Red lines and Red lures

[Chalk]

I was asked this question this morning, "If this red cajun line is such a good line cause red disappears underwater. Why would I spend extra for red hooks & lures that simulate blood in the water is they disappear as well?"



I didn't have a good response, me being speechless about fishing is an anomaly in itself for me.

[Tom Keels]

Stuff that is red doesn't disappear completely. Blood under water looks green. Red snapper underwater look grey until the light hits them just right and they are as pink as TC's shoes.

[catchin1]

Well I think its a case of science vs marketing. I think its a fact that red is the first color of the spectrum to disappear, I've I heard some of our forum members that dive speak of that. As for the red hooks and baits ....just something else to catch "Fishermen". IMHO.

[Chalk]

Red snapper underwater look grey until the light hits them just right and they are as pink as TC's shoes.

[Knot Tester]

Here's a NOAA chart:

The small bars to the right show how silt scatters light and that is why near shore waters and lakes tend to have a green tint.

Seems to me that anything under 75' is still going to be red. I think Tom should get a red suit and see if the sharks still see him at 60'.

And a link to the article:
NOAA - Deep Light

I don't know if the red hooks help, but they don't seem to hurt (other than your wallet).

[Cranfield]

The interesting "postscript" to that NOAA chart is, that fish see better under water than we do.

Those studies are done in the range of the human eye.
It says in the text of the article, "Their (fishes) eyes show remarkable adaptations and may be 10 to 100 times more sensitive than ours".

I would never use red (or any other Hi-Viz) lines.................they just don't look "tasteful".

[dcmcelreath07]

wow this is a very interesting subject to me and i am compelled to research this now that ive seen if brought about. having a love for bass fishing as much as saltwater, i have tried many things to interest fish- i first put cajun line on my reel but never did it to catch more fish i just put it on because it looked cool on my combo but i had always heard that red hooks resemble blood which attracts fish and tried and it seemed to catch more bass. im not sure if this relates to your question, Chalk, but im just telling you what ive heard and what is probably a common misconception in fishermen
ps-i am very interested in what Knot , Tom, and Catchin all have to say these are things i havent every heard of and i will certainly use them in later thoughts about angling

[Eerman]

This may be ignorant and I'm asking as much as telling; but, if red "disappears" then doesn't that just mean it loses its color. In other words, if something red loses its color wouldn't it then become black? Supply contrast? i.e. a red hook with a white bait
Don't have a clue why red line would vanish?? Wouldn't it just appear grey or black like Tom said?

[Knot Tester]

Can't say if it will turn grey or black. It would depend on what other materials are in the line. In other words, after the red stops reflecting some other color will present itself - maybe blue or green.

Tom or one of his buddies needs to just take a red circle hook and some Cajun line down and tell us what happens.

I bought some of the green line because it was supposed to turn clear also. But I've watched it 20' down, and all I see is a bright green line!
Chalk up another caught fisherman for marketing!

[leonreno]

Yes, red colors start loosing their red color component, it will slowly turn brown then grey as you get deeper. It does not "disappear" as Cajun Line will have you think. If it did, then all Navy Submarines would be painted red to be "stealth" submarines. As far as what about red hooks and lures, well red blood and red hooks will still look the same even if they both loose their red color, so that technically could still work.

[Apalach]

Yep-as Knot, leon, and others have pointed out, the red end of the spectrum is the first to disappear as you go deeper. If you have ever done any underwater photography, both with and without flash, you can see this pretty dramatically start to happen even at only 6 feet or so, while by about 30 feet (actually at 33 feet as I recall) the red-orange wavelengths have been pretty well absorbed by the water column, and those colors are gone completely. And this is in clear oceanic or coral reef waters with visibility at perhaps 100 feet. In nearshore waters with lots of silt, sediment, tannins, or phytoplankton present, the whole picture changes even more dramatically, and you will lose different wavelengths even more quickly.

Now, the red does not disappear, but it DOES take on a darker or more blackish hue. That is why I have to laugh at all the red stuff on the market now. Red line not only will NOT disappear, it will become even darker (i.e., blackish) and probably even more visible to a fish. And if red is more visible to a fish (the ole “bloodâ€

[Cranfield]

Nice post Apalach (although it did have me reaching for the dictionary a few times ), that popped a few balloons.

The Tackle Manufacturers must struggle annually, to bring out something new, the next "must have" item, usually promoted by some TV fishing "personality", it must be really hard work for them.

We use bread for bait in the UK, for quite a few of our freshwater fish (and mullet).
You can buy white "bread hooks".........honestly.
To think that a fish notices the colour of a hook, embedded in a piece of bread flake, or paste, defies belief, but they sell a lot of these white hooks.

Some things will never change and we the Anglers are top of quite a few
peoples "catch list".

[captainspride]

90% of the tackle is designed to catch fishermen and a lot of it does

[rocket]

Wonder why they say red bait traps catch more fish than black ones?