Bass & Laser Pointers

[WRB]

Where are all the "bass can't see red" crowd that use red line and hooks?

Tom

[OCdockskipper]

I think those may be two different crowds.

Folks who are comfortable using red line think either the bass don't see red or that it doesn't make a difference.

I am a member of the opposite group.  I have a hunch that bass do see red, that it can be a trigger, so I like to use red hooks, especially on moving lures.  I don't know if it resembles blood, but in the same manner of dipping the tail of a worm in chartreuse dye, it does create a flash of contrasting color that the fish seem to like.  

I may be wrong about it making a difference, but after all these years it has become a confidence thing, not unlike your preference for a small bit of red in your jigs.

[J Francho]

They have a limited ability to see red as "red", but they can and do see the contrast of say red paint on a white lure.

[WRB]

Not only do bass see red they see it in more detail than the human eye. I make this statement based on Eppinger lure company experience with changing red paint suppliers back in the 60's and thier Daredevil spoon sales dropped significantly as a direct result. Both the diamond and stripped red patterns dropped, anglers were buying up the older lures on the self because they caught fish, the new spoons were not as good. Same exact spoon the only difference was the new suppliers red paint. Eppinger learned the red dye used looked brown under ultra violet light, the old red and new red looked completely different. Eppinger duplicated the old red paint and sales returned to normal. There some things about fish eye sight we don't fully understand.

Tom

* source Lucas on Bass.

[J Francho]

That's interesting.

[Molay1292]

The theory of bass seeing red has less to do with the fishes ability and more to do with the simple physics of light.   Red is highest wavelength color, what this means to fisherman and bass in this situation is that when light is filtered by water the color red will be the first to loose it's ability to reflect light at that point it becomes a gray scale color.

 

 

 

[WIGuide]

Lots of animals have a reaction to a lazer light. I had a dog that would chase that thing wherever it went. I used to have all sorts of tropical fish and they'd be all over it. I used to have bass too and it was the same deal. I've seen cats chase them all over. Humans react to them too some more than others.  That's the basis of lazer lure and livingston lures. Sure Livingston has the sound feature too, but a lot of their baits have a red light in them as well.  

[DrMarlboro92]

On 10/10/2016 at 1:19 PM, OCdockskipper said:

 I have a hunch that bass do see red, that it can be a trigger, so I like to use red hooks, especially on moving lures.  I don't know if it resembles blood, but in the same manner of dipping the tail of a worm in chartreuse dye, it does create a flash of contrasting color

One thing I've noticed, is that a red hook can make interesting changes. I had to replace a hook on one of my lipless cranks a while back and all I had was a red trebble. I put it on the back, and started noticing all my fish were slamming the back of the bait and only getting the back hook. I moved the red hook to the front and started sinking both hooks. I have a theory that it gave them a target to key in on, whether it was because it was red, or just a contrast I'm not sure, but I do know moving the red hook changed the way they hit the bait.

[Further North]

I use red hooks a lot on soft plastics...I have no objective data to prove they work better...but since they catch fish...

[Jon P.]

if you wanted to paint a laser pattern crankbait i would go with a dyed red resin and just dip a clear bodied crankbait in the dyed resin.

 

[j bab]

This thread was mentioned in the Bass Blaster. It's kinda cool to see stuff from the forum show up in there (he has around 100,000 subscribers to that newsletter). I assume Kumar asked the OP for permission to quote this?

[J Francho]

Jay is a member here.

[Paul Roberts]

I don't think the color of the laser has much to do with bass, or other critters, interest. Dogs are sensitive to yellow-green but not red, yet they will chase. Bass retinas are highly sensitive to both red, and green. It's the motion, and size, that triggers a predatory response. It's an intriguingly intense response though, eh?