Mastering Soft Plastic Bait Selection: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing Colors That Catch Fish

In this informative video, Mike Iaconelli is back in his shop to help you pick the right soft plastic bait color. With an overwhelming selection of colors available, it can be daunting to choose the perfect one. Mike simplifies the process and breaks it down into three factors, which work in every fishing environment. He shares his tips on matching the hatch, water clarity, and contrast, and how to use the right colors for panfish, crawfish, and baitfish. Mike also shows you his limited selection of colors and how he uses Spike dye pens to customize his baits. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from the pro and catch more fish!

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[FullTimeFishing]

I hope everyone reading this catches their pb this spring!

[rgr]

the Pit Boss is my #1 soft plastic. It's given me many, many 50+ fish days!!!

[christiancognigni]

This really is the whole enchilada on color strategy! Fantastic video, Ike!!! I LOVE those Spike It markers. LOVE THEM - If you have 5 minutes to try something - grab a green pumpkin swimbait and use the chartreuse marker to make yellow perch bars on each side... then touch the bottom in a couple spots with the orange marker and you have instant yellow perch!

[dawnparker]

Always a pleasure watching your videos. Here in Florida it's always a battle to pick the correct color.

[southpawjinx]

In a pond full of generic anglers- Mike adds color & contrast!! Thanks for another great video!

[arthurdirindinjr]

Thank you Mike for the help. I am a shore fisherman
Once the lakes by me weed up in late April early May 90% of my fishing is with weedless T-Rigged soft plastics
Weedless Flukes being #1
Was at Bitters Tackle Co and they offer OVER 200 different colors JUST for flukes alone
Mind boggling indeed
I found myself overwhelmed trying to decide on what colors to buy and was very concerned on just how quickly I could end up spending $75 or $100 just on 3 maybe 4 colors for 5" and then 7" plastic flukes alone
Now add in different colors and 2 different sizes for speed worms Senko's Trick worms and it adds up to $300-$400 just in soft plastics real fast now add in buying two or three different hook styles (EWG, OS, Tlock) for soft plastics in #1, #2, 2/0, 3/0, 4/0 and 5/0 then tungsten weights in 1/16, 1/8, 3/16, 1/4oz and it gets scary scary expensive
Now I do exactly as you recommend
Match the hatch equals six different BASE colors and variants of those and contrast colors equals four different colors
Match the hatch colors in flukes is:
For shad/minnow base colors
Ghost shad
Albino shad
Smoking shad
Baitfish
For panfish base colors
Watermelon red flake
Watermelon RF pearl
Bluegill Flash
Baby bass
Mar Di Gras
For contrast
Sight Fish tail dyed Chartreuse
Peral Chartreuse tail
Pink
I dont often need to use dark black blue contrast color's with flukes as the water in the lakes I fish is quite clear and I can clearly see my bait up to about 3' down
I do use darker black/blues in my worms and creature baits though with great success
And as you recommend I carry a color stick in orange blk and Chartreuse as well as a small jar of Chartreuse and orange luer dye and all three get used every trip and results prove they definitely help me get a few more fish every trip
Great Advice Mike
Like to add was just fishing a week ago and bluegills were on thier beds it after 5pm was mostly sunny water clarity was 3'+ or max for this lake mild WSW winds
I rigged up a 5.25" Zoom Super Fluke in Watermelon red flake pearl and I used my orange marker to mark up the belly side of the entire fluke and dipped tge last .75" of the tail in Chartreuse luer dye
Absolutely murdered the bass that trip.

[justynesansoucy]

I appreciate this video man. Sometimes i just throw a bunch in my backpack because I don’t even know what color the fish want. Sometimes the pond will be smashing and sometimes not a single bite lol. I’m going to keep this in mind with my color selection on my baits and see if it helps with the hook ups.

[Old-School-Bassin]

Ike you’re a nut job, (Your thumbnail pic are hilarious!), but I love your videos because they make me a much better Angler! “I Like Ike”

[jobrandofishing]

Junebug and or watermelon candy ! Great colors !

[MrJohnB-qsdp]

Awesome video!!! Thanks for sharing the info!!! Stay Safe & God Bless!!!!

[Bj-vitq]

Awesome video, Mike. I'm all about the California 420. I also love a redbug in hot water, like dragging a worm in 8'-15' or in the evening. What are your thoughts on redbug?

[jamesvircik]

Awesome now I got to be an artist lol I like it

[Doktracy]

I have a small pond with brim, catfish and largemouth bass in NC, plus tons of frogs and turtles. Water is usually fairly clear with a tannic tinge. Recommendation?

[kasonf]

What are you keeping in your fish tank? Things a little low on water 😂

[moepizl]

Hey mike. Im from ur neck of the woods. Huge fan since atleast '02 '03. Wat would u recommend for the rancocas in the Burlington county areas

[scottsamuels]

What's the best way of rigging these baits?

[samuelstrickland]

Have you done or can you do a video like this on hard bait color selection as well?

[davemccann]

What size EWG hook do you use in the Powerbait Gilly?😮

[jenlvjim]

Does anyone know if the spike it pens work as good as the dip?