Is color another exploited characteristic.

[JSzymczyk 0]

I'm not saying color is NOT important, just that I think subtle differences in the shade really don't make that much difference as to whether the fish refuses the fly or not. If the color is in the ballpark, it should work fine. I hear too much discussion on whether this shade or that of the same basic color makes a difference to the fish.

 

I agree completely.

[switch10 0]

What a great idea to include specific color codes in fly pattern recipe

 

What a great MARKETING idea... took off like wildfire hey?

 

Just because it didn't "take off" doesn't make it any less of a good idea. Who cares if it's popular or not??

[GdubyaSmith 0]

I can remember back when I got my first ever Fly Tying Kit. I caught fish off the materials included. Eventually I ran out of those Flies and had to make due with whatever I picked up whatever color it was. I still caught Fish on the new colored flies...simply tied them the same way, same size, same hooks. I didn't change the way I fished them nor did I change where I fished them. So for me, in my situation here, I'll say that it is "Size, Profile, Presentation(respective to water conditions)".

Here is the "Rub" so to speak.....

Every single one of those flies were DRY FLIES...fished in fairly quick moving water.

When I started getting into Nymph fishing things changed. At first I bought all of them and caught fish.

When I started tying them, thinking from my experience, color didn't make any difference. I was wrong.

When I started getting closer to the ones I bought that I caught fish with the shape was the same, the method I fished them stayed the same, the COLOR changed from whatever I had laying around here to more subdued Olives, Blacks, and Browns. I caught fish on the crazy colors...but the quantity went higher when I ratcheted it down to a more natural tone.

When I started tying WET FLIES I attempted Spiders in basic Black Soft Hackle with Red thread or Bead...that color combination continuously slams Trout and I've even caught Catfish on it. The Size makes the difference there in what I catch with it.

Just from my experiences...Top of the Water: Size, Shape, and Presentation is more important than Color.

Go under the film and your no longer covered by the "Shadow Effect" of a back-lit Fly and Color becomes much more important.

[Dirts 0]

Maybe someday someone with create lures that ones they hit the water and start sinking they will automatically change to the appropriate depth color.

[Peterjay 0]

What a great idea to include specific color codes in fly pattern recipe

 

What a great MARKETING idea... took off like wildfire hey?

 

Just because it didn't "take off" doesn't make it any less of a good idea. Who cares if it's popular or not??

Good idea? Professionals in the dyeing industry can't cut it fine enough to nail that many colors consistently on the button, nor can dye-based printing processes. If there are light brown flies hatching, for God's sake, just throw a light brown fly out there, and you'll catch more fish than you know what to do with. Assuming, of course, that the angler in question has spent more time observing actual fish and forage than he has poring over charts and prowling fly shops and chicken coops in search of the perfect shade of gray.

[switch10 0]

What about people who photograph aquatic specimens to replicate at the vise (me)? The sun can distort colors, sometimes to the point that you can't tell if it's brown, olive, or black.

Of course you don't need 20 shades of olive, 2 or 3 would be just fine for me.

 

Like I need your validation.

[FlyFishin'Jam 0]

Pretty interesting the majority of discussion is about trout, i always just kinda lifted rocks and checked out what was flying around then matched general size and colour, seems to work i am no trout master tho, unless it is steelhead - for some reason a blue charm always gets the smaller very fresh fish, i really don't know what it is about it. For coho i found you should be packing blues and silvers, fresh pink salmon love pink but also naturals and everything else (sometimes a bare hook), chinook in high sun tend to go for bright chartreuse. Infact for salmonids i kind of follow a little thing about bright day bright fly, low light moving into purples and claret with no flash, stained high dirty water i will reach for orange. Some fish see far into the uv spectrum so a little uv reflection can be good for the confidence.

 

In the ocean i am always reaching for blues and chartreuse, sometimes tan backs or purple - once again match what the prey looks like but do not camouflage too much. Flats is a good one for this, you want to match the substrate but still have the fly visible often tiny shrimp are nearly clear, crabs blend into their surroundings very well so some anglers add something like hot orange legs to stand out.

 

Funny some days one colour will be slaying it, the next a different colour, carry a few options and experiment wildly.

 

Out of interest here is a nice article on how salmon see.

 

http://www.dafml.unito.it/anatomy/ponzetto/VISTA/SALMON%20COLOR.pdf

[mikechell 0]

Wow, FlyFishin'Jam ... that's a great article. The fish's eye actually starts out seeing better in the shallows and changes to allow better vision in the depths. And the wavelengths involved are color specific. I always believed deep water fish would be more adapted to seeing in black and white ... contrasts.

Do you know if there are similar articles for bass, bream or other freshwater fish?

 

I've been staying out of this conversation because ... (1) I didn't know enough about color vision in fish to comment ... (2) Fishing for bass and panfish, color does not seem to make as much difference and movement and location in the water column, and ... (3) This is one of those subjects where everybody thinks they know best and other's opinions just piss them off.

 

So, item number 2 says it all for me ... and that's all I'll say.