Does flyline colour affect fish catching?

Gear & Reviews
21

The subject of the color of fly lines was researched and written about in “The Trout and the Fly” by Brian Clarke and John Goddard. Nick Lyons Books c.1980
An excellent book if you happen to find one.

“What colour of floating flyline is best? All the debate on flyline colour has concentated on the appearances in the air, and on the water in the window.
(The photograph below reveals)the truth… that it is not the line in the air or window that should be considered, but the line on the water in the mirror.
The white flyline, although it causes a degree of flash in the air, is most of the time less visible to the trout. But it falls like a flash of white lightning across all the water surrounding the trout… across the mirror.
There can be little dought, as a consequence of our experiments and photographs (such as the one below,) that white or light-coloured flylines should not be used when the trout are close to the surface.”

The mirror being the area outside of the “cone” or “window” that is the trouts view of the outside world.
This area reflects the world on the underside of the the surface film.

[This message has been edited by dudley (edited 10 December 2005).]

22

saflyfish,
The only time I can remember when line color made a difference was while October fishing a long, gin clear laminar flow run of about 1 1/2 feet in depth.

Trees lined both sides forming a canopy over the stream. I would see a fish take off just as I began false casting and before the fly touched the water. This occurred each time I fished there and it was quite often. I was using an old, bright, almost chartreuse line and suspected that it was the problem.

I then replaced it with an olive colored line and found that it was a lot better.

My guess is that the bright line showed up against the dense over-hanging trees and those very educated fish made the connection.

This is only a small part of my fishing and it may not be of great importance but I can’t think of any reason not to buy olive green again.

Ol’ Bill
1932

23

I posted this on the FFF forum a while back under Education. I took the liberty of pasting it here as it falls directly into the quetion of colour and trout vision. I agree with the qualifier, as mentioned by Jed, and will also add that it depends on the present character imprint; such as :Fresh stockers, hold over, wild and/or native.

I recently concluded an indebth study of lab research studies, on trout eye anatomy, and was asked to post some of the findings. These research studies were conducted on trout all around the globe and the results were very interesting, IMHO.

Trout can see more color than the human eye as they also have the ability to see ultraviolet light; they posses UV receptors in the biology of their eyes as well as very keen IR abilities. It has been discovered that trout also have binocular vision, due to a small cone towards the front of their eye that moves in and out like a telescope. They are also capable, in a large radius, of monocular vision towards the sides, back and above. Rods are photoreceptive ? light receptive ? cells in the retina of vertebrates. As Rod cells are stimulated by light, they allow the eye to perceive the size, shape, and brightness of visual images, but not color, that function is handled by Cone cells. Recent studies have discovered that the Cone cells can be activated, with light sources, in lab environments on trout, resulting in neurological stimuli allowing color vision to occur and be measured.

Researchers have also found mycosporine-like amino acids, which absorb UV light (300-360 nm) in a variety of shallow water fish, including trout. In addition to this, two of the three major soluble crystallin proteins present are in fish lenses. Wavelengths between 300 and 400 nm make up ultraviolet (UV) light and are a range that the human neurology do not process but recent studies have found this range within trout to be active. Combined functioning of two perception mechanisms is possible in the trout?s eyes, which is rarely found in normal conditions. After exposure to red light that followed the action of magnetic field, retinomotor reaction reflected a physiological dysfunction. PE was actively participating in reactions to changes of magnetic field. Pigment cells of the trout retina can act as a light-dependent magnetoreceptor.

Cell death is detected in proliferating areas of the Cone cells of trout as they age. This makes them great research studies for Alzheimer?s research. With this cell degeneration, the trout begin to loose their UV abilities which in turn help to support why the larger trout move towards deeper waters and feed primarily at night; although they loose their UV abilities, they do not loose the IR ability and some believe that it becomes stronger. ?Biologists think that the death of cone cells may make room for other types of eye cells, preparing the trout as they shift lifestyles,? As one researcher stated: ?They start out as insect-eating animals living in clear, river water where seeing ultraviolet light is important for catching prey. Then they grow and leave the river to become fish-eating animals in deeper water or, primarily nocturnal feeders, where ultraviolet light doesn?t penetrate as well. They still have color vision, but it?s different than before?.

Each cone photoreceptor, in the retina, responds to light in a limited range of wavelengths. Pacific pink salmon research has been completed and discovered that the single cones can switch their spectral phenotype from ultraviolet to blue by regulating the production of the appropriate opsins as the fish grow older, the same has been found in Rainbow Trout. It is interesting to note that the developmental and physiological changes in the retina of salmonid fishes occur during smoltification. These changes include loss of ultraviolet-sensitive cone photoreceptors, switching of visual pigments, alterations in thyroid hormone regulation, and associated changes in behavior.

The ratio of cones to rods in the human retina is ~1.8-2:1 which corresponds to the visible bandwidth (700 to 400 nanometers). The vision of trout lies within the infrared nanometers as well at 300-400 nm. Retina sensitive to this spectral region should be composed of receptors larger in size than that of the human eye. Cone receptors of the human eye are one micron versus the trout at seven microns in diameter.

Best Regards

[This message has been edited by BenC (edited 11 December 2005).]

24

BenC,
Now I’m curious,and not at all trying to be smart.
As we all know,That is just plain not possible !

What color of Flyline do you regularly toss when astream…?..and if you would not mind me asking…whats your favorite fishing atire…?

Just a couple things that danced through my mind after reading this thread…

“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best

Everyone wants to excel in this sport but at the same time we let traditionalists place restrictions on our tactics, methods, and ideas. I always assumed that fly fishing was a sport that allowed imagination, creation, adaptation, investigation, dedication, education, revelation? : Fox Statler, On Spinners (Not the dainty Dry Fly kind) “Spinner’d Minner Fly”

“Wish ya great fishing”

Bill

[This message has been edited by billknepp (edited 11 December 2005).]

25

Billknepp,

In response to your questions, I discovered, from scientific research, that each color breaks down through the total wave length of that particular colors spectrum. Red has the longest color spectrum and may appear as a yellowish color as it reaches the end of this color spectrum. From this, any color that is created with the product of reds will have the longest wave length and hence it will also be the easiest to see underwater. The brighter neon like colors will also fall into the category of larger wave lengths. For this reason I use dark olive colored fly lines as they break down in the color spectrum much faster and essentially disappear in the water faster. I like to keep the trout focused on the colors in the fly while limiting the potential of distracting their attention to my fly line.

Caveat of this is in support of some of the previous posts above. If one fly fishes in forested areas that dark olive also blends much quicker as it blends with the background. On wide open rivers, a blue or even white will blend much better with the current sky conditions. In salt water a color that blends with the water or sky works much better as these fish are normally much deeper in the water than our shallow water river environments.

The most noticeable recognition of difference in color of fly line is in the application of fly fishing on the wild streams and more technical rivers. The most important qualifier in this is the length of leader and the column of water in which one is fishing. A trout may spook off of the surface, from the color of the fly line, but they may continue to feed in the mid-column and below sections. This means that one can go out with a bright yellow line and still catch wild trout with a nymph, how-ever, the amount of hook ups will most often be less than that of an experienced fly fisher with a blended color of fly line: Caveat on this is of 2 equally skilled fly fishers, one with bright line and the other with a blended color.

Additional supporting data for the effect of color with trout is the fact that we all know a trout may go for a size 20 Royal Humphy but not touch a size 20 Yellow Humphy. Many examples of exact fly patterns with different colors, in the material recipes, support the fact that trout not only see colors but it also has an effect in their response to these colors. On the same note one may find where a trout will rise to a size 28 black comparadun but not touch a size 28 lt. cahill colored one: I persoanlly experiencesd this on the San Juan river.

For the same reasons as above, my chosen attire also depends upon the environment in which I will be fly fishing but I also try to stay down stream, with a very low profile, while I am stalking my prey.

I know there is a lot of debates over this issue so, I respectfully offer this as my opinion in support of the research that I have conducted along with the fact that trout have been proven to have binoclar vision along with incredible filters in their eyes that we simply do not have.

[This message has been edited by BenC (edited 12 December 2005).]

26

BenC,

Your anecdotes and suppositions are mostly inline with my way of thinking, however your statement regarding the color spectrum is not correct IMHO. Red is the first color to disappear underwater. Because of the long wavelength, it is not transmitted as well. Blue endures the longest. Why do you think the blue headlights on cars are so bright and piercing? Anecdotally speaking, as a scuba diver, it is very apparent that red is not the best color for visibility.

That being said, there are plenty of days that red outfishes any other color for flies,lures, or whatever, particularly on bright sunny days. On cloudy days or when the water visibility is diminished, the blue/green colors work better. Certainly fish do see colors. By the way, red is visible underwater, without artifical lighting, and in clear water, to about 10’ Below that it appears gray.

Doug Swisher says, “It’s not the fly line that scares fish, it’s bad casting.”

[This message has been edited by alaskanfishguides (edited 12 December 2005).]

27

alaskanfishguides,

I know what you are saying and agree, the interesting part is the fact that the blue is made up of red in the color spectrum. I pasted this for you: “Water owes its intrinsic blueness to selective absorption in the red part of its visible spectrum. The absorbed photons promote transitions to high overtone and combination states of the nuclear motions of the molecule, i.e. to highly excited vibrations.” and the link is [url=http://webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/5B.html:eefbe]http://webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/5B.html[/url:eefbe]

I completly agree with your second paragraph and have found that just a dash of a red color can sometimes make a huge difference. How-ever, the gray colored determintaion is one from the human eye and not one that is filtered through UV filters as found active in trout and Salmon.

[This message has been edited by BenC (edited 12 December 2005).]

28

BenC,
Thanks for both humoring me and for the link,Also glad to know my own stragities were one the right track…when fishing my favorite lake…(no shoreline trees)…I tend to go with skyline blending colors waist up…and darker muted earth tones in my favorite stream conditions…same with my line choices…Thank you for taking the time to share your own thoughts.

“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best

Everyone wants to excel in this sport but at the same time we let traditionalists place restrictions on our tactics, methods, and ideas. I always assumed that fly fishing was a sport that allowed imagination, creation, adaptation, investigation, dedication, education, revelation? : Fox Statler, On Spinners (Not the dainty Dry Fly kind) “Spinner’d Minner Fly”

“Wish ya great fishing”

Bill

29

“Does a bright line eg.white,flouro orange prevent strikes by fish? Does a camo line catch more fish?”

Why are virtually all air and water-borne predators (including trout) light-colored underneath?