|
Urban | Fri Jan-20-06 12:39 PM |
Member since Sep 22nd 2004
402 posts
| |
|
#3652, "Hitch and hitch colored baits, somethings bothering me"
Fri Jan-20-06 12:43 PM by Urban
|
So, just about every bait that comes out that says its a hitch or "Clear Lake" hitch color generally has bronze sides and a blackish back. This has always bothered me because Ive never ever seen a hitch with this coloration. The ones Ive seen have slivery sides with a blackish back, no bronze at all. And, Ive seen spawning ones too; yep, no bronze on them either. I decided to look into the matter and see where this bronze color for hitch has come from.
Turns out that in Clear Lake there are two types of hitch. One is called hitch (proper common name), and the other is a subspecies of the hitch and it is called Clear Lake hitch (proper common name). A deeper look into the issues uncovered the fact that Clear Lake hitch are either extirpated from Clear Lake, or they are present in very low numbers. Also, it is virtually impossible to find info pertaining to Clear Lake hitch, no pictures, no physical description, no nothing. Also, a co-worker informed me that he looked into this issue a few years ago and found that nobody that has worked on Clear Lake in the last like 20 years has sampled a Clear Lake hitch (I didnt verify this, but hes a smart fella).
So where all this is going is this. I assumed that Ive only seen hitch (since Ive never seen the bronze coloration), and that it is the Clear Lake hitch that shows the bronze color. This quote came from Moyle (2002): "When small, hitch are silvery with a black spot at the base of the tail. Older fish lose the spot and become darker, with the largest fish approaching brownish yellow on the back." The problem with this description is it doesnt say which species of the two gets this brown/yellow color. So, Im still confused.
My interpretation of the whole thing is this. Clear Lake hitch likely are gone from Clear Lake. That leaves hitch, and no hitch Ive ever seen have bronze in them, and Ive seen big ones (ones pushing maximum prey size for largemouth). All of the ones that Ive seen that are 12 inches and under (the size range I consider to be primary prey items for largemouth) are silvery. So why would I possibly want to use a hitch imitator that is bronze? I dont get it.
Maybe some of you can shed light on why most lure makers think they should paint their hitch baits with a bronze color.
Anyway, attached are two images of hitch that I caught by accident vertical jigging yesterday at Clear Lake. It was kinda cool, we found a school in deep water that, on the electronics, we thought were bass and/or crappie. Neat surprise when we brought the first one into the boat.
http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/4511-Fish1.jpg
http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/4512-Fish2.jpg
Attachment
#1, (.jpg file) Attachment
#2, (.jpg file)
|
|
|
|
RE: Hitch and hitch colored baits, somethings bothering...,
Bigreenjobass,
Jan 20th 2006, #1
Ok, let me clarify,
Urban,
Jan 20th 2006, #3
Hey Bigreenjobass,
Fish Chris,
Jan 21st 2006, #18
RE: Hitch and hitch colored baits, somethings bothering...,
bass coyote,
Jan 20th 2006, #2
It's like asking what color is a bluegill or a crawdad,
swimbait,
Jan 20th 2006, #4
RE: It's like asking what color is a bluegill or a craw...,
Urban,
Jan 20th 2006, #5
RE: It's like asking what color is a bluegill or a craw...,
Bigreenjobass,
Jan 20th 2006, #6
RE: It's like asking what color is a bluegill or a craw...,
swimbait,
Jan 20th 2006, #7
RE: It's like asking what color is a bluegill or a craw...,
Bigreenjobass,
Jan 20th 2006, #8
RE: It's like asking what color is a bluegill or a craw...,
swimbait,
Jan 20th 2006, #9
RE: It's like asking what color is a bluegill or a craw...,
Bigreenjobass,
Jan 20th 2006, #10
RE: It's like asking what color is a bluegill or a craw...,
swimbait,
Jan 20th 2006, #11
RE: It's like asking what color is a bluegill or a craw...,
Bigreenjobass,
Jan 20th 2006, #12
Florida?,
Urban,
Jan 20th 2006, #13
RE: Florida?,
Tm Customs,
Jan 20th 2006, #14
RE: Florida?,
Mattlures,
Jan 20th 2006, #15
I saw it,
Urban,
Jan 20th 2006, #16
RE: Hitch and hitch colored baits, somethings bothering...,
Nico,
Jan 20th 2006, #17
RE: Hitch and hitch colored baits, somethings bothering...,
magmaster,
Jan 22nd 2006, #19
RE: Hitch and hitch colored baits, somethings bothering...,
Mattlures,
Jan 22nd 2006, #20
RE: Hitch and hitch colored baits, somethings bothering...,
Tm Customs,
Jan 22nd 2006, #21
RE: Hitch and hitch colored baits, somethings bothering...,
Urban,
Jan 23rd 2006, #22
RE: Hitch and hitch colored baits, somethings bothering...,
Mattlures,
Jan 23rd 2006, #23
RE: Hitch and hitch colored baits, somethings bothering...,
Nico,
Jan 23rd 2006, #24
RE: Hitch and hitch colored baits, somethings bothering...,
Mattlures,
Jan 23rd 2006, #25
| |
  |
Urban | Fri Jan-20-06 01:26 PM |
Member since Sep 22nd 2004
402 posts
| |
|
#3655, "Ok, let me clarify"
In response to Reply # 1
|
Before everybody jumps on me, let me clarify a bit.
Take a look at the Hudd hitch, or the osprey, or whatever. There isnt just a hint of bronze, its ALL bronze, and a deep bronze at that.
My point was/is, the hitch are much, much closer to being all silver. And I wasnt gonna say this, but I know that I would much rather use the Kokannee Hudd than the Hitch Hudd when trying to imitate hitch, or fish in a place where I think hitch are a primary forage item
|
|
|
|
  |
Fish Chris | Sat Jan-21-06 08:35 AM |
Member since Jul 07th 2002
700 posts
| |
|
#3671, "Hey Bigreenjobass"
In response to Reply # 1
|
here's a little note on photography that most of you may not know. There is a little thing called white balance that has to do with the overall color of a photo leaning more towards the red or the blue side. I suspect that "either" Nico's shot was balanced more towards the red side than it should have been.... or, it was taken close to sunrise, or sunset, which will also lend more of a red (or in this case bronze) shade to a photo.
Anyway, I can vouch.... I caught Hitch from Clear Lk. as recently as last week (while Crappie fishing) and they were anywhere from white, to silver, to grey....... but not even a hint of bronze.
Peace, Fish
PS, Those are some of the "stinkiest" damn fish on the planet ! Once you hold them, your going to stink for a month ! Hey Nico, is this your excuse ? :-) Sorry buddy :-)
|
|
|
|
|
swimbait | Fri Jan-20-06 01:39 PM |
Charter member
9890 posts
| |
|
#3656, "It's like asking what color is a bluegill or a crawdad"
In response to Reply # 0
|
I've gone down the same road hitch color investigation a few times. What's funny is that if you ask different people who have seen hitch to describe them, invariably you get different responses. Greenish, bluish, whitish, bronzeish, etc.
There have only been two other good pics of hitch online in the past, one was on a scientific website that had a bunch of pics including a large female hitch (no longer online). That fish was mainly silver in coloration, a hint of cream/gold and a black back. The other hitch pic is on Chris Youlden's baitfish gallery on this site, I think it came originally from a pic in the ncbf photo gallery, but anyway that one is basically silver with grey/blue tones.
After hearing so many different reports on their coloration, I can only speculate that the hitch is a fish that can vary in coloration, probably in response to water clarity and surrounding colors, just like bluegill and crawdads do.
Urban's pic above (and you can clue me in if I am wrong) probably came from deeper water with bad clarity like less than one foot. Most fish look paler than normal when brought up from those conditions. That same fish in the pic might look considerably different in the spring over grass beds in clear water.
I do agree though that I've never seen a pic or heard a description of a hitch as being brown, and a lot of hitch imitators are primarily brown. It's probably because they guys making the baits just haven't seen a hitch before and are relying on descriptions... which of course vary a lot :)
|
|
|
|
          | |
            | |
              | |
          | |
            | |
              | |
      |
Urban | Mon Jan-23-06 12:37 AM |
Member since Sep 22nd 2004
402 posts
| |
|
#3681, "RE: Hitch and hitch colored baits, somethings bothering..."
In response to Reply # 20
|
I dont know Matt. I think in general the bait looks great, but I still think there is too much bronze in it. Ive held the bait and seen it swim, and there is no doubt it will catch fish, but I think if I was trying to match the so called hatch, and I wanted to imitate hitch, that I would likely turn to your kokanee instead.
But, this is just my opinion. Either way, it really doesnt matter. The way I see it, if youre throwing some sort of baitfish imitator, its gonna get eaten provided you have the right presentation at the righ time, regardless of color.
|
|
|
|
          | |
            | |
|
|
© Copyright Robert Belloni 1997-2012. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without express written consent.
|