Isnt bottom color of lure most important?

[bottoms up]

I know a lot of fancy lures have most the paint on the top, shouldnt they continue this on the bottom of the lure as well considering that walleys will come up from the bottom to get the lure, do they even see the top of the lure?

[mudpuppy]

My Dad always said, the belly color of the lure is for the fish & the top color for the fisherman. Probably true up to a point.

[Hook_920]

You wonder If a Walleye can see any of the top at all as the bait twitches through the water? Maybe it only pays to have one color lure, LoL.

[WAeyes unlogged]

Not sure, but I do know that most fish/baitfish have lighter colored stomachs and darker colored backs. I think the contrast of each is what gets their interest a lot of the time.

[Chad]

A guess..... Most lures roll as part of their action which would tip the top to both sides and expose the top. I agree that the bottom is usually light as are most bait fish. Orange/Red are also good bottom colors.


ChadM

[lund115]

If walleye fishing, how many times will the lure go directly over the top of the fish's head...I am guessing it will be more at an angle to the fish. When I fish walleyes, I try to have the lure right on the bottom. I am guessing that with the lure being 1 foot off the bottom, the fish will be off to the side, at an angle. The fish will see a lot of the bottom, but will also have a good view of the side of the lure.

[Unlogged T-Mac]

Depends on if you are whacking bottom with the cranks or not.

I'm kind of from the same school as Mudpuppy's Dad. :)

The fish don't purchase the lures.

But...I always buy "pretty" cranks, myself...too.

[fredaintdead2]

Nature usually has a reason for everything, and the colors and patterns of fish have always interested me. Why the white tip on the walleye tail, the strong horizontal line on largemouth, or the perch’s vertical bars?

I thought that the white bellies of bait (and most game) fish are that way to blend with the surface of the water and protect the bait from an attack from below. Hence, the dark backs on fish como them against the bottom from an above viewpoint.

As for lures, I remember an article in Bassmaster about a crank with the top painted white and the bottom black – the idea being that it would be highly visible to predators.

I agree the rolling action of crankbaits lets fish get a good look at most of the colors on the top and bottom.

Notice how crayfish and bait change color to their environment? Does the theory a lure should hide make more sense than trying to standout?

[Eyehound]

It's well known that fish will follow your lure for quite
a distance at times, before deciding to strike. They look
things over more than you think. I consider the color
scheme of the entire bait to be important.