Is There a Dark Side to Bright Lines?

"By the time they get close enough to see line color, they are likely already ignoring it.' " - David A. Ross, Ph.D.

- By Jerry Audet

We know fish can see color and are often attracted to brightly colored lures from far away. So, could bright lines impact our hookup ratios? We reached out to David A. Ross, Ph.D., oceanographer and Scientist Emeritus at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, avid inshore angler, and author of the book The Fisherman's Ocean: How Marine Science Can Help You Find and Catch More Fish, to help us answer this question.

"When it comes to line color, it's probably a low-order factor to consider," Ross says. Though there have been a few studies showing that vividly colored lines can negatively impact catch rates, Ross explains these were conducted in fresh water, which is quite a bit different than marine environments. He states that most fish are nearsighted, which only allows them to see detail up-close.

Fish also generally only use color vision to increase contrast to identify prey items from the background. "There are a lot of other things that are much more important: what your line is doing to the lure, if you can feel the lure through the line, or how strong it is.

"By the time they get close enough to see line color, they are likely already ignoring it.' " - David A. Ross, Ph.D.