Well, since I started this mess and have read with significant interest the following posts, I'm beginning to agree with what has been stated above, that we as fishermen probably do spend too much time thinking about color and not enough time about depth, profile and size. It's easy to understand why, since we as humans are so readily able to see subtle color differences, we assume that fish are able to see them as well. And since we as humans are always searching for a cause and effect relationship (when in reality there often is none) and when you throw in the fact that lure manufacturers and fly tying materials are sold in every hue possible so that more material$ or lure$ will be purchased, probably explains why. I like Craig have seen rare instances where I was able to treat the day's fishing as though I was managing a controlled experiment, unfortunately it hasn't happened often and was while fishing for crappie or bluegill. In those cases, it was evident that color was an extremely significant factor. If you ever get a chance to read the book, "What Fish See: Understanding Optics and Color Shifts for Designing Lures and Flies" by Colin J. Kageyama, I would suggest doing so. Maybe because I evaluate people's eyes all day long and have a better understanding of optics then most, I'm a little biased but it did make for some interesting reading. All in all, thanks for everyone's insights and as for me, this year I'm going to weight my buggers more fully in order to get them down in the water column and we'll see if that rings the dinner bell more often