Allan,
Thanks for the reply. And you are welcome on the DVD. I am anxious to hear back from you. Denny speaks very highly of your skills (and you). OOps...did I let the cat out of the bag?

Thanks for the experience too- that is exactly what I was asking for.

I, like you, tend to rely more on observation than on scientific data in some regards. Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking science- I love science. We just don't know what the fish's brain does with the nerve impulses from the eye. I haven't seen the scientific study yet that emulates exactly what a fish sees and what it does not. The scientific charts are great, but they fall short of brain cell programming. Just as our brain reverses the up-side-down image we receive on our retinas, the brain of a fish could make all kinds of corrections for light waves.

That being said, an easy 'non-scientific' way to see is just as your experience suggests. Conduct side-by-side experiments, removing as many variables as possible. There are so many variables to conduct studies for, it would take a lifetime of side-by-side fishing to record everything. Is it motion, color, shade, translucency, UV, size, smell, feel? What triggers a strike, a follow, a curious look, a total ingoring, a spit-out, or a follow and rejection at the last moment?

I'm also interested in time-of-day response for UV (bright day= bright flies)- why? Does an overcast day change things? Does fishing under the lights change with the type of lights being used? So many questions- so few fishing days. That's why I'm hoping the list can pool its resources.