Rob G Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 it's not chartreuse. I can't say I've always been a big believer in this axiom but last night on the Lower Vermilion, though I was catching fish stripping my all white streamers, it was way too often the bump and flash show for my tastes. They were hitting short and repeatedly doing the "fly by". Well after a while I heeded Lefty's words (though I'm not sure Mike G. believes me when I say I heard Lefty speak these words pertaining to freshwater) and tied on the same exact streamer but with some chartreuse in it and it was "On like Donkey Kong" I can't state for sure if it was just this group of smallies or this stretch of stream, or was it the color? I have no idea but gone were the short strikes and hello to bigger fish. I lost the really big one for the evening on a spectacular leap but just before he spit it out, I could have sworn he said, "Hey buddy, it ain't no use...." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 ... Well after a while I heeded Lefty's words (though I'm not sure Mike G. believes me when I say I heard Lefty speak these words pertaining to freshwater) ... Rob, Who am I to call you a liar? Assuming that the times you saw Lefty in person are few, you should be able to tell us where and when you heard him say it. I would be interested though actually I have seen him say it many times in print. But invariably he ascribes the saying to other sources like quoting Florida saltwater guides or saying it is an "old saying among fishermen." Now if chartreuse is so dang good why do we use any other color? But first, what color is it? To a drinking man it can be yellow or green or white. Chartreuse is a liqueur that comes in all those colors. To a fisherman it is a bright celery green color. Let's stick with fisherman's chartreuse. So why do we need colors like Bubblegum, Redbone, PBJ, Firetiger, and Yamamoto's #330? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronk Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Chartreuse has always been the preferred color for ice jigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom L Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 In clearer water, I found color(s) of the fly/lure becomes more relevant. Certain colors works better in certain time/day. White, chart, yellow, red, brown, oliver, orange all have permanent place in my flybox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Chartreuse has always been the preferred color for ice jigs. You catch a lot of Smallmouths through the ice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted August 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 So why do we need colors like Bubblegum, Redbone, PBJ, Firetiger, and Yamamoto's #330? "Might as well go home if it's not Redbone" "Fish aren't dumb so use bubblegum !" "Fish will stay away if it's not PBJ" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 "Might as well go home if it's not Redbone" "Fish aren't dumb so use bubblegum !" "Fish will stay away if it's not PBJ" I get it. Fish go for the slogan. "It's just too bad if it ain't Red Shad!" "If it ain't Root Beer,stick it in your ear." But what about Yamamoto's 330? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted August 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 You got it Mike, the fish are attracted to the sizzle and not the steak, they fall for the marketing of a catchy slogan and not the color itself, just like we humans. As to the Yamamoto's 330, better poet than I if you can come up with something there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Use Yamamoto's 330, fish sure do think it's purty. (to be read with a southern drawl) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted August 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 I always enjoy a colorful thread such as this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Orange is the challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted August 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 This one would sum up my afternoon, "Even chartreuse was of no use" The water was more stained and a little higher than I thought it would be but other than a few small dinks, they would not hit my streamers, even those electric celery colored ones. I did find a pocket of clear shallow water over a nice cut in the bedrock and it was the Big Black Bug to the rescue. Six fish in six casts, 14, 15.5, and a 17 to somewhat save the day. Sorry Mike, I don't have a Big Chartreuse Bug. BCB, ...........nah, not catchy at all. Oh, and what do my entomology friends think is going on here, this piece of wood drifting down the river, surely not a dragon fly party. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted August 6, 2013 Report Share Posted August 6, 2013 A damselfly party. I believe they are laying eggs. What color do I see on the back of that fly? Could it be a shade of... Could the bass have seen... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted August 6, 2013 Report Share Posted August 6, 2013 If it isn't Orange, use a door hinge. You're in the dough with three-three-oh. Purple? (If rhyming is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted August 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2013 What color do I see on the back of that fly? Could it be a shade of... Could the bass have seen... Yellow on black, that's where it's at Sung repeatedly to the same rhythm and melody as the Temptations' "Psychedelic Shack" (I just realized that I missed my calling and should have been a greeting card or fortune cookie writer) John, I bet you are correct in it being a damselfly egg laying party. I wonder if they exchange small pieces of Tupperware at something like that? Interesting that they would select that same random piece of wood drifting down the river. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted August 6, 2013 Report Share Posted August 6, 2013 Nice Mike! Rob, I will accept your explanation, but now I can't get that little jingle out of my head..As far as the Tupperware party goes, when my wife attends such things or when she has a baby shower to attend, the ladies all meet in the same place.I am quite sure this is not a random act. Nice bunch of fish by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted August 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2013 I get the "purty" and "thirty" but I can't wrap my tongue around "orange" and "hinge" From a zoologist point of view, I would think nature would want to disperse the eggs more widely than "having all the eggs in one basket" or in this case one piece of wood. But then maybe they're so numerous that it's a moot point. Just wondering what evolutionary advantage it would be for mass egg laying, it's got to be a social and tupperware thing where they catch up on all the gossip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted August 6, 2013 Report Share Posted August 6, 2013 I get the "purty" and "thirty" but I can't wrap my tongue around "orange" and "hinge." It will come. Purple? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted August 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2013 "It better be purple if your bug be a gurgle." Jack Gartside is probably rolling over on that slur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted August 7, 2013 Report Share Posted August 7, 2013 Cerise? Magenta? Fuchsia? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted August 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2013 Not that we couldn't come up with catchy slogans for all of those as well but my flybox isn't big enough to hold all those different colored flies. Send that list of colors to Lefty and see what he can come up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.