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 and
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.
It is a fact that fish see far more colors (ie: a wider color spectrum) than we do, even though fish are color blind at night. Mother nature did not give them (or allow them to retain) this capability just so they could better enjoy that big box of crayons when they are kids.
Their favorite foods - other fish species - are every color combination imaginable. That is one of nature's ways of protecting species from extinction. Do you think that this all happens because only black, white and chartreuse count in their world? Of course not. It is a fact that we don't know squat about what fish really think (if they really do) or what their instincts cover. Is it possible to spend an entire day on the water without a single bite and still declare that we have fish all figured out? Only if we admit we like being wrong.
Now let's leave the fish's brain - the absolute unknown - and go into what we do know, which is some areas of pure science. We absolutely know that different wavelengths of light (colors) are filtered by water and particulate matter in the water.
What this means to us is that we can accurately determine the colors that will remain available for fish to see in particular situations. For instance, chartreuse fades to gray as depth increases. At 20+ foot depths in lightly stained water, red becomes an almost invisible gray color, and the blue part of a chartreuse & blue crankbait will be far more visible than the chartreuse section. In shallower and clearer water, color becomes far more important.
We may not always rank color today very high on our list of important factors because we know so little about it, but that will change as knowledge about the use of color increases. One thing is certain: a fisherman who disregards lure color will catch fewer fish in the long run than an angler of the same abilities who uses colors properly and makes informed use of color a part of his or her arsenal.
And that, my friends, is a fact!
Bob Rickard -----------------------<=- 0')))><
July 27, 2001
Also read Bob Rickard’s article, Red: A 50-year test report.
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