Hey SS,
I've always been a "match the hatch" type of fisherman. When choosing a crankbait color I like to first know what type of forage the larger bass have been targeting. In some cases, there is a limited food source for the bass to choose from, so it makes color selection a bit easier. If you only have bluegill, crawfish and other bass, your choices will be more limited. Some of my fishing buddies have commented that they are surprised that I do not carry more color varieties in my collection. For me (and this is just a personal preference) I like to keep it simple. Shad/minnow/alewife colors, blue gill colors, Perch colors, crayfish colors. The only thing I will add is that there are some colors like Gold, silver, chartreuse or bone that I feel are more of a general "attractor" color. So I will always have a few bright attractor colors in my box.
We have had some very in depth discussions on these boards about colors and when you bring water clarity into the equation, color can be a bigger factor. In stained/dirty water color can make a big difference, however under most circumstances, you should be fine with a few good bait fish patterns. Will there be days when one particular color or color pattern outshines others? I believe so, but I think matching the forage (size, action and general color) will get the results you want more cosistantly and if you can avoid over thinking the color factor, you'll probably have more success than the fisherman who spend the entire day switching colors hoping to find that "magic color" for the day. I hear more bad stories from guys who get hung up on color than good ones...
In the end, this is just one person's point of view and really it comes down to a system that works for me. You might have different results with the same approach. This brings up another point about confidence and what a big role that can play in your catching success. Have you ever been on the water with a fishing buddy where you were both using the same exact setup (lure, line, retrieve, etc.) but one person was just catching more than the other? Afer a while, the person who is catching more tends to do better and the person who is catching less tends to do worse... Perhaps this is because one's confidence level is rising with every fish caught and the other's is dropping with ever cast that does not produce.
I like to stick with the colors that time and time again produce big results for me and leave the other at home. From time to time I will experiment with new colors until one particular color raises to the top, just so that I keep an open mind because I have learned that from one year to the next preferences do change. Regardless of that fact, I still have boxes of lures in a certain color that always produce in the areas where I fish, year after year. Those are the colors I like to focus on.
There have been days (more specifically multi-day tournaments) where a very specific color was out preforming all others and you find that most of the field is fishing the same color. Fortunately, 9 out of 10 times, it's one of those colors that I carry because of years of good results. The one or two times when I didn't have that color... I quickly purchased some from a local shop, or usually from a fellow angler. That's tournament fishing though... if you are out having a good time... you most likely will never even know that there was a "magic color" on a given day, unless you plan to try a really wide range of colors throughout the day.
Wow... talk about a long winded answer!
Hopefully you find something in here that will help you in some way.
BC
(Just kidding) 
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