Why black?

[Tunacell]

This topic was prompted by something addressed in Striper Chronicles mentioned on another thread. The author of the book swears by bright at night and dark at day, so that got me thinking, why is the general rule dark night-dark plug? I've always found the addage to be true, but why? I know some here swear by white needles under the darkest of conditions so I'm very curoius to hear the theories you guys have for this aspect of surfcasting.

As a side note what are the theories as to why poppers seem to lose effectiviness after sunset?

[Pete_G]

I'm a big believer in that people catch on what they fish the most and have the most confidence in.

So, if you love a pink needlefish at night, it's what you're most likely to catch on. Since everyone likes black at night, it's what many catch on. But it IS better for the most part.

Especially under a moon at night though, I certainly never rule out lighter colors, but on darker nights I'm still very loyal to black.

The popper is a weird thing, in particular when you think about the effectiveness of a surface plug like a Danny plug. Again I think the conventional wisdom that they don't work at night discourages people from using them, but they do work. I've tried hard to make them work as well as other plugs, but it does seem they just don't compete in most cases.

[Zeno]

yellow comes out of my bag at night first as it does in the daytime.Then white and then black.
Ok ,so I don't really ever catch any fish............ but I am sticking to it.
I think Pete makes great point.I've seen bucktailers repeatedly outfish plugs 10 to 1 when fish were on large bait.Plugs should have been more productive but in the hands of a sharpie bucktails comes to life.He waves his rod like a magic wand and stripers cant help themselves but be transfixed by its motion ,even although the darn thing looks like nothing.
My point is ,the "lure" or the "color" might important some nights ...the other 95% of the time is the confidence

[snake slinger]

my eel holding tank is black so my eels got as dark as possible.i dont like green eels.

[shadow]

hold a black plug in the air over your head and a white one,the black shows better against the dark sky that said I don't care about color much at night as long as there is a silutte (sp) the popper is often worked to fast for night fishing they can work at times but ussally I think the fish hears the plug but the plug is gone before they can find it,fishing plugs slow at night is ussally the rule but all rules can be broken.

[Steve]

Like Henry Ford said " you can have any color car you want, as long as it is black". I've caught alot of fish on the black Slug-go on bright nights an even during the daylight. Stripers just like black.

[Zeno]

You coming to Montauk this fall?

[Steve]

I would really like to Zeno!

[Zeno]

Start thinking about dates ,mid September on.
You can stay with me with a free sluggo demonstration....

[witchhunter]

when the fish get really picky ( when they just bump the plug ) i often switch to clear plugs yes clear ! i sand the paint off plastic darters and bombers until they are clear or clearish .

fished many nights when only live eels took fish. i got'em every 1 out of their 2 on clear plugs


i try to match the sky's color to my plug choice as a rule.


"witchhunter" aka/ bill jakob