Fish Eyesight - Camo

[Ken L]

Standing in the water with yellow wellies is not a good idea but refraction means that what a fish can see above the surface is dependent on it's depth - for the most part, if you're low to the water and the fish arn't right on the surface, they cant see you.

If you're high up and siloeted against a skyline, no amount of camo is going to make you invisible.

 

Where the camo gear comes into its own is for creeping about on the bank away from the skyline.

[frodo_uk]

nugg... I think you have hit the nail squarely on the head....nicely put.

 

[ 09. April 2004, 06:13 AM: Message edited by: frodo_uk ]

[wunnus]

Fish do seem to see in colour, just try a red, white and bronze maggot. Rudd and perch seem to be attracted to a piece of red wool.

 

But do they see the colour in the same way that I do?... I doubt it. My eyes are not adapted for underwater.

 

If canouflage is to work on fish we need to borrow the ones that work in nature. Perch and Pike do not appear to value looking like a tree.

 

I agree with those stating that is keeping to as little movement as possible and the need to keep quiet.

 

It does seem bizarre that we have a comouflaged angler skulking about in the shadows and then he throws out a brighly coloured float/spod/etc.

 

Likewise chub seem to come and investigate just about anything that turns up in the water, with or without comouflage.

[The Diamond Geezer]

quote:

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Originally posted by Elton:

 

... would an angler in a camo outfit be any better hidden from a wary fish than one in a plain green top?

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All other factors being equal, including good water-clarity, and provided of course that the angler is betweem the fish and a background that merges with the DPM camouflaged gear, then of course the answer is YES. Covering face and hands too is of course as critical.

 

Remember Chris Yates in the carp lake??!!

 

As important though is stealth (avoid heavy foot-falls), non-spooking casting, and avoiding being silhouetted against the skyline .. movement is the main thing that declares your presence

 

I know Nuddy always fishes with a white cap but then he's usually fishing in coloured water where his target species can't see him.

 

DG

 

P.S. I thought this thread was pretty comprehensive

 

[ 10. April 2004, 06:42 PM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]

[monkeyboy]

Camoflage is a bit of a joke to fishing i reckon. If you move slowly and smoothly enough you can get within touching distance of a fish in a red top.

Im not pulling anyone down but in my opinion camoflage is for the wanna be soldiers. The hunting instinct comes into this a bit i think.

[The Diamond Geezer]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Elton:

 

Serious question here, so please don't use this thread to have a go at fellow anglers.....

 

I'd be interested to know the real answer to that.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by monkeyboy:

 

Camouflage is a bit of a joke to fishing I reckon..... I'm not pulling anyone down but in my opinion camouflage is for the wanna be soldiers.

---

Don't think you do much stalking on clear-water venues then .. and it doesn't sound as though you've even tried wearing camou gear

 

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by monkeyboy:

 

If you move slowly and smoothly enough you can get within touching distance of a fish in a red top.

---

A fish in a red top ? You're having a laugh, aren't you? Never seen one .. and why would you want to touch it anyway?

 

Maybe this is where the idea of red-headed lures came from?

 

Don't care what anyone says, I love me camou-trews, socks to match the red top the fish are wearing, and my camou T-shirt too

______________

 

DG

 

[ 11. April 2004, 09:25 AM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]

[Peter Waller]

Be honest DG, its the myth that women like a man in uniform!!

 

Its true though, you can sometimes meet some quite aggressive paramilitary style uniforms on the bank. Met a couple, identically dressed, that would have done justice to the SAS. The only givaway that they were actually anglers were the Rapalla badges! Junior Action Men through and through!

[malevans]

There is an excellent book called the trout and the Fly which uses underwater photography to show what the fish sees both and out of the water, also allowing for the different transmission characteristics of the colours. One poster got it right when it was said that the requirement is to break up the out line of the angler.

Anyone floater or surface lure fishing might be interested in the difference when your bait and hook length is in the mirror rather than the window. Also the size of the window and hence what the fish can or cannot see on the bank is dependent upon the depth of the fish below the surface. As the bait approaches the window the fish see the top of it first in colour, once fully in the window it is in silhouette. The other interesting thing is what a fish sees as a toby goes past, it is not a silvery fish shaped thing. Also a pike probably initially sees a sub surface lure in the mirror rather than directly so the key is how does the lure standout against the river/lake bed. Once it gets close or appears from behind the weed so line of sight exists the pike will see two lures against two different backgrounds.

Not sure what hardwiring fish have to deal with this.

[Jim Murray]

Success in fishing is surely about minimising your chances of failure, so why not wear camo? It can't do any harm and might just make a difference on occasion.

 

Jim.

[Dick Dastardly]

Although I think there is no need for all this camo lark Jim has said it.A lot more things more worthy of worry!

 

I would have thought that millitary clothing becoming part of the specimen hunters wardrobe origonally had more to do with the cheap availability of out door clothing that army surplus supplied rather than any desire not to be seen.In fact DPM clothing didnt become readily availabe untill the 70's.Prior to this most millitary gear was just plain olive drab/green.