Just A Random Thought...

[OkobojiEagle]

Lab studies have reported a probability that some fish (perhaps many) see significantly farther into the ultra-violet light range than humans. Does this suggest that those fish have an increased ability to see fluorescent fishing line more easily than non-fluorescent line?

oe

[skeletor6]

Yes there are some species of fish that are tetrachromats which allows them to be sensitive to forms of ultraviolet light. Humans are trichromats meaning they have three specialized cones that are sensitive to electromagnetic radiation that spans from 390 to 750 nanometers which is commonly referred to as the visible spectrum. There have been reported medical anomalies, usually eye defects, where humans can vaguely see forms of ultraviolet light. If your eye function is that of the common human being then you will not have the slightest chance of seeing UV light.

That being said I believe you are not understanding what fluorescent fishing line does, or any other type of fluorescent material for that matter. Fluorescent materials absorb UV photons and then emit electromagnetic radiation that is of longer wavelength which reaches the length of the visible spectrum. That aforementioned process results in bright glowing colors, that is, high intensity visible spectrum wavelength electromagnetic radiation. This high intensity of light that humans can detect is why it glows so bright. Understand, since ultraviolet light has a shorter wavelength than visible light it, therefore, possesses a greater amount of energy. Much of that energy is conserved when transferred into the longer wavelength and therefore when we see it, it appears to be glowing because it is light in the visible spectrum with high energy.

When ultraviolet light enters water it begins to scatter due to many reasons. Therefore, much of it is lost during the penetration into water. The deeper it penetrates the more of it that is lost depending on the conditions of the water. The line itself is designed to have maximum visibility, because it is a color of your choice that is glowing with high intensity. This, the fish can certainly detect. It is well known that fish can see colors that us humans can also see. Which is why us anglers can be so particular on choosing certain colors. They certainly will be able to see the glowing colors that are in the visible spectrum that fluorescent light emits. The issue that you mentioned regarding them being able to see ultraviolet light from the line is a mute point, whether fish can detect forms of UV light or not.

If you are worried about fish detecting your line, then high visibility line is not the correct line to choose. I'm sure you know that, but as the line goes deeper into the water, its visibility will decrease and, therefore, be less visible to the fish. So, in summary, yes fish will be able to see fluorescent fishing line more easily than non-fluorescent, but it really has nothing to do with the fish's ability to detect ultraviolet light.

Hope that helps,

Skel

[OkobojiEagle]

Skeletor... A good explanation often inspires more questions.

With a shorter wave length, does UV light reach greater water depths and does fluorescent line glow at greater depths increasing its visibility at those depths?

Are fluorescent lines MORE visible to tetrachromats than trichromats?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

oe

[BassinMD]

Mind has been blown...

[Bassn Blvd]

Mind has been blown...

Haha, you too? I'm still picking up the pieces of mine. Those type of responces need to have a WARNING for us fragile minded folk.

[shootermcbob]

tetrachromats? What? LOL. Wow...way smarter than I . Very detailed explanation, after reading it twice, I am starting to make sense of it. Thanks for the explanation.

[skeletor6]

Skeletor... A good explanation often inspires more questions.

With a shorter wave length, does UV light reach greater water depths and does fluorescent line glow at greater depths increasing its visibility at those depths?

Are fluorescent lines MORE visible to tetrachromats than trichromats?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

oe

The answers to your questions revolve around many variables. Ultraviolet light is the shortest wavelength of solar electromagnetic radiation that reaches the earths surface. First off, there is a substantial more amount of visible light that reaches water. Visible light accounts for 38.9% of the total solar flux. Whereas, UV-A typically accounts for 6.3% and UV-B 1.5%. The majority of the solar flux that reaches earth is in the form of infrared radiation (longer wavelength than light). This has to do with factors that are going to answer your questions. First off, since ultraviolet possesses more energy than the longer wavelength forms it causes radicals in molecules that it interacts with. For instance, why there is no concentration of UV-C that reaches earth's surface is because of diatomic oxygen and ozone.Upon collision of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength of UV-C and Ozone or diatomic oxygen, it causes those molecules to split and form radicals, which then recycle and combine back together to form their original molecule. When that happens, the UV-C gets absorbed by those molecules and, therefore, does not reach earths surface. Since longer wavelengths of light do not possess the same energy they make it through or around those molecules and reach earths surface. That is, they are not absorbed by ozone. UV-B is also absorbed by Ozone but not to the extent that UV-C is. Some actually makes it through which is seen by the numbers that I previously gave you.

I mention that to basically say that there is less significantly less UV light that will reach the water surface than visible light. As known by many, exposure to too much UV radiation causes cancer. In simplistic form, this has to due with the high energy that it posesses and its ability to damage scripts of our DNA which can eventually lead to abnormal function of certain cells. Lets, take for instance an even shorter wavelength spectrum of electromagnetic radiation an X-Ray. These are used to take pictures inside the human body.That is because some of the rays are able to penetrate completely through the body. Visible light surely cannot do that.

Now in regards to what all that means and how it applies to your questions. Ultraviolet light will penetrate deeper into water than visible light, but there is a lesser amount of it to penetrate. So in terms of luminosity of the fluorescent fishing line versus non-fluorescent it comes down to a simple answer. Yes, fluorescent fishing line will be able to be seen at deeper depths. That is what it is made for, but although UV light does penetrate deeper into water it still also gets scattered and absorbed and the rate and penetration depth of UV light depends on the conditions of the water and the atmospheric conditions above. Anything that is between the light source (the sun) and the fishing line, will have an effect on the amount of light, whether that be visible, infrared, or ultraviolet. that is transmitted to the water. Which is part of the reason why fish behave differently depending on whether conditions.

The main reason that fluorescent fishing line will be more visible is because it reflects/gives off a higher intensity visible light. As many of you who have fished with fluorescent fishing line know, once the line gets to a certain depth it becomes harder to see , that is because visible light only penetrates so deep and that is what our eyes detect. Even if ultraviolet light penetrated deeper and caused that changing of wavelengths I mentioned earlier and produced a higher intensity visible light effect, that light still has to travel back through the water to the human eye. The higher intensity will help it do this, but only to a certain extent. You could have 100 feet down the peak luminosity of lets say the color red, but would not be able to see it due to scatter and absorption through particles and other environments of the water.

Your second question is very interesting. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say actually the line becomes less visible.Tetrachromats have specialized pigments that allow them to be able to detect UV light. Remember, not all fish have the same type of vision and I am unsure as to which type of fish specialize in detecting UV light, but lets say we have a fish that is a tetrachromat and it specializes in detecting UV light. Remember earlier how I said fluorescent materials absorb UV light and change its wavelength so it is visible to trichromatic species who detect visible light? Well, since the fluorescent line absorbs UV light, the UV light is no longer being reflected. Vision is only seen by what is reflected. We see a plant leaf as green because it absorbs every other color and reflects green. Well the UV light is absorbed and not reflected anymore, so the fish that is only able to see UV light will not be able to detect it anymore, because the light is not reflected back to it to show that there is a dimensional structure there.

I hope that clears up some questions you have, but as it pertains to bass fisherman, I believe that a bass uses visible light in order to see. So if a line is more visible to you, it will also be more visible to a bass.

[Bluebasser86]

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=meme+dafuq+did+i+just+read&um=1&hl=en&safe=active&sa=N&rlz=1R2ADFA_enUS429&biw=1280&bih=792&tbm=isch&tbnid=8RJquksR6V845M:&imgrefurl=http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/289314-dafuq-did-i-just-read--2&docid=VuDHIQzcRWrZdM&imgurl=http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/289/314/be3.php&w=432&h=290&ei=g0sSUOq8FsrArQH0nYGYBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=300&vpy=134&dur=3202&hovh=184&hovw=274&tx=163&ty=106&sig=105394694510979639894&page=1&tbnh=95&tbnw=141&start=0&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:21,s:0,i:138

[Sam]

Wonderful scientific explanation.

I read about light in water in Dr. Keith Jones' book and the infomrmation was outstanding.

Remember that a fish's eye is designed to see in the water while human eyes are designed to see in the air.

Use whatever line you feel confident. You can always add a clear flourocarbon leader.

[skeletor6]

Wonderful scientific explanation.

I read about light in water in Dr. Keith Jones' book and the infomrmation was outstanding.

Remember that a fish's eye is designed to see in the water while human eyes are designed to see in the air.

Use whatever line you feel confident. You can always add a clear flourocarbon leader.

Thank you for the compliment, I will try and give that book a read. You are dead on Sam, it's a common fallacy to anthropomorphize fish.