what colors fish can see

[sasha]

i noticed that for squid most people use green lights to attract them. But some people prefer red lights. Any reasons for that?? does it make a diffrence at what depth you keep the light?? I remember watching a show a while ago and the divers mentioned that below a sorten depth most fish cant see red color. So one of the reasons alot of deep fish are actualy red in color. What got me to think about is that i watched a show and they were in some very deep canyon. Some of the predatory fish would attract other fish by flashing blue light. All the glow in the dark lures i seen would be the yellow kind ( im sure there might be other colors i just seen the yellow) So i wonder what would happen if i would get a glow in the dark paint that is maybe blue or red or green??
Its also on the same line of thinking that some of you have about sharks that some colors attract them more then other colors.

[Hypoxic1]

the colors depart in this order. Red. Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
If light is attached to an object remember that light is white so it distorts the actual loss of color.

My unscientific effort at covering the spectrum.

Prolly better off just to go fish

[sixgunn]

I may be wrong, but I think it is just that the color is filtered out, not because of the depth, but because of the density of the water, at depth. so if you were to introduce red light atdepth, it would still be seen, as red, but would not be seen from very far.... being a foreign color, it may elicit harder hits, when seen... don't know, just a thought, with no background to back it up, but I'm sure someone knows. I was always told, "use any color you want when you're fishing deep, as long as its green.", but that was not taking into account for self illuminated lures.

[GregAndrew]

Longer wavelength colors, such as Red Yellow and Orange, penetrate less deep than shorter wavelength colors, such as Violet Green and Blue. The penetration of the various components of the light spectrum are controlled by the the amount of scattering and filtering due to particles. As I understand it, a flat surface reflects more light, and a choppy surface absorbs more light. Plankton and disolved solids (like salt) block the transmission of light. I believe that even thermoclines can further scatter light and reduce penetration. It is the distance traveled through the water that controls the light penetration, not the pressure.

The best color light to attract Squid is White (full spectrum), or the Squid boats would not use them. Now, that much light might not attract the WSB which may be why fishing boats use other colors. Even Red, the least penetrating visible color, can be visible up to 15 meters in good conditions.

[bubblehide]

Generally speaking fish have both rods and cones within their eyes, so many are know to have the ability to see colors such as those colors we can see, however they also can see the ultraviolet spectrum; as such, they see colors that we humans do not. Their visual perception may vary depending on conditions, such as depth of water, bottom structure, reflective factors... and their perception of what is seen may be vary different than what we see, given the same conditions.

Greg brings up some good points, and I'll add that light wave lengths travel much slower underwater than they do in air which is likely related to amongst other things, those things Greg brings up.

[CheapPelican]

Doesn't attract any specific types of fish or explain why the color green is used but makes sense;

"The Quarrow Allure-Light shines a bright green light directly into the water. The reason why this light helps catch more fish is very simple. The green light starts a natural food chain reaction by attracting a concentration of small microscopic animals called plankton. Bait fish such as shad and minnows are drawn to the light to feed on the plankton and larger game fish move in to feed on the bait fish."

[sasha]

Thanks guys that explains some for me.. I want to stack up the chances of catching something nicer as i didnt get anything big yet. So i thought maybe some lures that glow diffrent colors might help me some.
Going to be doing alot of reading on it.

Sasha

[maui jim]

Professor Dr.Dan Hernandez uses Red Hooks and Line....and the dippin sauce is red also........

[DESTROYER]

Drew Clarke who now is an avid diver and teacher told me he takes a Roma Tomato down with him when he is teaching and 9 out of 10 times the people guess that it is a Kiwi.

I'm color blind and I got to tell you, I've always been more of the right place at the right time with the right presentation.

[Nic D]

Originally Posted by DESTROYER

Drew Clarke who now is an avid diver and teacher told me he takes a Roma Tomato down with him when he is teaching and 9 out of 10 times the people guess that it is a Kiwi.

I'm color blind and I got to tell you, I've always been more of the right place at the right time with the right presentation.

exactly, fish see tones after about 40' down, not so much in colors

[grey zone]

I think the reason you see green lights being used is because thats the only color available in a 12 volt submersible. All the white lights I see are above the water and run on 110 via generator, the noise gives that away. I can not debate white vs. green because I have only used green, but I will say it works very well. I have seen commercial light boats with green lights above the water.

[bubblehide]

Originally Posted by Tamarack Studios

exactly, fish see tones after about 40' down, not so much in colors

Actually what we humans see underwater is tones (as colors fade with depth). And considering that it is believed that fish can see not only the colors we can, but the UV spectrum too, it only makes sense that there visual perception is much different that ours.

We can come up with computer models/simulations for what it might look like, but a brains perception, whether it's a fish, snake, elephant, bird, or fish can not be duplicated, all we can do thus far is to take our best guess based on what little information we do know.