Bait... Flavour v's Colour?

[binka]

I’ve read lots about flavoured baits and whether or not smell translates into flavour as far as a fish perceives it but relatively little by comparison on bait colour.

Is colour generally regarded as a secondary consideration?

I’ve purposely used bright coloured baits such as sweetcorn in heavily coloured water to good effect but the colour is also naturally accompanied by a fairly strong smell (flavour?) so it’s hard to draw a conclusion on what has provided the attraction, if at all there is a particular one and it’s not a combination of both.

The clear water scenario just confuses the question even more in my mind but could possibly single out a deciding factor.

Red maggots have their following as did bronze a couple of decades ago, boilies come in a wide range of colours and I’ve also used some very inconspicuous dark coloured paste baits to good effect too so where does colour figure in the grand scheme of things if nothing other than a change to something that fish can become wary of as a result of regular use?

Are we fooling the fish when it comes to bait colour or simply ourselves?

 

[sam vimes]

My observations have generally lead me to believe that it depends on the water concerned. When talking about boilies, I would generally put more store in scent/flavour. However, I have known a couple of waters where colour seemed distinctly more important. For one particular water, I recall making my own boilies when the colour thing became apparent. It didn't seem to matter a toss what flavour the bait was as long as it was yellow/orange. It was so extreme that I did eventually knock up some poor quality, rubbish ingredient, zero added flavour, boiled balls of an orangey or yellowish colour. I still caught well on them.

It's nice to hear that my usual choice of bronze maggots is so far out of date! For the river, I'd always have bronze and whites over reds.

 

[binka]

It didn't seem to matter a toss what flavour the bait was as long as it was yellow/orange. It was so extreme that I did eventually knock up some poor quality, rubbish ingredient, zero added flavour, boiled balls of an orangey or yellowish colour. I still caught well on them.

Out of interest Sam (and I know you'll suss where I'm going on this) was that water clear or coloured and did you try other brightly coloured baits?

 

[sam vimes]

Out of interest Sam (and I know you'll suss where I'm going on this) was that water clear or coloured and did you try other brightly coloured baits?

It was a relatively clear, but not gin clear, gravel pit. Pink, red and white boilies didn't appear to give as good results.

 

[bennygesserit]

maybe its neither - don't fish kind of wander around until they find food anyway , and in that time they will mouth or look at all kinds of non food items.

So maybe you should also factor in texture ?
I only say that because I have caught numerous fish on caster and seen carp go nuts for them , at a certain time of day , in the margins but never , despite trying caught on a flavoured , fake , caster.

 

[barbelboi]

Like Sam, I believe that it relates to the water concerned. Benny, many of the largest gravel pit carp I’ve caught in the last ten years, or so, have been taken on hair rigged unflavoured ‘fake’ caster in daylight. However, I believe that almost any ‘fake’ bait fished in the same way would have scored as well. Basically three buoyant ‘fake’ casters were hair rigged to a size 10 hook that balanced the bait to allow it to rise but kept the eye of the hook touching the ground (the hook being in a vertical position). This set up was used in conjunction with a funnel web of mixed pellets (when this melted it left a pile of pellets with the ‘fake’ casters wafting above). Once a carp had made up it’s mind to ‘hoover’ up the pellets the ‘wafting’ bait would be the first thing to be sucked up.

 

[laguna]

I am certain there is a certain advantage in using colour same as there is a certain advantage of using baits with a certain food profile.
Yeah I'm pretty certain about that!
Seriously most fish see colour (depending on light penetration, water clarity and depth) and they can detect food items depending on proximity/chemical make-up.
Dark groundbaits give fish confidence to feed over but I cant say I've heard of any particular hookbait colour that puts fish off though there are plenty of baits and chemical substances that do.

Any advantage is worth exploring; its just a case of working out what colour bait to use and what type easy init? mg:

 

[pointngo]

I'm pretty certain colour can make a difference and once blown, like synthetic flavour, a certain colour can become a very poor catcher.

Angling pressure on proper carp lakes is a factor. If everyone is using a bright yellow bait then it stands to reason that the fish will wise up.. and sometimes much quicker than you think.

winter is another time that boilie colour can make a difference imho. Imagine a group of carp shoaled up tightly in their winter spot and the water is crystal clear; they're not feeding but have caught the smell of food close by. They're not hungry but curiosity makes then look around and a fluoro pink sweet is standing out like a sore thumb. They'll associate the smell with the bright bait and might, either through hunger or curiosity, eventually move a few feet to pick it up. If it wasn't so highly visible they'd have to go looking for what was making the smell, which carp often won't do when it's really cold and they've shut down.

that's how it works in my head anyway. :whmg:

 

[theartist]

It's nice to hear that my usual choice of bronze maggots is so far out of date! For the river, I'd always have bronze and whites over reds.

That's interesting as i fish reds and whites but always red on the hook as i'm adamant it gets more bites than the whites do. I'd never have a white on the hook, this despite mr chub having an equal mouthful of both colours when caught. Don't get me started on them green maggots though!

It's a confidence thing although i do really believe flavouring can really make a difference to maggots that have been in the fridge 5 weeks, more so than any colour (apart from the green ones )

 

[greenie62]

.... Don't get me started on them green maggots though!

It's a confidence thing although i do really believe flavouring can really make a difference to maggots that have been in the fridge 5 weeks, more so than any colour (apart from the green ones )

Even I gave up on green maggots - 40odd years ago!

Got hold of some bronzies a few weeks ago - first time I'd seen them in years - ended up with more colour on my fingers than the maggots - can't say I had more success with them on the day than if I'd used the normal whites & reds - -perhaps the magic has gone with the change of colourant!