Color selection got really easy last year when jet black Top Dogs started producing giant speckled trout from Lake Calcasieu, La., to Port Isabel. Somehow, nobody seemed to notice until recently that black contrasts every bit as well against daytime sky. In keeping with anglers' constant desire for change, the folks at MirrOlure took that black bait and dipped its head in red paint. In fall, any color combination will work so long as it is black over gold over orange. Until someone is outfishing you badly, keep throwing a color you like.
Confidence is every bit as important as color.
That lesson resurfaced two years ago in Rockport, wading alongside All Star Rods owner Brett Crawford. I changed lures every six or eight casts looking for a winner. He started and finished with a Top Dog in a then-new, oddball mackerel finish. In an hour, Crawford strung four speckled trout that probably weighed 18 or 20 pounds. I had a 3-pounder, a redfish that wouldn't have covered a paper plate, and two weak mystery strikes.