A fellow was studying Bob Richard's color chart
(http://secretweaponlures.com/swtip04.htm) and wrote to ask how to define
the different categories. I thought that was a pretty good question.

Bob describes five degrees of water clarity: muddy, heavy stained, light
stain, clear, and crystal clear. These are subjective terms, intended only
to give an idea of the colors of lures that present the best target in
various water conditions. One man's "stained" is another man's "dingy." I
might call water "murky" that someone else peers at in disgust and snorts
"muddy."

A color chart is useful to someone starting out, but eventually I think most
anglers stop consciously categorizing water and develop a sense or feel for
what colors of lures will be most and least visible by just observing their
lures in the water. I advised the person to lower his rod tip to the water
surface with a white spinnerbait tied on, let out line until he could no
longer see the bait, and then raise his rod tip to estimate how deep that
was. Here are my own personal definitions for the five categories on Bob's
color chart:

Description Visible to
Muddy.............................0 - 1/2 foot
Very Stained (Murky).......1/2 - 2 feet
Stained............................2 - 4 feet
Clear...............................4 to 10 feet
Crystal Clear....................More than 10 feet

The recommendations one reads on our site are based on the observations and
conclusions drawn by Bob Rickard over a lifetime of fishing everything from
muddy run-off to gin-clear rivers of Missouri. Other anglers' advice may
differ. Well known bass pro and biologist Larry Nixon uses six categories.
Here are his (from Field & Stream)
http://www.fieldandstream.com/fields...339125,00.html

Category Visibility
Muddy....................0 to 3 inches
Dingy.....................3 inches to 1 foot
Stained..................1 to 2 feet
Moderate................2 to 4 feet
Clear......................4 to 8 feet
Ultraclear................8 to 20 feet or more

The _Field & Stream_ article offers his advice on lure selection for each
category.

Here's another good article on choosing lure color based on water clarity,
reprinted from _Honey Hole_ magazine:
http://www.bassresource.com/beginner...selection.html

Chocolate-brown, muddy water is the result of suspended sediments. In our
region of the country, phytoplankton gives stained water its green color. In
other regions, like the tannic-rich Okeefenokee Swamp, Lake Okeechobee, and
many northern lakes, water might acquire a tea-colored humic stain from
peat, tannin, or other products of vegetation decay.

Even though one might be able to see a white spinnerbait 4, 6, or more feet
deep, the color of the stain in the water determines which lure colors will
be most visible. That might explain why Firetiger Perch is such a productive
spinnerbait color on Boom Lake, but in this area chartreuse/white/blue seems
to be in greatest demand.

For those of you preparing to tackle Boom's peat-stained waters, here is an
article on fishing colored water from a north country author:
http://www.muskiecentral.com/lumb_colored_water.shtml. That article by Dave
Lumb first appeared in _Pike and Predators_ magazine.

Joe