I've people say fish with light colors in clear water, then I 've heard people say fish with dark stuff in clear water. the same with stained or muddy water. What is a bass fisherman to do?

Natural colors, clear water. dark or fluorescent in stained or muddy water.

Fish what you have confidence in. I use watermelon red and green pumpkin in clear to semi-clear and junebug for dark to muddy water. I even sometimes dye my soft plastics to enhance them a little. Hope this helps.

Just fish with what you have confidence in.

check this out.

http://www.bassresource.com/beginner/Choosing_Colors_selection.html

Thanks for the help. I'm just trying to expand my arsenal and have purchased a few new colors to fish with.

anything that starts with 'pumpkin'...

Along with anything that starts with 'watermelon'.

i mostly use watermelon color soft plastics but every now and then i throw a different color like red or blue and they seem to like it just because its somethin different

With the help from everyone here at TFF

This is what has always worked for me since I first started freshwater fishing a year ago:

- Watermelon for Clear Water
- Black and Dark (usually Junebug) Colors for Muddy waters