Fishing Tips

   Tips for Stress free life  >  Expert Zone   > Fishing tips

       Fishing tips by experts


Do Fish See in Color


Fish do indeed perceive color. Every fly fisher knows that or ought to know that. Like humans, the retina of a fish have rods and cones. Cones are used in the day and rods at night. Color vision evolved to help fish identify potential food. In the environment of the fish, the background will either be the bottom, the water itself, or if looking up for food it could be the sky. The bottom is normally tannish olive to green. When looking across the water, the background appears pale silver blue. But if the water is off color due to algae or high water one must take that into consideration as well. Skylight becomes more important at dusk and dawn when it contains more reds.

Thus for opportunistically feeding game fish, flies with bright or contrasting colors and/or a lot of flash will make them stand out against the above mentioned backgrounds. The Mickey Finn, tied with yellow and red, and a silver body is one of the most effective attractor patterns. As for dry fly attractors , the Royal Wulff is still hard to beat, with its red and peacock body and white wings. Black flies, because of their strong silhouette also are easy for fish to spot. Let's not forget patterns that contain strands of flashabou or other tinsel that reflect light when stripped or while drifting through the current are easy for fish to spot.

The fly fisherman also must remember that color behaves differently in water that it does when seen in the air. Water is denser, and the colors are diffused quicker. Cloudy days where there is less overall light will offer less visibility, and colors will disappear quicker in the depths of the water. And the clarity of water obviously greatly effects this as well. This is important in fly selection because certain colors travel farther in low light than others. Red is the first color to disappear, usually at about 15 feet in clear water, followed by orange and then yellow. Blues and greens are visible to the fish as long as there is light. Yet silver and white will be brighter.

So while the Mickey Finn is obviously a great choice as an attractor fly, it would not be as good a choice in murky water or if fished deep. A better attractor might be a white Woolly Bugger or White Marabou Muddler.

Color is also important to remember when matching the hatch. Since fish use vision as the deciding factor to strike, one's offering must be the correct color. However, very small differences in hue seem to not be much of a factor as most insects will vary slightly in color as well. But if the intensity of color the artificial fly has can be a factor. If the artificial is more intense than the natural it is more likely to catch fish. Why this seems to work is somewhat a mystery. It is understood that fish see deeper into the ultraviolet range than humans, so perhaps they are just seeing something we don't. It could also be due to the effect water has on colors. Perhaps we'll never know, but like many things in fishing, why something works is not as important as just knowing that it does work.

While color is probably not the most important factor in a fish striking a fly. The above considerations are nevertheless a good thing to have in the back of your fly fishing mind.

About The Author

Cameron Larsen is a retired commericial fly tier and fly fishing guide. He now operates The Big Y Fly Co. at http://www.bigyflyco.com.

info@bigyflyco.com


MORE RESOURCES:

See the complete list of Articles on Fishing tips here

Have a look at Best Selling Books on Fishing tips

 

Google

See also : Other articles on

Depression, Grief Loss, Happiness, Humor, Inspirational, Motivation,
Positive Attitude
, Meditation, Spirituality Goal Setting, Wealth Building, Ethics, Stress Management
Yoga, Alternative Health, Build Muscle, Exercise,   Aerobics Cardio, Fitness Equipment Pregnancy  Dating, Elder Care, RelationshipAcneBeauty, Hair Loss
Cooking Tips, Recipes, Top Tips for everything Crafts Hobbies, Creativity, Fishing Photography, Pets,
 

Latest info on : Fishing

 


Snapper fishing excites anglers on Long Island
Newsday, NY - 2 hours ago
A quick check of the electronic mail bin during the past few days finds the same question popping up time and again: "Where can I go snapper fishing? ...


FISHING ADVISORY
Hartford Courant, United States - 34 minutes ago
Lakeville Pond, Mudge Pond, Hatch Pond, Candlewood Lake and Lake Lillinoah all provided some good largemouth bass fishing this past week on a variety of ...
Fishing report Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Fishing Report Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Fishing line Sacramento Bee
Lansing State Journal - Gainesville Sun
all 6 news articles


Fishing report
Chicago Tribune, United States - 8 hours ago
*1/2 Shore fishing continues slow from state line through Milwaukee. Kenosha trollers catching chinooks and a few lake trout, mostly in waters deeper than ...
Mid-south fishing report Memphis Commercial Appeal
all 2 news articles


Steve Carson's 'Outdoors' column: Lake Oroville remains open with ...
Enterprise-Record, CA - 2 hours ago
Regarding fishing, Torres continued, "The fishing is very good on Oroville under low water conditions, as the fish become more compacted. ...


Fishing Trends
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL - 2 hours ago
Anglers have had success fishing the outside edges of the grass lines on the main lake with plastic worms, topwater lures and jerkbaits. ...
Mexico Beach pier — small size, big fishing Tallahassee.com
South Florida fishing report MiamiHerald.com
Around Tampa Bay The Ledger
all 4 news articles


Florida Sportsman Fishing Show set to return for 13th year
TCPalm, FL - 4 hours ago
WEST PALM BEACH — The largest fishing show of its kind drops into the Expo Hall at the South Florida Fairgrounds next weekend, giving storm-weary anglers ...
Fishing up a storm Sun-Sentinel.com
all 2 news articles


Hanna might make fishing better
Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ - 1 hour ago
New Jersey Outdoors for Women is holding a surf-fishing workshop from 9 am to 4 pm Oct. 4 at Island Beach State Park to show you all the ins and outs of ...


Treasure Coast Fishing Report: Sept. 4
TCPalm, FL - 3 hours ago
Ward said the inshore fishing is still on the slow side due to fresh water runoff. There have been some trout and redfish caught around the spoil islands to ...
Weekend best bets Florida Today
Thursday fishing report TCPalm
all 5 news articles


FAO Sets First International Guidelines On Deep Sea Fishing
AHN - 5 hours ago
New York, NY (AHN) - The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has set the first international guidelines that will limit the impact of deep sea fishing ...


Seattle Post Intelligencer

Letters: Gov. Sarah Palin, women voters, salmon fishing loophole, etc.
Sacramento Bee,  USA - 2 hours ago
Gov. Sarah Palin and her daughter Piper are joined by Sen. John McCain on Wednesday at the GOP convention. CHARLIE NEIBERGALL Associated Press I first ...
The day that small town US stormed world stage Scotsman
Americans get to know once-obscure Alaska governor The Associated Press
Sarah Palin: Readers Respond Wall Street Journal
Ottawa Citizen - Gawker
all 1,281 news articles

Fishing - Google News

 

Why not be an expert yourself  ?

 If you can write on any of the above topic, you are welcome to submit your
 articles in our database :

 Submit your article here   Our Article Area

You are here Home > Tips for Stress free Life > Expert Zone > Fishing Tips


| Fishing Tips Home | Fishing Tips - Complete list 

| Main Home | | Meditation Corner

                |Health Tips  | Workplace Tips  | Soul Tips  |Expert Zone  |

Recommend us  |

 Books, DVDs and accessories on meditation & yoga  |

[About us] [Contact] [Privacy Policy]

Copyright 2006, Meditation is Easy.com, All rights reserved