There are all sorts of crazy colors out there when it comes to different types of hard baits and soft plastics. You don’t need to have every color though. There are only a few colors that I believe every bass angler should have in their arsenal.

The first color group is going to be the greens, browns, and more natural colors. The main one is green pumpkin; this is one of the best colors in my opinion, when it comes to natural lakes. It works very well in clear, clean water, and on days when the sun is shining. 

The next color is going to be a light brown, or “pumpkin seed” color. This is also good in natural lakes and clean water. I mostly use this for fishing on breaklines.

Along with green pumpkin, I always suggest green pumpkin with some red flakes in it. This green is generally a little bit lighter, and more translucent. And the slight red coloring in it makes it something that a lot of fish just can’t resist. 

The next color group is more of the blues, and blacks, more dirty water, cloudy day colors. The most well known color is junebug, this is a great dirty water color. It is slightly purple but has some blue, and teal flakes in it.

Another blue color is black blue. Black blue is also very popular in dirty water, it is on plastics generally half blue, and half black. I really like this color when it comes to flipping cover, like pads, rice and sometimes reeds. 

Those are colors that are great for soft plastics and some hard baits. 

When it comes to top water baits, there are two colors that I use. Black and white. Keep it simple when you are throwing topwater baits, use a white on a cloudy day and black on a sunny day.

As for the hard baits, I like to keep reds, whites, pinks, and blue. I like to the reds for when you are trying to imitate crawfish, because they generally have a more red color to them. 

I like whites and pinks mostly when it comes to smallmouth. Those are colors that they can’t seem to resist, and when you get your timing down, you can have a great day on the water. 

The blue hard baits I like for super clear and clean water, they usually have a little extra flash and the fish can see them from a mile away. 

So, when it comes to color selection, keep it simple. Gain confidence in a few basic colors, and then slowly you can work in some of those more crazy wild colors.