I'd like to offer a recommendation for some excellent reading. Prompted by Deb Duran, I looked up a copy of "What Fish See" by Colin Kageyama, published by Frank Amato Publications. The paperback with color and b&w illustrations is a small format 183-page publication.
Kageyama, or Dr. K, is a doctor of optometry, a fishing lure designer, and a steelhead fishing fanatic out of Portland, Oregon. (gotta meet the guy sometime, since he's a few hours away in a city I visit often). Dr. K. has post-graduate training in optics, neurophysiology, color and visual perception. Much of his study is based upon underwater observation and photography, and he has several patents pending on an underwater visualization system for fishing lure design.
Simply put, the first reading has radically altered the way I look at color selection for flyfishing! Amazing stuff that explains a lot of past success (and failures) on the water.
For example: the most visible color combination for fishing in cloudy, murky or winter water is fluorescent chartreuse, black, and silver plate or (down a step) white. Interesting enough, the most visible color combination for bright conditions is black and metallic brown (I would assume that copper fits here).
Dr. K. carefully explains the factors that determine the underwater visibility of your fly to fish: bright versus cloudy days, dark or light backgrounds, depth of water fished, cloudiness versus clarity of the water, and whether the fish will see your fly above or below its eye level. That's a lot to consider, but after reading the book, it all makes sense and fits together in a logical, scientifically tested way.
The downer, though, is that to do Dr. K's system as he has designed it, a $60 visualization kit is required! This consists of three viewing filters, two backgrounds and instructions. The filters are red/orange, green and blue, and the backgrounds are sand and black. The exact specs of the viewing filters are really what you are buying.
The filter system is used to sort your collection of lures, flies and materials to match the most appropriate conditions. Also, you view lures and fly tying materials at the stores to find the best samples...this takes some explanation.
By far, fly tying materials have poorer colors for underwater visibility to fish than materials and paints used to make lures. It is much harder to dye a good fluorescent color on natural materials like rabbit or feathers, than it is to come up with a good fluorescent paint for a lure.
Using the filters when selecting fly tying materials will tell you what brands and what packages will provide the most visibility! That is very similar advice given to me by a sage flytyer of great reputation in these parts, Jim Dexter. Jim said that you should always examine packages of tying materials side by side, as the dye jobs can vary greatly, particularly with fluorescents. Some people are just more savvy about dying fluorescent colors than other folks.
Chartreuse has been a long time favorite of mine for trout flytying, and it was really cool to have that preference documented in scientific fact by Dr. K. His studies show that a GOOD fluorescent chartreuse is the the most visible color under dark, murky, deep, low visibility, dark background conditions. My favorite stillwater streamer has a chartreuse bunny tail with a little amber flash material, black dubbing body with copper wire ribbing, and a black bunnystrip overwing, and a couple of turns of black webby hackle behind the head. Perhaps its success can be credited to being a fly that is very visible to fish in a wide range of conditions?
Paul Slaney, our Welsh friend, recently sent his correspondents the results of a year-long survey by Trout Fisherman Magazine (the UK's largest circulation Fly Fishing Magazine). The survey sought to establish the top 20 stillwater fly patterns in use in the UK. At the top was the Cat's Whisker, white marabou tail, fluorescent chartreuse chenille body, and white marabou overwing. Again that fits perfectly into Dr. K's findings about the best flies for low visibility conditions and murky water (and a lot of the water in the UK is a bit murky).
The photos of the underwater tests done by Kageyama of fly tying materials and flies are really sobering. Most all the materials turn into shades of grey and black just a few feet below the surface. Again, the colors that hold up the best for deeper, darker water fishing are the true fluorescents (especially chartreuse), silver, white and black. Those are the ingredients for a Green Butt Skunk steelhead fly, among other popular tyes.
This book is a real eye-opener!
Wes Wada Bend, Oregon
"It was either Isaac Asimov or Captain Kirk who explained this, I can't remember which."
