything, from the fishes perspective, underwater, is lit from above. This holds true even at night. Against this backlit back drop, the darker colors jump right out in stark contrast to the sun or moonlit sky...lighter finishes can get lost or blend in to the light source. Many anglers mistakenly believe brighter colors are more visible at night. This is also why the local sharpies only, or mostly, use black lures when night fishing at places like Nauset Beach.
Before we go any further with this line of discussion, we aren't saying the super realistic 3d mackerel finish lure you just paid a small fortune for will not work and be horribly ineffective. It also doesn't mean that the black lure is going to catch you fish on every cast every where you fish. What we are talking about are certain fishing scenarios where the ambient lighting will give the black or dark colored lure a meaningful advantage.
For night time striper men that know what they are doing, this is all old news. They have tons of plugs in black for their night time excursions.. Whether there is or is not abundant natural black forage in the waters where these fish live is irrelevant. All that matters is that black creates a more clearly defined silhouette of the forage that the fish are eating.
Examples of lures that work great in dark colorations-
1.SAVAGE GEAR SAND EEL 5"-color Murdered Out
2.RONZ 6" ORIGINAL JIG 1 OZ- color Black Pearl
3.DAIWA SALT PRO MINNOW (F) 6"-color Black Purple
4.JB 19" SPLASH BAR 6" - color BULB BLACK