by: Jim Hert 

Bass fishing is not just fishing, it is artistry and ballet all rolled into one.  You may scoff, but this is true.  We good bass fishermen combine all the elements of those things artistic and creative into our craft.  This reality has become more clearly into focus for me as I have been out practicing my art upon the waters around Greensboro North Carolina.

So you may ask, "Just what does bass fishing have in common with art?"  Well for one we have at our fingertips a very large palate of colors that we use while we are bass fishing. The creative use of color is one of the main skills of bass fishing.  Bass fishermen do not pick a lure, spinner, spoon, or plastic worm just by size or shape alone. Color is almost always the most important aspect of the item being fished with.  Women are always amazed at this aspect of our skill.  Ask most men to help pick a color for paint at home and you'll get a, "Oh, I don't care, whatever you think hon."

Ask a bass fisherman for help though and it would go more like this.  "Honey what do you think about pink for the foyer?"

"That isn't pink honey, that is salmon, and I think that would be too much of a contrast with that green pumpkin seed you picked for the hall way.  How about this water melon green?

One of my favorite bass catching baits is the jig & pig.  But not just any jig & pig.  It has to have a black jig head with blue metal flakes. The skirt has to be black, blue and have a few purple strands in it. And the plastic chunk trailer (pig) has to be black with blue metal flakes in it. Not only will it catch bass, it is a thing of beauty when the sun hits it just right!  Almost as beautiful as one of my other favorite baits. 

A Stanley Wedge spinner bait in the spring is a very good bass catching lure!  I have caught many a bass in the spring on one of these.  But not on just any color!  Before I considered the true artistic aspects of color in lures I did not catch many bass on a spinner bait.  I have learned that tt has to have a white head with a little red on the throat, a chartreuse and white skirt, one silver Colorado blade and a gold Wedge willow leaf blade. You can use other pretty colors, but you won't catch as many bass! You have to have your "art" right!  Once you get this color combination right you have a shinny metal "object de fishing" that is a thing of beauty and it will catch bass that you can hang on the wall!  

One of my other favorite spring lures is the hard-bodied crank bait.  But, again not just  any crank bait will do, it has to be a certain specific combination from the rainbow!  I always say you can use whatever color you want in the spring, as long as it is fire tiger!  Or at least one of the million or so spin offs from fire tiger.  You may ask, "What is fire tiger?"  Well it is a multitude of colors including green/chartreuse as the primary color with highlights and splashes of red, orange, black, yellow and maybe another color or two.  Sparkles and other reflective materials may be present too.