What's Your Favorite Color?

The age old question with a fishing twist: What's your favorite color?

Family discussions at my house always gravitate toward fishing. Almost every time, color and style comes up. We fish a lost of soft plastics in our family. They are versatile, fairly inexpensive and produce every season of the year. The styles and colors however, are diverse.

My brother loves to throw a Junebug colored Yum Dinger. He especially likes to throw these when he can find it in the 3" variety but now they're almost all 4". I'd call him crazy but I've seen him consistently put fish in the boat.



My Dad throws a lot of different baits but if I made him choose one, and he could find it, I'd bank on the 4" Berkley Power Worm in Camo. A close second would be a sandworm.



For me, it's a 4" Hag's Tornado in Watermelon Chartreuse. Is it any wonder I do a lot of finesse fishing? My whole family does it and has for decades. 



So if we fish the same waters primarily,together much of the time, why different color preferences?

Catches and Confidence.

I feel like I could catch Moby Dick on a 4" Hag's in WC. I have consistently put fish in the kayak. If I have a skunk day going on, I know I can catch fish on it. The first time I thought it could happen and it did, the confidence started to build. As I repeated the cycle and it continued to be true, it became known to me that I could put a fish in the boat with this bait. I proved it again on Friday. No fish the first three hours. Switched back to my confidence bait and bam, two fish in 10 minutes.

I have seen my brother catch what had to be every fish off of a bank on his bait. The same for my Dad. When I try to use their colors the results are underwhelming.

The cool thing is, it might be a color on a crankbait at a certain lake. I know a guy like that. He has won a lot of money (some of it mine) on a Central Texas lake with one particular color. He knows it's special too because that is a secret color only a few know.

I have another buddy who has a particular style and color of trailer he uses on spinnerbaits.

Call it hocum, voodoo, confidence or coincidence but I bet if you think about it for two seconds, you have a color you always go back to.

So, what is it? Let me know here in the comments or on Facebook.

Summer Tornado Fishing

The Split Shot Rig

Lots of people have been asking me this morning, "What is a Split Shot Rig?"

It’s not a new thing but, it’s my thing. 

Hag's Tornado F4 in Real Shad

I have used this little setup to put a lot of fish in the boat in some of the toughest conditions. Lots of people look at me like I am crazy but it is versatile and it works year round. I’ve been using a setup similar to the one I describe below for 25 years. I came across it one afternoon while fishing with minnows. I ran out of bait and put a 4” Ringworm on my hook. It started catching fish and I’ve been using it since. I feel I have it to near perfection with more purpose and a better worm.

So, what is it? Simply put, I tie a 1/0 Gamakatsu hook on 6-8lb copolymer or mono line. Then I look at my depth finder. If I am fishing a rock, mud or sand bottom that is clean, I’ll pinch a 1/16^th oz split shot 18 inches above the hook. If I am fishing in submerged weeds I try to put the split shot at the height of the weeds. When it’s windy (above 15 mph), I’ll bump up the weight to an 1/8^th oz.

That seems pretty simple but that’s not all. Now you need a worm to put on that hook. Most soft plastics sink when on a hook. There are a few that are buoyant but most of those are very plain. I don’t use those. I need maximum fish attracting movement in my bait. That’s why I use the Hag’s Tornado F4. It’s a 4 inch ribbed worm with a hollow rattle chamber. It floats but also sends vibrations through the water when it moves. It’s the best finesse worm on the market for what I am looking to do.

Some of you may be wondering why I change the position of the split shot when fishing submerged weeds. If you have a reasonable growth off the bottom (less than 5ft), you set your weight at that same depth. Then, when the weight falls, it will be on the bottom and the worm will be floating right at the top of the weeds just like the natural baitfish in the habitat. It’s been working for years for me and those I have shared this technique with.

All in all, I suppose you could call it a finesse Carolina rig or reverse drop shot or others. But, when you need to catch fish and your confidence is wearing thin, try a Split Shot Rig. You might be surprised!

For further proof, check out the new video “Split Shot Rigging…” on the Videos page or on this page. I had to try six different colors before I found something they would eat but once I tied on the F4 Real Shad, the bite was on. The last time out on the same lake it was a completely different color they wanted so make sure if you are going to buy some Hag’s Tornados, you get multiple colors. I get most of mine from Tackle Warehouse.