Why Lure Color Matters

Most predatory game fish evolved into creatures with a far wider visible
color reception bandwidth than humans could ever conceive. Few people would
argue that the direction of evolution has been directed only by the critical
needs of the species involved.

To humans, color has become vitally important in the selection of a car, a
new dress, or whatever. In predatory fish, however, which must hunt to eat &
survive, color reception is of major importance in detecting prey. It is
therefore absolutely logical that at some times lure color selection is
extremely important in catching those fish. Why? I don't know for sure, nor
do I really care. Simply put; what is... is.

Bob Rickard
Secret Weapon Lures

Bob,

I think we can all agree there are obvious situations when color
selections are significant. Such as stained off colored or deep water,
and using fluorescent colors that hold their color longer. Or contrasts
such as cop car (black/white) that can be used in many different
applications.
In my opinion, the point at which color discrimination becomes both
fascinating and perplexing at the same time is in clear water situations
where just seeing the prey isn't an issue, now we are talking about
details of the prey. The ability to see shades of a color, such as
blue, where in a bass's evolution would this be significant? I have
thought about their natural prey, and thought maybe a weak shad has a
different color tone to it than a healthy shad. We have all had a fish
tank at one time or another, and you can immediately tell the sick fish
from a healthy fish just by the color alone. Then I had read about the
sail fish, and just before a sail fish will strike a school of baitfish,
it will change color, and expose its bars along the side of its body to
alert the other sailfish of its intent so they don't get stabbed by the
spear. So I thought about it, and from a bass standpoint they don't
really school, at least not in their "optimal" setting. So maybe it is
a spawning thing, maybe discerning shades during the spawn help to find
a suitable, willing mate. Then again, maybe it is just a byproduct of
a predatory advantage, therefore giving them better eyesight than their
prey. Bottom line is I do not think there are any clear cut single
answers for the question, but I have a hard time believing there isn't a
purpose or use for it.
From a fishing standpoint, we are typically moving past the fish that
are honed in to "shades" of color and finding fish willing to strike our
generic versions of their natural prey. When the water is dark, we can
switch from being natural, to just being seen, and we can throw not so
natural colors. When the water gets clear, we usually drop down in
size, therefore we can still get away with natural colors, but the
smaller we go the less detail we believe we need to worry about (tell
that to a trout fisherman running a #22 black with a two tone hackle).

I guess this is the type of stuff that keeps me going fishing, reading
about fishing, and dreaming about fishing. I am happy it is still a
mystery.

Chris


Bob Rickard wrote:
Most predatory game fish evolved into creatures with a far wider visible
color reception bandwidth than humans could ever conceive. Few people would
argue that the direction of evolution has been directed only by the critical
needs of the species involved.

To humans, color has become vitally important in the selection of a car, a
new dress, or whatever. In predatory fish, however, which must hunt to eat &
survive, color reception is of major importance in detecting prey. It is
therefore absolutely logical that at some times lure color selection is
extremely important in catching those fish. Why? I don't know for sure, nor
do I really care. Simply put; what is... is.

Bob Rickard
Secret Weapon Lures

"Chris Rennert" wrote in message snip

I guess this is the type of stuff that keeps me going fishing, reading
about fishing, and dreaming about fishing. I am happy it is still a
mystery.

LOL, the more I learn and observe about fishing, the more questions arise.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

Sounds good to me Bob!

John
=========
Why Lure Color Matters

Group: rec.outdoors.fishing.bass Date: Wed, Apr 25, 2007, 12:37am
(CDT+5) From: (Bob*Rickard)
Most predatory game fish evolved into creatures with a far wider visible
color reception bandwidth than humans could ever conceive. Few people
would argue that the direction of evolution has been directed only by
the critical needs of the species involved.
To humans, color has become vitally important in the selection of a car,
a new dress, or whatever. In predatory fish, however, which must hunt to
eat & survive, color reception is of major importance in detecting prey.
It is therefore absolutely logical that at some times lure color
selection is extremely important in catching those fish. Why? I don't
know for sure, nor do I really care. Simply put; what is... is.
Bob Rickard
Secret Weapon Lures

On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:37:33 GMT, "Bob Rickard"
wrote:

Most predatory game fish evolved into creatures with a far wider visible
color reception bandwidth than humans could ever conceive. Few people would
argue that the direction of evolution has been directed only by the critical
needs of the species involved.

To humans, color has become vitally important in the selection of a car, a
new dress, or whatever. In predatory fish, however, which must hunt to eat &
survive, color reception is of major importance in detecting prey. It is
therefore absolutely logical that at some times lure color selection is
extremely important in catching those fish. Why? I don't know for sure, nor
do I really care. Simply put; what is... is.

Bob Rickard
Secret Weapon Lures


If fish were in fact able to perceive more colors than humans,
well guess what, that would make it impossible for humans
to choose the right color. After all, we can't even see them right?

In the real world, color is important only inasmuch as it lends
to "visibility" under the current lighting conditions, which are
constantly changing. Once a predatory fish notices the lure,
color has already fulfilled its mission and plays no further role
in triggering a strike.

RoLo

On Jul 22, 1:19 pm, RoLo wrote:
On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:37:33 GMT, "Bob Rickard"

wrote:
Most predatory game fish evolved into creatures with a far wider visible
color reception bandwidth than humans could ever conceive. Few people would
argue that the direction of evolution has been directed only by the critical
needs of the species involved.

To humans, color has become vitally important in the selection of a car, a
new dress, or whatever. In predatory fish, however, which must hunt to eat &
survive, color reception is of major importance in detecting prey. It is
therefore absolutely logical that at some times lure color selection is
extremely important in catching those fish. Why? I don't know for sure, nor
do I really care. Simply put; what is... is.

Bob Rickard
Secret Weapon Lures

If fish were in fact able to perceive more colors than humans,
well guess what, that would make it impossible for humans
to choose the right color. After all, we can't even see them right?

In the real world, color is important only inasmuch as it lends
to "visibility" under the current lighting conditions, which are
constantly changing. Once a predatory fish notices the lure,
color has already fulfilled its mission and plays no further role
in triggering a strike.

Talk to a scuba diver about what depth does to colour. For instance,
to the human eye red turns almost black at something like15'. Some
other colours survive to greater depths. How fish eyes react to the
depth/colour thing I'm not certain. A diver can restore some of the
colour by using a flash for photography. I've wondered as I look at
some of the lures offered for sale how the fish will actually see
them. Perhaps the action is at least as importatnt as the colour.

JF

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:29:28 -0000, JOF wrote:

On Jul 22, 1:19 pm, RoLo wrote:
On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:37:33 GMT, "Bob Rickard"

wrote:
Most predatory game fish evolved into creatures with a far wider visible
color reception bandwidth than humans could ever conceive. Few people would
argue that the direction of evolution has been directed only by the critical
needs of the species involved.

To humans, color has become vitally important in the selection of a car, a
new dress, or whatever. In predatory fish, however, which must hunt to eat &
survive, color reception is of major importance in detecting prey. It is
therefore absolutely logical that at some times lure color selection is
extremely important in catching those fish. Why? I don't know for sure, nor
do I really care. Simply put; what is... is.

Bob Rickard
Secret Weapon Lures

If fish were in fact able to perceive more colors than humans,
well guess what, that would make it impossible for humans
to choose the right color. After all, we can't even see them right?

In the real world, color is important only inasmuch as it lends
to "visibility" under the current lighting conditions, which are
constantly changing. Once a predatory fish notices the lure,
color has already fulfilled its mission and plays no further role
in triggering a strike.

Talk to a scuba diver about what depth does to colour. For instance,
to the human eye red turns almost black at something like15'. Some
other colours survive to greater depths. How fish eyes react to the
depth/colour thing I'm not certain. A diver can restore some of the
colour by using a flash for photography. I've wondered as I look at
some of the lures offered for sale how the fish will actually see
them. Perhaps the action is at least as importatnt as the colour.

JF


You're right JOF, Red is the first color to lose its identity,
followed in order by Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and lastly Purple.
The problem is, there is no set depth at which a given color
will lose its identity, which varies according to water depth,
water clarity, sky clarity and of course, time-of-day.
Instead of doing the fish's worrying, the angler might do
well just to select a lure with both a dark and light hue so the lure
will be visible under the broadest range of lighting conditions.

In the final analysis, once the predator sees the lure, then more
important matters actually trigger the strike. Matters like Action,
Size, Speed, Shape and last but not least, how close the lure
approaches the predator, that is, assuming a predator is there :-)

Roger

An icthyologist friend tells me that in fish that white & other pale
colors work best most of the time. As an evidence of the truth he says
that albinos, whether fish or other animals seldom live to maturity
because their color makes them stand out & easy for predators. I took
him at his word & started fishing white yellow & chartreuss Slug Gos
etc. with great results.

E. Carl Speros wrote:
An icthyologist friend tells me that in fish that white & other pale
colors work best most of the time. As an evidence of the truth he says
that albinos, whether fish or other animals seldom live to maturity
because their color makes them stand out & easy for predators. I took
him at his word & started fishing white yellow & chartreuss Slug Gos
etc. with great results.





I started fishing white worms,, and could not believe the success

--
Rodney Long
SpecTastic Wiggle rig
Formally the Mojo Wiggle rig
http://spectastictackle.com/