Do Fish See The Color Red?

Red May Or May Not Be Be A Good Lure Color Choice

May 4, 2009 Johnnie Crain

The color red has been around for years and used by anglers to attract fish of all species. Red hooks, fishing line and lures are now a common color in angler's tackle.

Anglers have been using red color lures for a number of years to elicit strikes from various fish species. If you've never used a red Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap vibrating bait or a strawberry red Mann's Jelly Worm then you've probably never fished for bass much. These are only a sampling of the many baits using red color schemes. Even line manufacturers are producing red monofilament fishing lines and a few select companies are adding red fishing hooks to their catalogs. The color red is said to trigger reflex strikes from gamefish and the color may represent a blood trail, a gill flash from a fleeing or injured bait fish, or maybe red is just easy to see.

Red Looks Gray in Deeper Water

At Berkley-Pure Fishing Laboratories, marine biologists have spent money and time investigating the claims of makers of red color fishing products and have concluded that fish may or may not see red as humans do, but that red is one of the first lure, hook or line colors to fade in water exceeding seven feet deep. In fact, below seven feet the color red, at least to the human eye, actually turns to gray.

To knowledgeable anglers that use red fishing line and hooks this can be good news. The line and hooks stay red and can be easily seen above water and when they turn gray at deeper depths seem to virtually disappear. Rocks, silty bottoms, some wood cover, sand and gravel are all shades of gray beneath the surface. Even the main forage of many fish, shad, appear gray in deeper water.

T.J. Stallings, President of Tru-Turn Hooks, says that fish love their company's red hooks so much they often swallow them. The company decided to coat the hooks with a dissolvable coating so the fish's stomach acids could dissolve the hook if the angler chose to release the fish. .

Red In Shallow Water

Red seems to remain a true color in shallower water where most anglers fish, so one can see why fish would be attracted to this color of baits, hooks and line. Many lure companies incorporate red streaks, red gill plate plates, red spots and red eyes to simulate a wounded fish. Predator fish will take the easy-to-catch wounded bait fish over a healthy bait fish because they can expend less energy chasing the bait. Many species of crawfish and bait fish have red mixed into their color patterns as well as reddish eyes, so red is a natural color in the habitat fish live in and around.

The Debate About Fish Seeing Red Continues

Whether fish actually see the color red as humans do or not, red baits, line and hooks are here to stay. Too many professional anglers, who have to catch fish to survive, use red products. Bait and tackle companies have spent millions of dollars preparing molds for red products. Even if the color red does turn to gray in deeper water, it still has some advantages. It's a win-win situation for red products.

The copyright of the article Do Fish See The Color Red? in Hunting & Fishing is owned by Johnnie Crain. Permission to republish Do Fish See The Color Red? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Red Baits and Line

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