Red

Jonshez · May 30, 2009

Hi all, I've heard about the magic properties of red line and it's invisibility due to red being the first colour to disapear at depth.

So, how can it be that red maggots seem to be the most popular colour for bait (presumably they smell the same)? Or that fish love red bloodworm?

Is red just angler superstition?

/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif

Jon

preston96 · May 30, 2009

Oh to be a fish for a day! /forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif

Grumpy Git @ · May 30, 2009

Pretty much covered during this discussion here ........... Red - i

keora · May 31, 2009

As daylight travels through water, red, which is one of the colours in the spectrum, is absorbed in a shorter distance than the other colours (orange yellow green blue violet). But the an object coloured red doesn't disappear under water. The colour red appears to change to a dark grey or black.

Close up, in clear water, red maggots look red. From further away in the water they appear grey or black.

alan whittington · May 31, 2009

As Paul says 'to be a fish for a day' and Kieth,is that toyou or to a fish because i dont believe a scientist telling me that a fish is colour blind,i would have thought that they would have evolved as good a system of vision as is possible and far better than our underwater sight,as usual one 'expert' says one thing and is then vitrified by another,total cods,you tell a shoal of bream they cant see red,if they cant they certainly cant see any other colour./forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif

keora · Jun 1, 2009

Alan, experiments by scientistsshow thatthe colourred is the first to be absorbed when daylight when it traveslthrough water. I've actually immersed a small red piece of plastic at the bottom of a shallow swimming pool. With my head under the water and wearing goggles, red appears to be a dark grey or black at a distance of about 8 yards. Closer up,the colour red wasstill visible.

It's generally believed that some fish can distinguish the different colours in thespectrum of light.

Phillips Jerry · Jun 1, 2009

Don't catch many fish wearing goggles/forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif

Phillips Jerry · Jun 2, 2009

Keith on a more serious note , I have fished a wreck mid channel depth about 300ft so technicaly no light should reach the sea bottom ,we were fishing shads and jelly eels for Cod Coalfish but mostly Pollack. The strange thing was only certain colours caught fish and the next day they would be taking a different colour ,you could fish a day and not get a take if you had the wrong colour, since all the lures had the same action it was the colour the bought about a feeding responce. Any ideas ?

alan whittington · Jun 3, 2009

As i said Kieth,what you see and what a fish sees are two different things,the same as a fishes(or any other creatures)taste mechanism,for ive a feeling that a fishes brain tells it that a worm or a pellettastes pleasant otherwise it wouldnt eat it,all this b******s about fish finding a qualitybait thats really goodfor themis being eaten in preference is garbage,not if it didnt taste ok to them they wouldnt(i thinkpellets taste like a mars bar to them,nice)/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif.

keora · Jun 3, 2009

Jerry, there's a big difference in the rate at which different colours are absorbed as light passes through water. Red is absorbed very quickly - I mentioned that I did some simple tests which suggested red is absorbed after it's travelled though about 8yds of clear water in a swimming pool.

Blue and violet, which are at the other end of the visible spectrum and so aren't absorbed as quickly. I've read somewhere (on the internet) that these colours are still visible at many yards distance even in deep water.

The rate of absorption of coloured lightin water is related to the wavelength of the colour. Red light has a longer wavelength and is impeded by the water molecules. Blue and violet, at the other end of the spectrum, haveshorter wavelengths and are able to wriggle through the molecules of water. This is an over simplified example but it illustrates the idea well enough.

Fin the Fish · Jun 3, 2009

DONT believe this red line nonsense! its only any use if youre fishing on the bottom in over 15foot (depending on clarity and particles in suspension) of water, then the line will only look black when there is no red light reaching it and reflecting off it - it will not be invisible. Use black or very dark grey line and you will have the same effect at all depths!

I have had experience with pike spooking over red trace wire while a friend using green stuff caught fish all day. Also as you noticed yourself Jonshez red maggots are often touted as the best (certainly in my experience red maggot > all others) so red must be detectable to a lot of fish, infact I think the success of red mags is likely because of bloodworm being somewhat similar in colour size and shape.

Imo the whole red line malarkey is one of these bits of tackle built to catch fishermen and not fish.

jjp1188 · Jul 10, 2009

I used the red i line out of interest on Saturday gone. The lake is ony 3.5 to 4 foot deep and the red line didnt seem to change my catch. I ended up busy all day with carp, roach and perch. I know I was fishing a commercial lake with lots of greedy fish but I dont think it would matter when yo use the red line.

Did feel like a **** with red line on my reel for all to see though!!!!

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC) · Jul 10, 2009

As it ages it turns PINK. Then you'll look REALLY gay.

jjp1188 · Jul 10, 2009

hahaha takes a real man to have pink line on his reel!!!

Red

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