How do you know what colors to use ?

When to a East Texas lake last weekend through the 4th ,had good clear water 8 ft visible. Started off with watermelon red fluke, noticed sunfish went to d d with purple side caught 2 nothing rest of day went to soft platics bright colors banana, bubblegum, plum, chartreuse and grape nothing. Next day tried motor oil, pumpkin, and tequila sunrise nothing. Finally talked to a local said try green pumpkin ended up catching 6 .
Was I on the right track or thinking was wrong?
Thanks Monte

I always use green pumpkin......so I always know what color to use. Haha

Have to agree with Steez.
For 95% of my soft plastics - I'm throwing green. May be Watermelon,Green pumpkin or some other variant but green. Esp in clear water when I'm trying to match bream colors.

James Niggemeyer has a great video on the basic colors, watermelon red, green pumpkin, june bug, and black/blue. I have tried to cull down to these but some are just so purty I can't.

But at the end of the day it is hard to beat green pumpkin, dip the tail in chartreuse.

What he said. Works just about everywhere except Atlantic ocean.

I use watermelon red almost exclusively.

Keep it simple on soft plastics- green pumpkin, black and blue, white.

Hard baits/topwater-shad, gill, bright, dull.

Moving wire baits- white, green pumpkin

Jigs- see soft plastics list

I usually choose between 2, green pumpkin or green pumpkin

I have some go to colors that I have developed over the years.
Watermelon/red, watermelon slice, watermelon/candy red, green pumpkin
red bug, red bug shad, junebug, south africa special blue fleck, black/blue

My 4 go to colors:
Junebug
Watermelon red
Plum
Redbug

Sometimes throw California 420, black blue

Junebug is pretty hard to beat

Gary Yamamoto has a color that is green pumpkin/watermelon laminate - color 912. Believe it is one of his go-to colors in Senkos.

Pretty much use watermelon red flake.
I keep my colors simple. Black/blue, Green pumpkin, and watermelon red flake.

Make it simple: Dark days, dark baits. Bright days, natural baits

Good rules of thumb

Natural colors are hard to beat in any water in Texas unless it's absolute mudhole

When in doubt:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLa81DVt-8Q

My tackle is organize me between clear water and dirty water. Then another level of organization is windy vs calm water.

Natural colors for clear

Bright or Dark for dirty.

I think I have one of those out in the shop.

It's hard to go wrong with watermelon, pumpkin, dark colors, and purpleish or red/drk variations on soft plastics like worms, stickbaits, and creature baits, In any color water (choose darker as clarity gets worse) also dont be afraid to dip tails in chartruese or orange. especially if its cloudy or fishing murky water.
On flukes and trick worms I will throw dif colors sometimes like bright and shad style.
crankbaits I will throw a shad colors or craw immitations and often go with chart/ brown blk or olive.
spinnerbaits/ Buzz keep it simple black at night or low light. white or white/ chart in day sometimes red if fish eating craw in muddy waters.
The main thing though that honestly counts the most is have confidence in whatever color you choose!