Fishing sunglasses lens colors

[Gregorym38]

I have been looking online for an answer but cant quite find what im looking for...

I want to get 2 pairs of smith prescription  guides choice but im debating what color lenses to pick. I want to do 1 amber and the other either blue mirror or green, what would you recommend? I would use amber inshore on lakes/rivers then the other pair for ocean fishing, so im thinking blue. Any thoughts?

[FishTank]

I have a couple a pairs of Smith Sunglasses in various lens colors.  I like them but sort of switched over to Costas. Nothing wrong with the Smiths though. 

 

So on lens color....

 

Blue mirror is the darkest to me. Good for bright days, open water. 

 

Green mirror is the go between. Good contrast but still dark 

 

Bronze/copper mirror. Dark, high contrast,  better in fall

 

Amber. Low light. Good for cloudy days and early morning but not much else. Like the Costa Sunrise Silver Mirror better. Turns things bright. 

[padlin]

Different brand, but I’m trying amber with blue mirroring. Haven’t tried them fishing yet but for driving in the snow they are okay. I think I should have gotten 1 with black lenses and blue mirroring and left the amber without mirroring.

[TOXIC]

Directly from Smith….

 

• Blue: Ideal for offshore, deepwater fishing, our blue lenses cut the glare and protect eyes in bright, unfiltered sunlight. 
• Green: A favorite of inshore anglers, our green lenses provide excellent contrast and detail in sunny and medium-light environments. 
• Ignitor: Perfect for low-light missions, our ignitor lenses (rose tinted) improve color and contrast at dawn, dusk, and overcast conditions.
• Brown: The quiver of one, our brown lenses are ideal for everyday use and in a wide range of light conditions.

 

[Gregorym38]

I know theres a bunch of different color lenses, but if you could only have 2 that would work for everything, what color would you get? Is amber and blue a good choice? 

2 hours ago, FishTank said:

I have a couple a pairs of Smith Sunglasses in various lens colors.  I like them but sort of switched over to Costas. Nothing wrong with the Smiths though. 

 

So on lens color....

 

Blue mirror is the darkest to me. Good for bright days, open water. 

 

Green mirror is the go between. Good contrast but still dark 

 

Bronze/copper mirror. Dark, high contrast,  better in fall

 

Amber. Low light. Good for cloudy days and early morning but not much else. Like the Costa Sunrise Silver Mirror better. Turns things bright. 

If you dont mind me asking, why are you switching from smith to costa? 

[FishTank]

As far as the switch to Costa, I like the lenses better but in an RX, I would imagine they are going to be slightly different.  I like some of the frames as well. A few that I have had from Smith have delaminated.  Smith did cover them under warranty and sent me new ones. Pretty good experience.  

 

If I could only have two Smith pairs,  it would be the green mirror and probably the brown lenses. I also have a pair of that changed in intensity but they never seemed to work right. 

 

I will say the Guides Choice frame is a good fit for me. 

 

 

[casts_by_fly]

I fish amber exclusively.  Amber helps to contrast greens, browns, and earth shades better and those are all of the colors where I fish.  Grey/blue is great for bright open water, but I don't fish that.  Also, amber is also very good on ocean water (I wear them when we are diving or otherwise in the ocean).

[Dwight Hottle]

I use amber lens with green mirror for inshore fishing, driving & general use. For ocean fishing with bright sun I would use gray base with blue mirror. 

[BassKat]

I like amber with green mirror for salt and amber for fresh water. I also buy yellow for the kids to reduce the chance of them not wearing them at dawn/dusk. We have an eye lost to a treble hook in the family. 

[Gregorym38]

1 hour ago, FishTank said:

As far as the switch to Costa, I like the lenses better but in an RX, I would imagine they are going to be slightly different.  I like some of the frames as well. A few that I have had from Smith have delaminated.  Smith did cover them under warranty and sent me new ones. Pretty good experience.  

 

If I could only have two Smith pairs,  it would be the green mirror and probably the brown lenses. I also have a pair of that changed in intensity but they never seemed to work right. 

 

I will say the Guides Choice frame is a good fit for me. 

 

 

Did you feel like the green tint was adequate in open ocean? If it is that would be great, i can use it both freshwater and when im 70 miles offshore but green lenses say that they are for inshore so thats what makes me question it

[MN Fisher]

Green - all the way.

[BassKat]

@Gregorym38 For me, they do, but I prefer more light transmission than many, especially in extremely bright bluewater conditions, and wanted a lens that performed well throughout the day as the sun became less direct. In a perfect world, I'd say you might want both to have the blue mirror for extremely bright bluewater scenarios. 

[Rockhopper]

I find the "mirror" honestly makes zero difference.  You can get different color mirrors on the same color lense.  Get bronze lenses for shallow waters, and grey lenses for deep/offshore if you are going to have 2 different pairs.

 

Typically bronze will come with green mirror and grey will come with blue mirror.  But there are usually variables.

[FishTank]

25 minutes ago, Gregorym38 said:

Did you feel like the green tint was adequate in open ocean? If it is that would be great, i can use it both freshwater and when im 70 miles offshore but green lenses say that they are for inshore so thats what makes me question it

I haven't fished open saltwater in a long time.

 

I prefer the blue mirror on bright sunny days on the lake. They're darker but have less contrast. Seems to work better in clear water as well. The green is good for changing conditions. 

[casts_by_fly]

19 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

I find the "mirror" honestly makes zero difference.  You can get different color mirrors on the same color lense.  Get bronze lenses for shallow waters, and grey lenses for deep/offshore if you are going to have 2 different pairs.

 

Typically bronze will come with green mirror and grey will come with blue mirror.  But there are usually variables.

 

The mirror color I find doesn't make much difference.  But having a mirror does.

 

FWIW, i got a pair of prescription sunglasses recently that were amber with a blue mirror.  A bit custom, but they are for driving and other times when I'm wearing glasses but need sunglasses.  When I'm fishing I almost always have contacts in.  Since these were more casual and the frames were silver, I didn't want gold/green mirror but having the amber lens was mandatory.  Turns out rayban has an amber/blue mirror option.

[Gregorym38]

Alright, i will get green mirror and amber no mirror. thanks for the all the input i appreciate it

[Rockhopper]

2 hours ago, Gregorym38 said:

Alright, i will get green mirror and amber no mirror. thanks for the all the input i appreciate it

Green mirror will most likely be amber lenses.  They would most likely be the same just fyi.

[C.Tucks]

I love my smith glasses. Their polarized chromapop lenses are fantastic. 
Green mirror is what I go with. 

I find the mirror finish reduces glare quite a bit for what it’s worth

[BassKat]

I went on an inshore redfish trip and lots of the guides down there swore by chromapops. I took a lot of different pairs out and Maui Jim HCL bronze performed really well. I wasn't able to compare MJ HCL Bronze head to head with Chrompop but would really like to. 

[gim]

I also use green mirror on my shades.  I find it to be the most versatile lens color in varying conditions.

 

It would be nice to have a bunch based the conditions presented, but nice fishing shades aren't cheap.  So I opted for one that seemed more "all purpose."

[Rockhopper]

Blenders are cheap.  I buy them 3 pairs at a time on sale.  They have great clarity and work incredibly well for fishing.  I have a few different sunglasses from the major players.  The only actual lens that I absolutely LOVE is the polarized happy lens from Spy.  It is by far superior to my eyes than all others.

[MediumMouthBass]

I use Wiley X but out of every color ive tried my favorite is green mirror outside, amber inside. Ive worn them for a few years now, in bright sunlight, cloudy days, indoors at businesses and at home, along with at night. Ive fished/kayaked/walked/etc at night with these on many times and its unbelievable how these lenses work with my eyes. But i only fish smaller fresh water lakes, since you mentioned salt ive heard blue is the best.