Great question! Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this. While sometimes the hard and fast rules for colors to use on sunny or cloudy days and clear vs dirty water work it is really up to the fish to decide what they want on any given day. We can say that for the most part if you are dealing with clean/clear water, whites and metallic colors work well. In dirty/stained water, bright colors are our first choice. The biggest thing is to make sure you are switching colors often and find out what the fish prefer on any given day.

Generally speaking the colder the water temperature, the slower you want to present the bait. As the open water season wears on and the water temperature increases fish become more aggressive and you can follow suit by working the bait at a faster speed. Always keep in mind that a big weather change in the middle of summer, like a strong storm or cold front, can cause the fish to become less aggressive and you may have to slow down your presentation for it to become effective once again.

The simple answer to this is no. It is an old wives tale that trolling crankbaits in super cold-water temperatures doesn’t work. As we have said before, just make sure you work the bait slowly. There are incredible catches to be made on crankbaits during cold water months and generally bigger fish will come during that time, too. Give it a shot and we promise you will not be disappointed.

We always start by matching what the main forage is in any given body of water. If you have a heavy shad population, the Predator, X-Shad or Ripper would be a good starting point. A smelt base would start us down the path of the Renegade or Brawler. Keep in mind that this is not always a perfect science and it is really important to keep switching profiles and colors to maximize your opportunity for success.

We have spent an incredible amount of time on all our baits to make them perform above anything else available. Our Sabre Lip technology allows baits to move through the water by punching a hole in the water and leaving behind a disturbance trail that is easily tracked by predatory fish. It also makes the bait incredibly stable while moving through the water even at high speeds and gives an action that is really second to none. Our Kamikaze is molded in one piece to make it durable and shaped in a way to allow the bait to momentarily pause at its peak and then rocket to the bottom triggering intense reactionary strikes.