What do fish 'see'

GPSguru · January 6, 2021

A question that I have not been able to answer, nor can I find any conclusive evidence anybody else has either ...........

From the human eye perspective, we all know that water absorbs light wavelength so colour to us below 100ft or so is almost non-existent apart from ultraviolet ........... but what do the fish see ? ............

Some say it is movement that attracts them, others say the silhouette changes with lure colour.

I will pose an example ..........

Fishing over a wreck in 150ft of water with a Blue / White 115mm Red Gill Evo produces no bites in 3 drifts. A change of lure colour to a Cherry Red 115mm Red Gill Evo immediately produces bites and hooked fish on the next 3 drifts ....... WHY ? ....... what can the buggers see ? ........ is it colour ?, is it shades of grey ?, is it colour that bears no resemblance to what we take for granted ?, is the most likely answer shrouded in the mysteries of ultraviolet ?

Changing lure shape and size often brings results, but that is not about colour, it is matching the hatch to the current feeding pattern, easy to 'ring' the changes there. It's just changing colour that interests me and over the years I have not been able to quantify what our quarry have in the way of eyesight

Discuss ...........

Edited January 6, 2021 by GPSguru

GPSguru · January 6, 2021

Here is what we see ...............

Andy135 · January 6, 2021

Good topic.

In my opinion it's got to be a combination of colour, size, shape and frequency of vibration (which varies with density of plastic for soft lures) that turns fish on.

I have a personal theory that counter-shading light and dark on lures works because it's easier for fish to see e.g. alternating flashes of light colour is more eye-catching than a constant light silhouette.

As for what they see... once the lure is deep enough that all colour is gone, I suppose it's the silhouette and how much contrast the silhouette offers that they pick up on e.g. whether black will stand out more at depth?

GPSguru · January 6, 2021

16 minutes ago, Andy135 said:

once the lure is deep enough that all colour is gone

Most of the believable science I have read seems to point to an ultra violet light image in the fishes eye .

Both universities near me (Plymouth & Exeter) major on marine and I haven't really had an answer when talking to the 'fish geeks'

Some of my best info has come from the shark trust boffins at Plymouth ........... but nothing seems conclusive

It is a crazy world .......... we know more about the moon and Mars than we do about what fish 'see' and what is in our oceans, including the topography.