Lure colour by water clarity, from the optics instead of the folklore.
Water filters light one wavelength at a time, and a bass, a trout and a bluegill have different cone sets. This guide runs eight common lure colours through the same optics model as the Fish Vision Camera, in four water types, and reports how visible each one is against the water behind it.
At a glance: 3 m, largemouth bass, noon
Detection contrast, 0 to 100, viewed from 1.5 m. Open a column's page for depth, species and the colour as the fish receives it.
Scroll the table sideways to compare every water type →
| Colour | Clear | Green / algal | Stained / tannic | Muddy / suspended sediment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firetiger | 100 | 91 | 71 | 20 |
| Chartreuse | 100 | 100 | 88 | 26 |
| Shad | 100 | 82 | 62 | 17 |
| Red craw | 100 | 99 | 54 | 8 |
| Blue | 35 | 20 | 15 | 0 |
| Black | 80 | 52 | 35 | 3 |
| Gold | 61 | 52 | 62 | 10 |
| Junebug | 72 | 54 | 30 | 3 |
- Clear: top score 100 (Chartreuse, Red craw, Firetiger, Shad), lowest 35 (Blue).
- Green / algal: top score 100 (Chartreuse), lowest 20 (Blue).
- Stained / tannic: top score 88 (Chartreuse), lowest 15 (Blue).
- Muddy / suspended sediment: top score 26 (Chartreuse), lowest 0 (Blue).
Does red disappear at depth?
The model says red loses its colour but not its visibility in clear water. Red craw scores 88 at 0.5 m and 100 at 10 m there (chroma 81, luminance 57 at 0.5 m; chroma 69, luminance 100 at 10 m). Long wavelengths are absorbed first. At 10 m the lure reaches the bass at 4.1% relative luminance against 18% for the water behind it, so it reads as a darker shape on brighter water: a silhouette, not an invisible object.
In tannin-stained water the picture changes. At 3 m, red craw scores 100 in clear water and 54 in stained water. In the stained case the luminance channel falls to 13: the lure reaches the bass at 22.7% relative luminance against 18% for the water behind it, and the colour channel (chroma 52) is what remains.
Visibility is not preference. The model does not claim a fish eats a visible lure; it claims the fish can tell it from the water. The decision model is where appetite, temperature and mood come in.
Method and limits
Sunlight is attenuated per wavelength down to the lure's depth, reflected, attenuated again along the viewing path, veiled by backscatter, then integrated by the species' cone set. Water types use Jerlov-style attenuation curves adapted to freshwater. Colours are solid sRGB swatches rebuilt into broad spectra, which is lossy and wrong for narrowband sources. Patterns, UV, flash and vibration are not in these tables. See how it works for the full chain and its documented limits, or test your own lure photo in the Fish Vision Camera.