Lure Colors
Do lure colors matter? The two best spinner fishermen I know of, one for numbers and the other for size, fish just one color spinner almost exclusively. They would say "no." The "numbers" guy is a retired accountant who has meticulously documented each catch (and the lure used) for the last 45 years. He truly is a "numbers" guy. His records for lure used include lure color. Based on the data, he is convinced that color doesn't matter. On any given day on any given stream, it might; but day in, day out, year in, year out, it doesn't. Or rather, other colors don't work any better than the one he now fishes.
I don't know if the "size" guy keeps records, but I do know that if the only color he uses didn't work to his satisfaction he wouldn't still be using only one color.
Both anglers fish spinners that are primarily gold. One fishes a spinner that has a little bit of white and the other fishes a spinner than has a little bit of red, but essentially, they both just use gold spinners (gold blade, gold body). It makes sense to me. Both are trout fishermen, big trout eat little trout and a lot of little trout are gold between their parr marks.
One of the streams I fish has a large population of juvenile fallfish and some common shiners, both of which are very silvery. On that particular stream, gold works but silver works better than gold.
I have chosen to stock primarily gold and silver lures for those reasons. I am sure other colors will catch fish. I am also sure you don't need other colors.
All the lures I have chosen to stock come in several sizes and many colors. In most cases I have chosen to stock only one or two sizes, and only two or three colors. I am sure I could sell more lures if I stocked all the colors, but Finesse-Fishing.com is run out of a tiny New York City studio apartment. Space is limited to say the least! I know the colors I stock work. I don't know that additional colors would work enough better to justify the space, accounting and investment they'd require - or even the grams of additional weight you'd have to carry.
Header photo: Tenryu Rayz RZ4102B-UL, Shimano Calcutta Conquest BFSHG ('17)
Warning:
The hooks are sharp.
The coffee's hot.
The fish are slippery when wet.
Whatever you do, do it with finesse!