To Be Seen Or Not....??

[Oregon Native]

I surely wish that the kayaker's around here were as safe minded as you all.  Gosh...they like to blend in for the most part … even around dark they don't even use lights!!!

[Mobasser]

We have a 17ft wide bottom aluminum canoe we use for smaller waters. It's unpainted. A friend said we should paint it camo, but I won't. Hasn't made any difference in fishing either

[TnRiver46]

29 minutes ago, Oregon Native said:

I surely wish that the kayaker's around here were as safe minded as you all.  Gosh...they like to blend in for the most part … even around dark they don't even use lights!!!

They have time trials every Wednesday near my house and they stretch across the entire river. I have almost hit a few. I’m a kayaker myself but dang I stay out of the barge channel hahaha

[NHBull]

If fishing for money, blend in,

If not, be visable.....

 

I know many that split the difference and wear neutral colors

[Crow Horse]

Understood that safety trumps all. When we go out and there's the remote possibility that we will be on the water after dark I run the lights as pictured. We almost never go out on a body of water that allows motorized water craft and if we do, we'll stay tight to shore. Our usual fishing spot gets very little fishing pressure and we're the only one's on the water for 98% of the time. In that case, we don't have to worry about a collision scenario. The only issue that we had was ending up in the line of fire when some reckless kids decided to shoot into the pond (they knew we were there). It's a little disconcerting when you hear a bullet "zing" by you. We bugged out and then I straightened out the misguided youths.......

[Catt]

28 minutes ago, NHBull said:

If fishing for money, blend in,

 

Ever see a Pro tournament?

 

They aint exactly blending in!  ?

[roadwarrior]

19 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Ever see a Pro tournament?

 

They aint exactly blending in!  ?

A lot of guys (most guys) like camo, but that's just their preference. I don't think anything you wear has 

an affect on the fish.

 

 

[Angry John]

1 hour ago, roadwarrior said:

A lot of guys (most guys) like camo, but that's just their preference. I don't think anything you wear has 

an affect on the fish.

 

 

I believe this to be mostly true, the exception is very clear shallow water.  To define it loosely if you have great clarity for jerk baits or swimbaits, I believe it matters.  How much does it matter that's anyone's guess

[NYWayfarer]

4 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Ever see a Pro tournament?

 

They aint exactly blending in!  ?

 

 

[Crow Horse]

This is interesting. Just something to noodle...

[Paul Roberts]

Lots of ways bass could see you, and care. (Even more, if you add sound and water movement.)

 

First, can they see you?

As I'd mentioned above, bass are VERY vigilant and aware of what's going on around them. They seem to be more easily spooked when shallow, of course. And it might not take much to get them to bolt for safety. Fish seem not to be much concerned when I'm in boats. Even my float tube, which has legs with fins dangling overhead. I can alarm them, or put them off, but, in general, they don't seem to be concerned about me in my tube.

 

From shore, things are different. Possibly bc they are more apt to be shallow fish, but they seem  to be hyper aware of motion. And pressure wakes emanating from my footfalls is a serious spooker. I tend to wear dark drab clothes, esp when fishing from shore so that I am not highlighted against the background. Crow Horse's image above can show why. Rod motion can be a problem, which is one reason I do not like light colored rods. From a boat, possibly less of an issue, but I came to respect the effects of line flash too, at times, and so all my rods are dark.

 

Sky and water conditions matter here -a lot.

 

But, do they care?

Fish can become habituated to the presence of... all kinds of things. Even heavy equipment around some of the quarries I've fished; Big yellow monsters thundering by belching smoke! On the flip-side, they can also be educated to fishing pressure. Some waters are fished harder than others, some waters expose us more, and some individual fish are spookier than others.

 

Again, sky and water conditions matter -a lot.

 

If a bass sees you, but doesn’t bolt, does it care? They sure can... 

 

Once upon a time... I spotted four large LMs holding, separately, along a shoreline of a large pond. This was late June –well past the spawn. A couple other anglers that had already been there said those big ones wouldn’t bite anything. I approached quietly, but somewhat visibly, and tried several things including a swimming worm, plastic craws, and 4” wacky’d finesse worms, to no avail.

 

I noticed, though, that when I approached, the bass would react to my presence, but subtly. Their erect fins would sag a bit, and they’d drop a bit lower in the water column –they “sulked”. If you are a fly-fisher, sight-fishing -or "head-hunting" as it's called- for large brown trout, you'll know this behavior well. Their erect fins droop, and they sink ever-so slightly deeper. "Sulking" is a good descriptor. Apparently, bass can sulk too. They saw me, and “cared”.

 

So… just like with big browns, I rested them, then rotated back through each fish. This time I approached low to the water’s edge and kept hidden behind shoreline willows. Casting was difficult from behind the bushes, but the bass did not see me, and did not sulk. And I caught three of the four.

 

Two tipped up for the swimming worm on the first cast like a trout coming up for a dry fly. Number three took the worm on the second cast. She was interested but turned away on the first, and took the worm killed and twitched on the second. The fourth had moved, and spotted me on my attempted approach, and she'd had enough and vacated. The bass I got a thumb lock on were two 19s” and a 20” –top fish in that water.

 

I don't know what would have happened had I been wearing a white shirt with Mickey Mouse on it, but... 

 

 

[Crow Horse]

Awesome info!!!!!! Thanks!

[Steveo-1969]

When I'm wading in clear water I wear a blue shirt for blue sky and a gray shirt for cloudy. If it's partly cloudy, I probably wear the blue shirt because I like that one more...

 

I don't think my shirt color makes much difference though. If they are close enough to see me they probably already sensed me standing/shuffling in the water.

[roadwarrior]

3 hours ago, Paul Roberts said:

Lots of ways bass could see you, and care. (Even more, if you add sound and water movement.)

 

First, can they see you?

As I'd mentioned above, bass are VERY vigilant and aware of what's going on around them. They seem to be more easily spooked when shallow, of course. And it might not take much to get them to bolt for safety. Fish seem not to be much concerned when I'm in boats. Even my float tube, which has legs with fins dangling overhead. I can alarm them, or put them off, but, in general, they don't seem to be concerned about me in my tube.

 

From shore, things are different. Possibly bc they are more apt to be shallow fish, but they seem  to be hyper aware of motion. And pressure wakes emanating from my footfalls is a serious spooker. I tend to wear dark drab clothes, esp when fishing from shore so that I am not highlighted against the background. Crow Horse's image above can show why. Rod motion can be a problem, which is one reason I do not like light colored rods. From a boat, possibly less of an issue, but I came to respect the effects of line flash too, at times, and so all my rods are dark.

 

Sky and water conditions matter here -a lot.

 

But, do they care?

Fish can become habituated to the presence of... all kinds of things. Even heavy equipment around some of the quarries I've fished; Big yellow monsters thundering by belching smoke! On the flip-side, they can also be educated to fishing pressure. Some waters are fished harder than others, some waters expose us more, and some individual fish are spookier than others.

 

Again, sky and water conditions matter -a lot.

 

If a bass sees you, but doesn’t bolt, does it care? They sure can... 

 

Once upon a time... I spotted four large LMs holding, separately, along a shoreline of a large pond. This was late June –well past the spawn. A couple other anglers that had already been there said those big ones wouldn’t bite anything. I approached quietly, but somewhat visibly, and tried several things including a swimming worm, plastic craws, and 4” wacky’d finesse worms, to no avail.

 

I noticed, though, that when I approached, the bass would react to my presence, but subtly. Their erect fins would sag a bit, and they’d drop a bit lower in the water column –they “sulked”. If you are a fly-fisher, sight-fishing -or "head-hunting" as it's called- for large brown trout, you'll know this behavior well. Their erect fins droop, and they sink ever-so slightly deeper. "Sulking" is a good descriptor. Apparently, bass can sulk too. They saw me, and “cared”.

 

So… just like with big browns, I rested them, then rotated back through each fish. This time I approached low to the water’s edge and kept hidden behind shoreline willows. Casting was difficult from behind the bushes, but the bass did not see me, and did not sulk. And I caught three of the four.

 

Two tipped up for the swimming worm on the first cast like a trout coming up for a dry fly. Number three took the worm on the second cast. She was interested but turned away on the first, and took the worm killed and twitched on the second. The fourth had moved, and spotted me on my attempted approach, and she'd had enough and vacated. The bass I got a thumb lock on were two 19s” and a 20” –top fish in that water.

 

I don't know what would have happened had I been wearing a white shirt with Mickey Mouse on it, but... 

 

 

WOW!

 

I am not going to argue with our resident scientist, but this would not be in line with

my experience over the past 22+ years of serious bass fishing. My guys dress "dull"

just because that' the way they are, but sometimes that meas bright red!  I can't get 

my arms around any connection with one's clothing.

 

[Paul Roberts]

On 1/28/2019 at 3:43 PM, roadwarrior said:

WOW!

 

I am not going to argue with our resident scientist, but this would not be in line with

my experience over the past 22+ years of serious bass fishing. My guys dress "dull"

just because that' the way they are, but sometimes that meas bright red!  I can't get 

my arms around any connection with one's clothing.

 

 I hear you. And... I agree. It's not the clothing. That heavy equipment I mentioned was wearing bright yellow! No, it's not the clothing, but what you do in it. And... I suppose how long you go about it: I found that, on flat trout stream pools, in which there was no way to approach without spooking them, all I had to do was wade right in on them -spooking them- and... just wait. 5 minutes would do it for brookies; about 10min for browns. This was for "fished over" trout. Here in the high Rockies, where I can hit streams that are not fished, those naive brookies and cutts only take about 10seconds, and you can actually stick them -repeatedly- before they get a clue.

 

That said, and as "our resident scientist", I can tell you that, as curious as I generally am, I will be NOT be running any white Mickey Mouse shirt experiments!  I have my own fashion statement to uphold. I'll be sticking to my stealth-mode fishing clothes: drab cotton long-sleeved pocketed button-downs from Goodwill at $3 ea. Worn more than a few out I have. 

 

Hey Kent, do you realize we had close to this same conversation... probably a decade ago now?!  Two old codgers holding on to the same ideas.  But, I don't think we're all that far off, since both could yield similar results.

 

This brings to mind an old whitetail doe I knew. I had some pretty fancy camo -even had artificial leaves affixed. But, she only had to identify me once, after which she had me pegged everywhere and everything I tried to weave myself into. I guess I might as well have been wearing a white Mickey Mouse shirt.

[Crow Horse]

I'll be sticking to my stealth-mode fishing clothes: drab cotton long-sleeved pocketed button-downs from Goodwill at $3 ea. Worn more than a few out I have.

 

I have a Viet Nam era ERDL (jungle leaf) camo that's just been retired from the fishing rotation. I figure after 50 years it doesn't owe me anything. Now it's either ABU tigers or Marpat (desert or woodland) to keep stealthy.....

 

For most this must sound insignificant or just plain ridiculous but my approach is to pay attention to details, no matter how seemingly insignificant. It's a mental game and just might make the difference when it counts......

[CrankFate]

On 1/27/2019 at 2:20 PM, Crow Horse said:

This is interesting. Just something to noodle...

Safety aside, if they see actual human beings they spook. They are programmed with instinct to know we eat them. I don’t like to be seen by them, because it makes them startle. Especially when they have big eyes like these that only curve upwards. Just look at the eye. That eye is huge, well developed and designed for spotting people.

[Oregon Native]

I'll go with the belief that it's the sudden movements that frighten fish the most.  After all they spend a good portion of their lives up shallow when they are young and up there they have many enemy's.  Kingfishers, herons, snakes, man and the list goes on.  A quick movement usually means danger.  Stealth over color!!

[Crow Horse]

More food for thought....

 

https://www.bassfishingandcatching.com/bass-eyesight.html

[Backroad Angler]

Honestly I don't think your clothes are gonna have much effect on if fish can see you or not.

 

But with that said, if wearing camo or certain colors give you confidence to catch more fish go for it! F

[Choporoz]

Maybe a greater lesson than outerwear colors is that there may be significant value in letting things settle .....take a little time between motoring into a cove...or walking up to the water's edge...and making that first cast.

That pause might be a few seconds on a busy marina-lined channel....or a minute or more in a shallow bay of an old, quiet mill pond.  Maybe let them get a little comfortable before ripping a 190 Whopper Plopper across their ceiling.

[Falkus]

On 1/26/2019 at 6:20 PM, Harold Scoggins said:

For the most part, glitter boats stay away from me. Although, I'm not sure why.

Looks like you are set for war ! 

 

Could you tell us your wear gear set up ? 

[schplurg]

On 1/27/2019 at 6:09 AM, Catt said:

 

Ever see a Pro tournament?

 

They aint exactly blending in!  ?

You win the thread!

[Sam]

Bank fishing - blend in

Ponds - blend in

Bodies of water with bass boats - stand out so they can see you

[Crow Horse]

When I fish, not only am I looking to "blend in" visually, but on another level, which might be difficult for many to understand, I'm looking to be a "part of" not "apart from".......