Jig color is not at the tippy-top of our list for factors to consider when choosing your bait, but there are some days when it can make a difference. In this video, Brad Hawthorne reveals a few of his favorite colors for walleye jigs and how he goes about choosing ’em.
When I am picking jig colors for walleyes, I’ve pretty much used the same thought process throughout my whole career, and that is to simplify the color choices down.
So let’s say you can’t catch fish on crankbaits and you notice crayfish are molting or that it may be a crayfish bite. I’m going to use an orange and black or a red and black jig. I am going to match my jig head with the bait the fish are eating.
I know that is pretty obvious but you would be surprised by how many anglers overlook that.
The other way I choose my jigs is by going off what hot colors are working for crank baits or spinners.
Let’s take Mille Lacs for example. UV pink is a hot bait in the summer for crankbaits and a hot bait in the winter for Jigging raps and Ripping raps. Thats going to be the first jig I start out.
When you look at Leech, Grand Rapids, Winnie area. Blue and white has historically been a really good color out there, and a lot of it’s clear water. I mean that’s a pretty zappy color to be using in clear water, but the fish absolutely love it.
My kind of program is whatever crank baits work well, whatever color spinners work well, you just put that right into your jigs color selection.
Another example would be on Winnie for instance; blue and chrome blue and white has always been a spectacular color out there along with natural perch. When I’m fishing Winnie I’m starting with blue and white or something in the natural perch and natural perch.
Every manufacturer out there makes really good jig colors nowadays and that’s largely because of us the consumer who have said hey we just don’t want plain white jigs anymore and that we want our jigs with several different colors on them the jigs nowadays oh they look custom painted.
