Without apology, I fall squarely in the latter group. On far too many instances, I have watched several boats sit over fish holding structure, all using the same type of bait in different colors with only one catching fish. Not the only factor, mind you, but a very important one nonetheless. The first step in this process is to determine the preferred prey species in a lake.
Local fishermen are the best source for that information.
Take the top two bait species you heard about most often and then go hunting. The angler has to look at samples from the lake. Once you know that, you can go to your tackle. Choose the color that most resembles the prey species, and then choose several other variations on that theme. To round out your selection, add base color variants - a root beer with black flake and a cinnamon.