How do I decide what color of a jig I should throw. All the lakes around where I live have stained water. Lakes are Joe Pool, Lake Arlington, GrapeVine, and others and of course small ponds. Please help.

Keep it simple when first starting out. Pick some color that you like and have confidence in. CONFIDENCE is the key when it comes to fishing and catching.

Thanks and Good Luck, please feel free to give me a shout if there is anything I can help with.

For stained water I prefer dark colors, black/blue, junebug, PBJ, green pumpkin, etc. And another plug for Joey, he makes a nice jig.

Darker colors for stained water and natural(more translucent)colors for clear water. I've only fished one of the three lakes you mentioned and green pumpkin/orange/chartreuse is my favorite color for Grapevine.

For stained water keep it simple, Black/Blue

Black/Brown are my favs.

blk/blu, PBJ, And Peas and carrots are my 3 go to jig colors.

check out black angel jigs. their nice.

All the pros say the same thing...black/blue will work on almost any water, but like others said...where water is more clear, you can go to naturals.

+1 This is a good lead to follow for many situations.

Its all been said above but I'll reiterate. I am a huge believer that color matters, especially in clearer water. However, I use specific colors to fine-tune my pattern, not find it. To explore and build confidence you need a black/blue (those colors just contrast well at depth, that's all it is), brown with some dark in it (I use "Molting Craw" and SWEAR by it... 90% of my jig fish over 9 lbs ate this color in a variety of water clarities) and then a brown/purple (another contrast at depth but one that is much more natural than the shocking contrast of black/blue). If you stick to those 3 you'll be able to develop a bite... after that you use color to capitalize on the pattern.

Thanks and I try to match the trailer righ?

Peanut Butter and Jelly. Jewel jig with baby brush hog trailer. Important to work slow. Drag it along the bottom. Key is to keep in contact with bottom/structure.

Confidence is the key...more than color.

Just my opinion.
Good luck!

Black/blue tip or black/blue/purple
Green pumpkin/orange
PB&J
White
Watermelon sugar free--SpitFire jigs
Purple passion--Viper jigs

When using natural colors I try to keep my skirt/trailer color pretty similar. However, when using the dark colors such as black/blue some contrast isn't a bad thing. For example using an all black jig w/ a blue trailer... that sort of thing. Again, in dark stained water you're just trying to help them lock on it and contrast makes a difference.

JIG COLORS

While a black and blue jig is my favorite, I like to match jig colors to the water conditions. A dark colored jig with a big crawfish trailer, moving on the bottom, does a great job imitating a crawfish, but a white jig swimming over cover and around boat docks does a good job of imitating a baitfish. This is great when bass want a slower presentation, or when you can't fish a crankbait or jerkbait with ease. Many times when bass are feeding on shad, but want a slower presentation than a spinnerbait, this is the best choice. It can also catch the bigger bass that are ignoring the spinnerbait.

I like the plastic trailers in the summer months, and the pork in the winter.The new Uncle Josh Pork is more pliable in cold water, while plastic gets stiff. In places where many anglers cast tubes or small finesse worms, such as clear water flats, I cast jigs in neutral colors, and catch bigger bass. Many times when bass ignore other baits, the jig will trigger a strike. This is also a great bait for night fishing in darker colors. i change the colors according to the crawfish patterns as they change if the lake has them in it.