My best producing colors whether fishing in a tournament or just practicing on a local shore has been watermelon black flake, watermelon red, watermelon gold flake, pumpkin with chartreuse tail and my #1 color is Junebug.
I would suggest you try these colors first and see how they fair for you as many of us fish primarily much of the same waters in Colorado.
Texas Rig--Weightless/Weedless
I prefer to fish this rig with no weight at all unless I am somewhere down South where I have to punch through extra heavy weed cover to get the stickbait in the water. In Colorado, I have always fished this rig weightless.This allows for the slow horizontal fall to take place and will produce the most strikes.
These stickbaits come in a variety of sizes from 3" up to 8". We will focus on a 5" and 6" model, which is the most used size according to all the manufacturers. Depending on the conditions and what size hooks you have available, you should try and use a 3/0 hook as a minimum and up to a 5/0 size.
The hook I would recommend is the Gamakatsu EWG or the Gamakatsu G Lock. These hooks are sharp right out of the package and will ensure good hookups. The nice thing about this rig is you can run it through about anything and remain weedless. I use this rig to skip under docks, in and out of heavy structure and in thick weeds. This rig provides great hooksetting ability, as the hook does not have to travel through the plastic to get to the lip of the fish.
Simply cast the stickbait out and let it do its slow fall. Be sure to keep your line fairly tight as a lot of hits occur while the bait is sinking. You really have to focus on your line as fish will swim up to the bait and inhale it slowly and you won't see or feel a big strike. When the bait has hit the bottom and is just resting, I always let it sit there for about 2or 3 minutes. I know this sounds a bit boring but this method produces a lot of catches for me.
After the stickbait has been sitting for a while, slowly lift your rod tip, then let it down and reel in the slack as the bait starts the falling pattern again. I like to give the stickbait a few jerks now and then on a slack line as it will dance around a bit and encourage nice strikes. More>
