Latest Color Research (Bass Vision)

[RichF]

18 hours ago, Log Catcher said:

I don't know about bass color perception. I can say I have never caught a bass on a green pumpkin jig. It usually either black and blue or pb&j colors.

95% of my jig bass come off green pumpkin, haha.  I bet it has more to do with how often we use those specific colors rather than the color itself.

[Cak920]

That would be interesting to put to the test with things like senkos. Switch casts between solid black and black and blue and see if there’s a difference. If there would or wouldn’t be a consistent difference that would be cool to see first hand to prove this study

[fissure_man]

In experiment #2 (no olfactory cues), bass trained to yellow or white often mixed up the two, which was expected under the initial dichromatic vision hypothesis.  However, the bass trained to yellow also frequently approached/struck the blue target, and bass trained to white struck at both the black and blue targets.  In both cases red and green were avoided.  The physiological evidence doesn’t suggest there should be any difficulty in distinguishing yellow or white from black or blue, so this result was unexpected (I think).

 

Maybe(?) this was covered under the statement “These results indicate that bass can more readily associate meaning to chromatic cues of high opponency” – assuming that white and yellow are both achromatic to a bass, not only can they not easily distinguish them visually, they may also be less prone to “learn” or be trained using yellow or white cues. But doesn’t this take away a little of the significance of first conclusion? It leads to the question, to what degree were those bass visually mixing up white and yellow, versus just not knowing WTH they were doing beyond avoiding red/green?

 

It’s also interesting that the reverse was not true, i.e. bass trained to either black or blue did not tend to “mistakenly” approach/strike the white or chartreuse targets.  Maybe there weren’t enough tests run in experiment #2 (4 tests x 2 tanks) to dive very deep into this.  Any other theories?

 

Good thread.

[Paul Roberts]

On 4/30/2018 at 3:57 PM, Team9nine said:

Somewhat surprised no one has jumped on this one yet, but a study published just last month in the journal Current Zoology confirmed some interesting details on bass vision that have been suggested by others over the years. These included the following;

 

• Bass have dichromatic color vision, with green sensitive single cones and red sensitive twin cones, along with a rod cell. This has been compared to seeing the world through a yellow filter, which would give the poorest vision (color discrimination) toward the blue/purple end of the spectrum.
• As far as bass are concerned, chartreuse yellow is indistinguishable from white.
• Also, the behavioral assays indicated that blue is indistinguishable from black.
• Red and green were the most easily identified and distinguished colors.
• They saw little if any difference in outcomes when comparing Florida strain bass to northern strain fish.

 

Obviously, there are no absolutes in terms of making definitive statements on bass vision and what their interpretation in their little brains is. It can be especially difficult when comparing lab analysis to field conditions. One thing you can count on...manufacturers will keep selling and profiting off chartreuse-white and black-blue baits, while bass anglers will keep believing in these color combinations and continue to buy them. However, the accumulating science (going back to 1937) is beginning to suggest perhaps we've all been 'fooled.'

"Confirmed" is the word here as it corroborates past findings, which is important.

 

I see Ellis Loew is on the paper. I knew him; His office was down the hall from my lab back then. That was... 25+ years ago now. Yeesh!

[BrackishBassin]

There’s only one thing to do when presented with information as ground breaking as this - buy every color combination offered in a specific lure type. You know, just in case. 

[Joshua Vandamm]

On 5/2/2018 at 3:14 PM, BrackishBassin said:

There’s only one thing to do when presented with information as ground breaking as this - buy every color combination offered in a specific lure type. You know, just in case. 

Too late! Lol

I'm taking the opposite approach. Red-orange, greens, black, white. Fish more, carry less. 

On 4/30/2018 at 5:57 PM, Team9nine said:

Somewhat surprised no one has jumped on this one yet, but a study published just last month in the journal Current Zoology confirmed some interesting details on bass vision that have been suggested by others over the years. These included the following;

 

• Bass have dichromatic color vision, with green sensitive single cones and red sensitive twin cones, along with a rod cell. This has been compared to seeing the world through a yellow filter, which would give the poorest vision (color discrimination) toward the blue/purple end of the spectrum.
• As far as bass are concerned, chartreuse yellow is indistinguishable from white.
• Also, the behavioral assays indicated that blue is indistinguishable from black.
• Red and green were the most easily identified and distinguished colors.
• They saw little if any difference in outcomes when comparing Florida strain bass to northern strain fish.

 

Obviously, there are no absolutes in terms of making definitive statements on bass vision and what their interpretation in their little brains is. It can be especially difficult when comparing lab analysis to field conditions. One thing you can count on...manufacturers will keep selling and profiting off chartreuse-white and black-blue baits, while bass anglers will keep believing in these color combinations and continue to buy them. However, the accumulating science (going back to 1937) is beginning to suggest perhaps we've all been 'fooled.'

Citation please? (Author, date)

 

Just a good habit to be in when presenting research. 

 

[Team9nine]

7 minutes ago, Joshua Vandamm said:

Too late! Lol

I'm taking the opposite approach. Red-orange, greens, black, white. Fish more, carry less. 

Citation please? (Author, date)

 

Just a good habit to be in when presenting research. 

 

I'll do you one better and just give you the link to the entire paper ?

 

Seeing Red: Color Vision In the Largemouth Bass

[WRB]

Thanks for the link, will read in the morning.

Tom

[OCdockskipper]

On 4/30/2018 at 8:00 PM, WRB said:

Aaron Martens is color blind or limited color blind.

Tom

And I have seen him bite red crankbaits in muddy water...

[FishDewd]

On 4/30/2018 at 8:05 PM, NorthernBasser said:

Jesus, just when I thought I finally had these buggers all figured out!

That'll never happen! :P

[Joshua Vandamm]

On 5/1/2018 at 8:06 PM, Paul Roberts said:

"Confirmed" is the word here as it corroborates past findings, which is important.

 

I see Ellis Loew is on the paper. I knew him; His office was down the hall from my lab back then. That was... 25+ years ago now. Yeesh!

Just curious how this squares with the assertion that essentially they ‘switch’ to monochromatic vision at night..?

[N Florida Mike]

I fish moderately clear water for the most part. A little closer to clear than murky waters.

My best colors are:

• Watermelon with some kind of red in it.

• Other watermelon colors.

• Grape shad

• Tequila sunrise

• June bug

• Black grape

• Red shad

There are numerous color combos I don't use much, but occasionally catch a few on.

I rarely, if ever , catch anything on blue, black, yellow ,  or white.

[punch]

I'm going to be using my red JJs magic a lot more now. 

[MIbassyaker]

17 hours ago, Joshua Vandamm said:

Just curious how this squares with the assertion that essentially they ‘switch’ to monochromatic vision at night..?

 

The switch happens because of a basic property of any rod- and cone-based visual system. We all experience a similar switch (or more accurately, a fade) to monochromacy at night for the same reasons.

 

Light intensity at night drops too low (i.e., below threshold) to stimulate a response from the cones, so the job of visual acuity is left only to the responses from the rods. The rods are more sensitive to low levels of light, but have very wide tuning curves, so their responses are not specific to particular wavelength inputs. Rods by themselves can't support distinctions between color, but they support perception of slight light-dark transitions and movement very well.

[Paul Roberts]

19 hours ago, Joshua Vandamm said:

Just curious how this squares with the assertion that essentially they ‘switch’ to monochromatic vision at night..?

Rods are highly sensitive to light, but not to color. Rods are shielded during bright light. When light levels fall, rods migrate into place to take in existing light.

[Joshua Vandamm]

On 5/26/2018 at 5:30 PM, Paul Roberts said:

Rods are highly sensitive to light, but not to color. Rods are shielded during bright light. When light levels fall, rods migrate into place to take in existing light.

Thanks. As the cones are still there then they must be able to see color when there's enough light eg. moonlight. Similar to ourselves. 

[J Francho]

On 5/26/2018 at 5:30 PM, Paul Roberts said:

Rods are highly sensitive to light, but not to color. Rods are shielded during bright light. When light levels fall, rods migrate into place to take in existing light.

I'm also pretty certain that bass can make that switch quicker than many baitfish, which explains their crepuscular feeding habits.

[Paul Roberts]

19 hours ago, Joshua Vandamm said:

Thanks. As the cones are still there then they must be able to see color when there's enough light eg. moonlight. Similar to ourselves. 

I don't know the threshold levels needed for color vision; It's probably been studied in related fishes, if not bass. Certainly the longer wavelengths (Red end), which bass retina's are most sensitive to (being shallow water dwellers), would be filtered out by water as light diminishes. Their other peak, in the green range, would be more useful in low light I suppose, if anything bc it can penetrate water a bit further. FYI: The explanation for the two cone peaks is that green maximizes background light in algal and vegetated waters. The red offers a direct contrast that makes camouflaged creatures pop out against the green background. 

 

I'm not sure color vision is at all required at night for bass to feed effectively though. Cones really do require a lot of light. And color vision is different than grayscale vision. I for one cannot see color under even the brightest moonlight. And I've had a number of interesting experiences under full moon lighting -in places quite familiar to me- that suggest that my rod vision (rods are a lot more sensitive to light than cones) is all about contrast in grayscale -edges and textures popping out instead of color patch differences. I see things under moonlight that are lost to me in daylight. Color is great, but it's like a veneer that glosses over lots of details, details that jump out under moonlight. I've called it, "seeing like a deer".

 

Just some thoughts.

19 hours ago, J Francho said:

I'm also pretty certain that bass can make that switch quicker than many baitfish, which explains their crepuscular feeding habits.

There's been some research that backs this up. Part of it has to do with simply having larger eyes, but I think that the shift is quicker for bass than some prey fishes too.

[Joshua Vandamm]

On 5/31/2018 at 5:33 PM, Paul Roberts said:

I don't know the threshold levels needed for color vision; It's probably been studied in related fishes, if not bass. Certainly the longer wavelengths (Red end), which bass retina's are most sensitive to (being shallow water dwellers), would be filtered out by water as light diminishes. Their other peak, in the green range, would be more useful in low light I suppose, if anything bc it can penetrate water a bit further. FYI: The explanation for the two cone peaks is that green maximizes background light in algal and vegetated waters. The red offers a direct contrast that makes camouflaged creatures pop out against the green background. 

 

I'm not sure color vision is at all required at night for bass to feed effectively though. Cones really do require a lot of light. And color vision is different than grayscale vision. I for one cannot see color under even the brightest moonlight. And I've had a number of interesting experiences under full moon lighting -in places quite familiar to me- that suggest that my rod vision (rods are a lot more sensitive to light than cones) is all about contrast in grayscale -edges and textures popping out instead of color patch differences. I see things under moonlight that are lost to me in daylight. Color is great, but it's like a veneer that glosses over lots of details, details that jump out under moonlight. I've called it, "seeing like a deer".

 

Just some thoughts.

There's been some research that backs this up. Part of it has to do with simply having larger eyes, but I think that the shift is quicker for bass than some prey fishes too.

The larger eyes note is interesting. I've always suspected larger bass have better vision than smaller ones for this reason. 

...Which nicely circles around to 'highlight' the whole point of night fishing. Bigger bass feed more at night. Some exclusively at night. 

[SloppyJ]

On 4/30/2018 at 5:22 PM, frosty said:

That’s it, all my baits are either red or green! Seriously though, I think on my next order of jigs I’m going to find one red and one green and give them a shot. 

 

On 4/30/2018 at 6:10 PM, Log Catcher said:

I don't know about bass color perception. I can say I have never caught a bass on a green pumpkin jig. It usually either black and blue or pb&j colors.

 

 

Wow to both of you. My jig color is made up of about 90% watermelon or pumpkin. If I want a different color "pop", I'll pick that up in the trailer. The candy colored rage baits have been solid for me.  

[Mobasser]

Thanks for sharing! Very interested in this info also.

[Harold Scoggins]

On ‎5‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 9:10 PM, Joshua Vandamm said:

Citation please? (Author, date)

 

Just a good habit to be in when presenting research. 

CBE or CSE Format?

 

Just kidding, I'm just now reading this article. Good read.

[Deleted account]

Sure, all the science behind this is informative, useful and interesting, but it doesn't follow that because vision is more acute around a certain band of the spectrum that the corresponding colors will be more productive. I think most experienced anglers will agree that in clear water, matching the forage and or surroundings is the way to go, where as in low vis conditions the more visible colors like chart, and white or dark contrasting colors are more appropriate. With a few exceptions when color matters significantly, I'm usually fishing a bright color, dark color or forage color. I'm almost sure that I can fill my bathtub and get a couple of bites with watermelon candy, and I'm sure most have a confidence color like that. I will add that with hard baits, I'm a big follower of a small accent of red, orange or chartreuse, I've seen it make a difference enough many times. I'll leave the how and whys to the biologists, ichthyologists, and other scientists.

[thinkingredneck]

It seems reasonable that Bass have adapted to find forage in their environment,  so forage colors should work.  That doesn't explain my recent success with merthiolate.

[FryDog62]

On 4/30/2018 at 4:57 PM, Team9nine said:

Somewhat surprised no one has jumped on this one yet, but a study published just last month in the journal Current Zoology confirmed some interesting details on bass vision that have been suggested by others over the years. These included the following;

 

• Bass have dichromatic color vision, with green sensitive single cones and red sensitive twin cones, along with a rod cell. This has been compared to seeing the world through a yellow filter, which would give the poorest vision (color discrimination) toward the blue/purple end of the spectrum.
• As far as bass are concerned, chartreuse yellow is indistinguishable from white.
• Also, the behavioral assays indicated that blue is indistinguishable from black.
• Red and green were the most easily identified and distinguished colors.
• They saw little if any difference in outcomes when comparing Florida strain bass to northern strain fish.

 

Obviously, there are no absolutes in terms of making definitive statements on bass vision and what their interpretation in their little brains is. It can be especially difficult when comparing lab analysis to field conditions. One thing you can count on...manufacturers will keep selling and profiting off chartreuse-white and black-blue baits, while bass anglers will keep believing in these color combinations and continue to buy them. However, the accumulating science (going back to 1937) is beginning to suggest perhaps we've all been 'fooled.'

Came across this older thread and wanted to ask the question - if there are differences in color perception between largemouth and smallmouth?  
 

Smallmouth tend to be more active sight feeders, which poses the question if their eyesight is better and/or they see more color variations?