Seems all fly rods I see are dark in color. Black, dark green, red, etc. I don’t know what trout see, but when I was a kid I remember being under water and looking up and seeing a mirror like finish to the surface of the water, or white. “If” this is still true in streams, and “if” this is what trout see…then when we consider stealth and sneaking up on a stream…why do we wave a “black” rod over the water? Wouldn’t white or silver be a better color to not spook fish? Same question goes for leaders and tippets made of clear material…then replaced with a RED furled leader?
Gemrod,
You can’t worry about everything. I like pretty rods, and if they spook fish, I’ll live with it.
These ARE fish, though. They aren’t even close to smart. Too many folks catching them, me included, to believe it matters much.
Good Luck!
Buddy
Gemrod,
I really doubt it. If it were true, how would someone account for the various shades of bamboo? Also, against a backdrop of sky, especially one that’s sunny, pretty much everything looks dark.
H.
I think it has more to do with shadows, silhouettes and their motion. I was taught never approach the water with the sun behind you. Don’t know if that is right or not but it seems to work.
I don’t think the rod color has too much effect, but I have experiences the rod ‘flash’ of a high gloss finish.
At the right sun angles the flash is sudden and intense, like an emergency beacon. Very hard not to notice.
I discovered this one day when my buddy was about 50 yards down stream casting into a bend pool. At that distance I could not see him standing in the shadows, what I did see was a bright flash from the bushes every few seconds. Even at 50 yards the flash was bright enough to get my attention so I hiked down stream to see what was causing it.
Since then I look for rods with a matte finish, or I use some fine steel wool to knock most of the shine from a new rod.
Yes they do, i would suggest you paint all your rods camoflauge…
I would think they’d see the line long before the rod.
Brookid…that’s the reason for the question about a white rod to match the sky…camouflage.
Nighthawk…When you are standing on the stream with the bright sun in your eyes and the stream in front of you…YOU cannot see. With you standing on the sunnyside of the stream with the sun in back of you the TROUT are looking into the bright sun?
I should have added, but forgot to, that if the sun is directly behind you make certain there is a background that breaks up your silhouette and shadow. Try to stay lower than the horizon. Also try keeping the sun off of a shoulder at an angle. Not always possible but no technique is perfect.
I wear a large brimmed hat and dark, polarized sunglasses so having to face the sun isn’t a big problem.
The summer run steelhead on the Deschutes River go off the bite…at least they don’t hit the flies near the surface … when the sun starts to hit the water… one of the thoughts is that the river runs South to North so the fish have to look up and into the sun to see a fly…
relates to what Gemrod said…
That is probably true. Probably one of the reasons that fish seek out shaded pools during high sun angles along with water temp. However, that does not account for the shadow you cast or the silhouette you present. Next time you approach the area you are about to fish let your shadow fall across the water and see what happens. Good chance you will see fish scattering every which way but loose. Good chance you will have to find a new spot to fish too. I am no expert, just trying to help improve your fishing experience by drawing on my own experience.[/b]
Sorry I took this thread off topic. No, I don’t think rod color matters at all. Only to the fly fisher.
Very strange!! I’m sure I posted on this subject earlier today. It seems to have dropped into the abyss. :?
I never thought of that, hmmm something more to worry about. lol I took inventory and you are correct almost all my rods are quite dark.
Except my Sage launch which is relativly light in color.
I think that as the rod is waving around the fish don’t see color so much as the motion of it.
I think kengore may be on to something about the flash tho. You wouldn’t stand on the bank with a mirror and flash the fish in the pool. Well on second thought some of you might flash the fish but that is a whole different story. :lol:
I can see it all now various rod makers coming out with camo rod and reel lines at a small premium on the price of course.
With ads such as:
Get the new white lightning Winston wonder, “Fish cant see it!!!” :shock:
With our new Camo model “Sage Sneaky Snake” you can Strike when the fish aren’t looking. :shock:
Of course there will be lots more rods broken as we step on them because we didn’t see them laying there all cammoed up. G
Seems to me when the fish can see something above them…they will spook…they “think” it’s a predator…
And nighthawk is right about the shadow thing…I’ve probably seen more fish spook from a shadow than anything…
If you are a hunter…don’t let them know you are there :roll:
Excellent question! Vince Marinaro would crawl on his belly, cast from way back from the stream, so the rod did not spoil the fish. His color was cane.
I’d be worried about the flash of a rod before the color (unless the rod was red or white <g>)
The ElkHorn rod given away recently was Pink.