Lure colours you love......

[Travis Heaps]

Fish vision is a subject I have read a bit about Andy and it seems there are some disagreements in the scientific community.

One interesting point though is that is seems predator fish can see in the ultraviolet light range. That would perhaps explain why outrageous and unnatural pinks, oranges and lime greens work as lure colours.

Im pretty sure UV additives are all the rage in billfishing lures these days aren't they?  Yet to trickle down to GT lures but it can only be a matter of time...

[Andy Rowe]

That explains why i keep loosing my "pink sardine" GT3's, that colour has been very effective.

[Mark Harris]

Fish vision is a subject I have read a bit about Andy and it seems there are some disagreements in the scientific community.

One interesting point though is that is seems predator fish can see in the ultraviolet light range. That would perhaps explain why outrageous and unnatural pinks, oranges and lime greens work as lure colours.

Im pretty sure UV additives are all the rage in billfishing lures these days aren't they?  Yet to trickle down to GT lures but it can only be a matter of time...

That's an interesting insight about bill fishing lures Travis.

Some lure makers have been making some "glow in the dark" poppers for years. I don't think it very widespread though (yet!).

I once had great fun casting luminous poppers at night in Eastern Indonesia. We were loading them up with a flashlight before casting and then watching the glowing shapes fire through the air

[Mark Harris]

I mentioned Shell Shaping's striking rainbow spectrum colour in the original post.

I find this very attractive but have not caught a fish using the pattern yet. Has anyone else, or is this perhaps a good example of colours being for the angler rather than the fish?

[Warwick Joyce]

Mark, in the Barra scene this rainbow colour is referred to as Elton John colour hahaha
It does work well in murky water. Some Barra pro's say that the red "predator" eye of the Barramundie see in grey scale, so maybe its not the colour the fish see but the silhouette and the different shades that different colours appear.
Of course the "red" eye are generally associated with nocturnal species (high blood flow to the eye shows red when light hits it eg flash or torch) so this may not be as true for GT's?

And as you said, there is a lot of disagreement in the scientific world on this topic.

[Mark Harris]

Mark, in the Barra scene this rainbow colour is referred to as Elton John colour hahaha

Now you got my imagination going. I am seeing two rainbow Shell Shaping Twister F5s as earrings on a drag queen at the Mardi Gras  .

[Tony Fowler]

I'm with Darren
Dark, dark, dark, or natural.    Blacks and blues.   Favourite is Black glow in FCL's from fishhead. or black/silver & blue/silver gamma's and bluefish
Even been known to spray paint some not so favorable coloured lures black. See tuna caught in Kiribati report.

[Brandon Khoo]

I've got a couple of these in F5s, Mark.
I have got a couple of fish on them but haven't used them that much

I mentioned Shell Shaping's striking rainbow spectrum colour in the original post.

I find this very attractive but have not caught a fish using the pattern yet. Has anyone else, or is this perhaps a good example of colours being for the angler rather than the fish?

[Graham Blackmore]

I do a lot of diving and was trained as a marine biologist.

For sure colours that we perceive at the surface are nothing like what a fish sees underwater.  Red is lost very quickly even in the clearest tropical waters.

For top water I think anglers are kidding themselves about colours - You can not see colour looking up to the surface against a light (any daylight) sky.  It would therefore be either light or dark - light being the colour that all natural fishes are if you look at there underside and dark probably giving more silhouette.

Colour is probably far more important to the angler with preferred lures fished more and therefore catching more and feeding the perception that colour is important.

[Rob Langridge]

When it comes to colour of lures i for one have asked a lot of good fisherman if fish see colour. As i was of the opinion they were colour blind. I did a bit of research on the matter and the best bit of info i came across was this from a Zoology or Animal Biology report. Zoology is the branch of biology that is concerned with the study of animals. The life, growth and classification of fauna in all living forms.

Q: How do fish see..?

A: Fish have eyes just like humans, but they also have protective film over them so that they can see clearly underwater. They have rod and cone cells on their retinas, so we know that they can see in colour as well as in shades of grey, and that they have some level of night vision. Fish have the same chemicals in their eyes which allow humans to see colours, so they can see the seven colour spectrum that we see. They also have another chemical in their eyes which allows them to see some ultra-violet frequencies as well.

In addition to their eyes fish also have what is called a lateral line. A lateral line is a thin, horizontal line of nerve receptors on each side of the fish that runs from head to tail. Using its lateral line, a fish can sense even the smallest of vibrations in the water and is able to determine objects around them before they even see it. Most fish that live far underwater rely almost entirely on their lateral line because it is so dark that their eyes are more of light sensors, rather than a visual tool.

I am now of the opinion that fish do see colour.

Cheers Rob

[Mark Harris]

Rob, there is no question that fish see colour.  It is more a question of HOW they see colour.  On that there is much debate still I believe.

I do a fair bit of diving as well Graham and think your point about colours when surface fishing is very valid. A lot of the colours many of us seem to have success with have light and dark contrasty patterns (on the same lure), and that backs up your point about creating silhouettes against the light.

On reds and pinks, I think one of theories about why these two colours seem to work so well on deep sinking baits (eg jigs), is that they grey out very quickly at depth. And shades of grey are probably the commonest single colour on any fish. So, what we see on the surface as red or pink, the fish sees at depth as grey.  That's the theory I have heard put forward anyway.

[Mark Harris]

That's good to hear Brandon. I will persevere with mine then!

I've got a couple of these in F5s, Mark.
I have got a couple of fish on them but haven't used them that much

I mentioned Shell Shaping's striking rainbow spectrum colour in the original post.

I find this very attractive but have not caught a fish using the pattern yet. Has anyone else, or is this perhaps a good example of colours being for the angler rather than the fish?

[Gavin Chau]

For top water I think anglers are kidding themselves about colours - You can not see colour looking up to the surface against a light (any daylight) sky.  It would therefore be either light or dark - light being the colour that all natural fishes are if you look at there underside and dark probably giving more silhouette.

this is true in deep water but in shallow areas where light is also reflected off the sea floor you'll be able to see colour looking up... also with clear plastic you'll be able to see the colour of the plastic looking up as well

actually this probably explains why the tuna fishos do well with dark colours - they're fishing in deep water with little or no reflected light upwards. whereas in shallow reefy areas where kings and gts live colour make a bigger difference

[Graham Blackmore]

For top water I think anglers are kidding themselves about colours - You can not see colour looking up to the surface against a light (any daylight) sky.  It would therefore be either light or dark - light being the colour that all natural fishes are if you look at there underside and dark probably giving more silhouette.

this is true in deep water but in shallow areas where light is also reflected off the sea floor you'll be able to see colour looking up... also with clear plastic you'll be able to see the colour of the plastic looking up as well

actually this probably explains why the tuna fishos do well with dark colours - they're fishing in deep water with little or no reflected light upwards. whereas in shallow reefy areas where kings and gts live colour make a bigger difference

I disagree.  If you don't believe me try it a swimming pool (salt water can never get that clear) you won't be able to see the colour of the lure and for sure your eyes are better at colour vision than a fishes (predators typically have better motion than colour vision and colour vision is likely to be worse for aquatic animals since there is no selective advantage).

More evidence can be found from fish themselves ... ask yourself why do fish have lighter undersides. It is because it allows them to blend in with the light surface and be camouflaged from predators. 

[Geoff Volter]

I dont completely subscribe to the theory of colour being irrelevant on surface presentations. Many surface strikes include an element of approach from the side, or behind in which case recognition of the lure colour COULD occur. Or more to the point how many GT hits come from DIRECTLY underneath the lure, polaris style? As the fish gets higher in the water and its angle to the lure more accute, its going to see more detail on the lure.

Its a light rich environment, but its likely there would be some bubbles, disturbance etc obscuring the lure. So some contrast, flash and attract triggers (eg prominent eyes, red gills etc) could probably help, and a dark lure in this situation would most likely be easier seen. Well thats my thoughts anyway... And it makes me feel good about buying more colours!