As you know, vineyards are very popular in CA, and with each passing day there are more and more vineyards sprouting out of nowhere. What happens is lots of grapes will actually fall off the vine, roll down a hill, and end up in the water. Of course they turn sour very quickly. Well bass, being the oppotunists that they are, have started feeding on the sour grapes! A few very observant fishermen figured this out, started painting their baits a sour grape color, and were slamming nice fish. One of the first pioneers of this new grape thing was sponsored by Norman, and he sold the idea to them. From what I hear, a sour grape swimbait will be introduced later this fall to coincide with the annual "fall" stocking (falling off the vines) of sour grapes. I heard a rumor that Rago will introduce a very nice topwater crankbait that looks exactly like a sour grape complete with a 7 inch long "tail" that resembles a vine.:P

On a serious note, that color is one of my favorite at Clear Lake. Many colors cant be matched up to something realistic. But if I had to take a stab at sour grape, I would say that in dingy to dark water, those colors are more visible and may better imitate a real shad in those dark waters. If you look closely at shad, they do have yellow hues and tints on their bellies and sides, and they do have purplish tints high on their shoulders and backs. Who knows.

And for a true story, as best as I can recall, I caught my first bass on a piece of bubblegum when I was very young. I was chewing a huge wad a bubbleyum, and taking tiny pieces of it, putting it on a hook, and catching bluegill when my first bass slammed me. Honest.