Had a thought today. Since the jig is the smaller piece of the presentation (whether using minnow, crawler, leech, or plastic) does the color really matter that much? What have you noticed? What are your favorite colors? Would I make my fishing life easier by just buying unpainted jigs?
My buddies and I fish unpainted almost all of the time. Sometimes I will feel sporty and throw on a chart/orange, white, or chart jig but it never makes any difference.
Unpainted is a color, a very natural color.. gray.
Think color has a lot to do with what you have the most confidence in. If your confident in it you will fish it better. Then there are those time that the fish do prefer a specif color. For me Ive narrowed my jigs colors down for where I fish on the river. Orange/chartreuse is a favorite or black. They dont seem to have a problem hitting these colors so why buy a ton of other colors.
Go with what you have confidence in.
When fishing plastics I use unpainted most of the time, reason being I feel the plastic is the main attractant not the head. But with live bait I think the little flash of color can be a big attractant. I like two time colors, usually orange/yellow, blue/white, or purple/yellow.
So I also have just started fishing unpainted jig heads and yes they work too but I think when the fish are fished a lot or if they are picky then you need some other flashy color. I also think in different bodies of water different colors are better than others. example around hastings, mn I have noticed I do pretty good with orange or pink, yes other colors work to but I do better with those two colors.
I don’t know if it makes a huge difference but on a touch bite it may. Last year in Canada I out fished everyone 3-1 using a gold jig versus their white and pink. There are other variables as well, but it could help.
I usually use fire orange or chartreuse, a trick I picked up from Bill Binkelman years ago. There are times when two people in the same boat, with the same color & weight will outfish me 5-1, but other days, I am on that top end. I have found that gold/copper jigs have made a difference on some river fed lakes. But……as one reply stated…..it might just be a confidence thing!
If you wanted to paint over some of your jig heads for the river ( Mississippi )what colors would you go with ? Will powder paint go over other paints or will you need vinyl ? Thanks
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Had a thought today. Since the jig is the smaller piece of the presentation (whether using minnow, crawler, leech, or plastic) does the color really matter that much? What have you noticed? What are your favorite colors? Would I make my fishing life easier by just buying unpainted jigs?
Nice thing about painting my own jigs. I only have 3 of any color/size in my box at any time.
I loose a few, I make a few more that evening. That way I don’t have to “stock up” and spend a fortune on jigs. Color does matter at times. That is why I am not afraid to change it up often.
OT – Orange Tiger Glow Eyes is a favorite of mine from BfishN tackle. That or black is a must have. Like the little glow eyes. Just enough glow to get the fish to take a look. Not so much that it turns them off. Funny thing is that some times they seem to want a straight black jig with no white eyes. Have a black marker in my jig box to darken the eyes out then.
I agree with the consensus here, when the fish are just hammering I don’t think color makes a bit of difference, but when they get picky it definitely does. Give me: black with a yellow eye (by far an away my favorite color), purple and pink and I’m set for any kind of bite. 
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I agree with the consensus here, when the fish are just hammering I don’t think color makes a bit of difference, but when they get picky it definitely does.
X2 
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I agree with the consensus here, when the fish are just hammering I don’t think color makes a bit of difference, but when they get picky it definitely does.
X2
X3 – and when color does matter, having the right color seems to be a major factor in how many fish come in the boat.
Natural or black for me. I have found times when color makes a big difference and in those times natural or black have been the fish producers. Blue in dirty water can produce too.
My two fovorite colors are lead natural and two tone orange and black
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