Son and I have been doing a lot more fishing with all of the free time we've had with no sports etc. We've mostly used bait (live shrimp under popping cork or cut bait on bottom rig) but I've been trying to do more with artificials while letting him continue with bait. (he's practicing on the bait caster in the back yard)

We're fishing between Port A and Corpus. I've been trying to read up on preferred color/light/dark depending on water and sky conditions. I came across this article: Lure Colors for Trout Redfish.


Anybody, have any experience they would mind sharing on color selection? Or what is your go to type and color?


I'm comfortable with jig head size selection depending on depth but if you have a favorite type, i'm interested in why.

TIA

Gulp was always my go to bait. I preferred the 6" jerk shad in Pink (yes, it works), white, or a blue/shad color.

In the last couple of years, I started getting out fished by friends and family using Down South Lures. I finally switched and fish almost exclusively with them. Pumpkinseed/Chartreuse is my favorite. Purple Reign, Chicken of the C, Strawberry, and a few others have all worked really well. too.

FYI - Most of the time I am fishing in POC/Seadrift or Galveston - West Bay. Unless I have the kids with me, I am wade fishing.

Good luck! Lot of knowledgeable guys on here that should be able to point you in the right direction.

Hogie Major Minnow & Super Minnow in the Rootbeer color. It is gold sides, black back and chartreuse tail - other manufacturers may call this color "Roach". These are paddle tail plastics and are very easy to work. They work well on Trout, Reds and the occasional Flattie.

Good alternates are the Norton Bull Minnow and KWiggler paddle tails.

Easy to work - just reel em in with an occasional twitch of the rod tip. Paddle tails can help kids gain confidence when throwing plastics. Other colors I like are Pearl body w Chart tail. And the old trusty red & white is still productive all along the coast.

For Rat Tail style baits, Bass Assassins and KWiggler Ball Tail shad are great.
Down South Lures are gaining a lot of well deserved popularity too.

Good luck out there!

Gambler Flapp'N Shad - Chads Neopolitan; Plum White; Laguna Glass
Kelly Wigglers ball tail & willow tail - plum chartreuse; dirty jalapeno; laguna-flauge; mansfield margarita

Gulp curly tails. Vary the color to match the water conditions. Soft colors in clear, bright and loud for murky water. Don't be afraid to just let it sit on the bottom for a few seconds before bumping it. You can also straight retrieve, letting the tail flutter.

They ain't cheap, but they last forever (if you keep them separate from your true soft plastics) and they work:

https://egretbaits.ecwid.com/Vudu-Shrimp-4-sizes-c15655089

Plum and chartreuse salt water assassin shad. Doesn't matter water color or conditions

White gulp shrimp with yellow tail

https://bigbitebaits.com/product/fat-grub/

You can also let your kid throw plastic shrimp under a popping cork to build his confidence. I've never done it in Port A/Corpus but smacked them in LLM/Padre drift fishing sand pockets, next to grass beds with that same setup.

MirrOlure - Lil' John (I find the short ones are the best) Go to the Tackle Store and find the Lures - get the current color that is our of stock, that is what the Guides are using

Capt Mickey let it slip one day on his am radio program this was his go to - I switched from Gulp and have never not caught a fish

Salt and Pepper is my fav

jws87ag said:

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MirrOlure - Lil' John (I find the short ones are the best) Go to the Tackle Store and find the Lures - get the current color that is our of stock, that is what the Guides are using

Capt Mickey let it slip one day on his am radio program this was his go to - I switched from Gulp and have never not caught a fish

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Purple with a white dipped tail.

Bone n yella top dog or top dog jr.

Big Bite Baits - 5 inch white cane thumper.

You can change colors on the cane thumper to water clarity but I always start with white.

Appreciate the responses. Have a few of these in my bag and will give some of them a try in the morning.

H&H Queen Cocahoe Minnow in red with white tail. In dirty water I'll use black with chartreuse tail.

Cheap and pretty durable. Trout, reds and flounder love 'em.

Regarding the Gulp curly tails, usually after one or two casts the pin perch have inconveniently removed the tail. Heck, it doesn't take them long to destroy a Gulp shrimp.

Lots of favorites, but what's working now, hands over fist, is the Brown's Flappin' Devil in Plum/Chatreuse. That, and a1/8oz weedless gold spoon.

Fish the transition line between chocolate and clear water.

Current favorite
https://skinnywaterarsenal.com/products/the-stoker-frimp-tail-ft-color-shrimp-gumbo

Red cocahoe with white or chartreuse tail

Norton sand eel - tequila gold

Red/white tail under a Mansfield mauler on the point south side of mud island

Zman diesel minnows - pinfish

jws87ag said:

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MirrOlure - Lil' John (I find the short ones are the best) Go to the Tackle Store and find the Lures - get the current color that is our of stock, that is what the Guides are using

Capt Mickey let it slip one day on his am radio program this was his go to - I switched from Gulp and have never not caught a fish

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This. If the fish are on a shrimp bite the Lil' John will destroy them. It doesn't look like much but it is super effective.

The only other tail I throw a bunch are Down South Lures. Not sure if it is the action of the the small paddle tall or what but I always get more strikes when compared to other similar baits I bet i have 30 - 40 bags of plastics in my box and they are all Lil'Johns and DSLs.

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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You can also let your kid throw plastic shrimp under a popping cork to build his confidence. I've never done it in Port A/Corpus but smacked them in LLM/Padre drift fishing sand pockets, next to grass beds with that same setup.

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Son caught a 20.5" and 23" redfish throwing gulp under popping cork today.

5StarShield said:

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ttha_aggie_09 said:

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You can also let your kid throw plastic shrimp under a popping cork to build his confidence. I've never done it in Port A/Corpus but smacked them in LLM/Padre drift fishing sand pockets, next to grass beds with that same setup.

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Son caught a 20.5" and 23" redfish throwing gulp under popping cork today.

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Awesome! Great job, dad!

Down South - Magic Grass. EOT.

Other good ones mentioned though.

Down south purple rain w chart tail, or, natural (green w silver flecks)

When just learning, green colors are best because they will work in clear and dirty water... it's like a Swiss Army knife. I always like silver or gold flake in a lure, when hit w son under water it has natural shine of a bait fish or shrimp.

I really like the h2o xpress rattle jig heads in 1/8oz on a little John or a regular dsl

Gulp jerk shads (6") are also good redfish baits, less on the trout side

Mirrolure lil John in Glow.

Or Gulp fluke/ jerk shad in watermelon and nuclear chicken

Yella gulps

Sounds like your plastic bag is a lot like mine. I tend to throw Lil Johns when I want to go small, and Down South Super Models when I want to go bigger. The DSL Super Model in Larue's Salt Sassy color is my favorite, great for murky to trout green water. Would probably do fine in clear water too.

These are all good, it ends up being personal preference once you find lures you're confident in. You can't go wrong with using spoons either. Silver spoons for trout and gold for redfish.

They all work in the right conditions.
Pick a paddle tail and a rat tail you like.
Choose a couple different color palates to meet the dark, natural and loud for different scenarios, and don't overthink it.

I always have Red or plum white, chicken on a chain, and Limetruese in my box.
I'll supplement those for random trips. I'll add white and pink options in the winter. I'll add orange gold in the fall.

As far as what brand of tails.... I think it's the not the arrow, it's the native American. (don't want to hurt anyones feelings)

for paddle tails: major minows, DSLs, Matrix Shad, Bull Minnows, Bass Assasin Sea Shad, etc. all work
rat tails: Bass Ass., Sand Eels, Lil. Johns, etc. all work.


Everyone fishes a little different. Just because somebody is catching them on a specific bait, doesn't mean you will. Fish what you have confidence in. Fish it well.

Down South. Anything with a little green in it.