What colors do trout see?

[DSFlyman]

I think fly fisher-people like many other folk have our superstitions. I've heard it said that fishing with confidence makes all the difference. Does this mean that the same fly fished the same way with two different anglers will catch a different amount of fish because of some fishy mojo?

Well, either way, my curiosity has brought me to color.

I recently posted about my fly with a dark green glass bead head. I had thought in the store that the beads were black, and after tying up some midges with them, I became concerned that their green hue would put off fish.

Well, there were several threads where people piped in and suggested that water actually changes the quality of light, or at least how it is reflected off of colored surfaces. It was suggested that red is the first to lose it's color tone in the water.

I tie several baitfish patterns that use red thread either behind the head or for a head. From my understanding, that color is supposed to suggest the gills of the agitated fish. Red has been used on several other patterns as well to attract fish for decades. The Royal Coachman is a perfect example.


Any science minded folk have the current skinny on how trout see color? Based on what I keep reading, it almost seems like we could tie everything in black and shades of gray (I would never stoop to such a heretical level myself.)

[Lotech]

I hope you get some good responses. I'm interested in this subject as well. I use red a lot.

[PRM]

The best explanation I ever read was in a book called The Trout and the Fly, by Brian Goddard and John Clark:
http://books.google.com/books?id=CS_...ut+and+the+fly

It explains alot about trouts' visual perceptions. My recollection is that they do see in color (more than we do) but their visual definition is not as good as ours. It has to do with rods and cones in the eye.

Anyway, I recommend it as a great read.
Tight Lines!!

[Grubb]

Here is my response to that , no matter if they see in shades of gray to black or color, because if they do see from shades of grey to black, the natural color will still produce a shade that could not be exacted by a grey or black because the color itself will produce a shade that could only be duplicated with the color that it is, a similar shade of grey or black for red will only come close and not produce the exact shade because it is a different color, the color in itself will be producing its on shade. In order for us to tye with the correct shade of gray to black for red, we would have to first see the color threw something just like the fishes eye to see what that would be, when I can use my natural eyes to see red and just use red, that's Just my O2...

[okflyfisher]

My understanding is that trout see colors we see plus UV colors we don't. The trick is figuring out how their little conditioned minds interpret these matters

[jsmartt]

Although red dose fade to black quicker than other colors as you loose light in deeper waters, it shows up well in most of the crystal clear waters that trout inhabit. I'm sure that colors dim in shadows for fish as they do for us and in the depths of deeper lakes I'm sure that colors also fade. For the most part, however, I believe colors do make a difference.

[hap]

As light moves through a medium there is some lengthening of the wavelengths. Water much more so than air and longer wavelengths (red end of the spectrum) more than shorter. As the waves lengthen the perceived colors change toward the red end of the spectrum.

Fish see the colors as constantly changing based on whether they are approaching or departing the light source.

Since shorter wavelengths are less affected they travel farther and change more slowly than reds. Fish see those lighter and brighter colors, all the way into UV farther than the longer colors...

But also, black blocks all colors and fish can see those profiles blocking a whole lot of light we are completely unaware of, which is why black is such a great color, even at night. It both blocks and fails to reflect. It is the reflected light which limits the ability of fish to see the colored stuff in the dark.
art

[mashtom]

I remember a video on youtube, where the fellow was tying up a beadhead egg type fly. He was using yellow and black, I think he called it a steeler bug or something like that. When asked why he liked to use balck and yellow he made reference a study that stated out of all the color combinations of food offered to trout that yellow and black were the most successful. I can't recall everthing the gent said about the study. I think the experiment was in a controlled enviornment so with regards to light availability at certain depths it might not apply as it does in the wild. I think the reason why yellow and black might be effective is that it represents both light and dark shades.

[J Castwell]

Well, I waited, but no longer. Consider that various specie may perceive different colors and do so differently. Some may be able to recognize, for instance what we call blue, at differing times (coming into fresh water from salt water) or living at varying depths or at sexual maturity. The rods and cones may vary in ratio among specie, or from deep water fish to stream types. Add wave length widths and the question becomes unanswerable. The eyes of chum entering fresh water at spawning time develop the ability to perceive green before all other colors.

[Flyfish4troutguy]

I listend to a professor talk on flyfishradio.com that purple is the most effective colour becase if you drop it in the water it will be the last colour to disappear out of all the colours.
but the most effective colour i use is gold, for some reason around my area they love it. any streamer with a gold body works great.

mike