Bass fishermen are creatures not so much of habit but of expedience. Another way of saying that is, “If it works, don’t mess with it.”
So the most-common lure color found on crankbaits in tackle shops and tackle boxes at Tuckertown and other Yadkin River lakes is called “Homer” — green, yellow and black.
“It started with this fella named Homer Biesecker,” said guide Maynard Edwards of Lexington. “Years ago, he got some crankbaits and painted them with green backs, yellow sides and black bellies. He also taught David Wright how to fish (them).
“When Wright, David Fritts and Gerald Beck saw Homer at the lake, he always used the same color crankbait — in clear or stained water. So whenever they’d fish tournaments or for fun, they’d ask each other, ‘What color you usin’?’ If it was green, yellow and black, they’d say, ‘I’m using Homer’s color.’ ”
Once they began serious tournament fishing — Fritts especially on the BASS trail — people would ask what lure color they used to win, and they’d say, “Homer’s color.”
“That got shortened to ‘Homer color’ about the time Bagley’s wanted to name a similar crankbait,” Edwards said. “Then, Poes made a deep-diving crankbait that retrieved easier than the Bagley’s, and Fritts, Wright and Beck wanted it named the ‘Homer color’ in Homer Biesecker’s honor, so that’s what Poes called it.”
Biesecker never got rich after his name was used to describe possibly the most popular bass lure color of all time — but he apparently didn’t mind. He didn’t like bass tournaments or personal recognition. He just liked to fish.
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