It’s hard to determine who is more particular about crappie bait colors, fish or fishermen. In either case, Bobby Garland Crappie Baits gets credit for having some of the most innovative and popular colors on the market, including Vegas, Monkey Milk, Love Bug, Silverfish and others.

The company is working now on additional colors for the start of its new tackle year that begins July 1 and is seeking help from the fishing public to come up with three of them.

The Garland "Color My Baby Shad" contest requires nothing more than using a free entry form to

describe a new hue that uses up to two colors, while also providing a recommended name for it.

"We always listen to our crappie-fishing customers about new ideas for colors, but we just can’t do them all," said Chris Lindenberg, owner of Gene Larew Lures, the parent company of Garland crappie baits. "We thought a contest would be a fun way to add some new colors and recognize anglers, too."

Color My Baby Shad is a sweepstakes that can be entered online through Facebook, or by mailing a completed entry to Gene Larew Lures. The sweepstakes’ rules can be found by visiting www.GeneLarewLures.com and then clicking on the "Color My Baby Shad" notification. No purchase is required to enter.

Entry into the sweepstakes is open now and closes on June 24. Three grand prize winners will be selected by random drawing. Each of the three winners will get the first 1,000 Baby Shad manufactured in the color that he or she submitted and will be recognized in the 2013 Gene Larew Lures catalog as the creator of that color. Twenty-five second place prizes will be awarded, also by random drawing. Second place prizes will be an assortment of Baby Shad, six colors of 10 each, provided in a mini tacklebox.

All entries become the property of Gene Larew Lures. For more information about the contest, visit the Larew web site or call the company at (800) 937-7258.