Monday, April 04, 2011

Fishing For The Right Shades

Selecting Proper Eyewear

When sight fishing the saltwater flats, the second biggest challenge my clients face (right behind casting accurately) is being able to see the fish. Most times, when I have an angler on board who is not spotting the fish, I discover it is improper or sub par eyewear that is making them have such difficulty. All sunglasses are not the same. I have seen schools of hundreds of redfish swim within feet of people's boats and they never notice they are there. If you are not wearing the right kind of glasses, you are missing tons of fish you might otherwise catch.

First and foremost, the glasses must be polarized. If they are not, you have no chance of seeing in the water. The second most important factor is the color of the lens. The anglers I come in contact with that experience the most problems are almost always wearing gray lenses. A quick look through their glasses and I can tell why they are having problems spotting fish that are only 20-30 feet away from the boat. Gray dulls all the colors. When sight fishing for redfish, we want to see a "red" fish against a dark background. Sometimes you will spot the blue strip and the end of their tail. Vivid colors are important. Use a lens that is copper, vermillion, or a shade of brown or dark amber.
Fishing Sunglasses

Lens type and quality are important but rank far behind color. A $15 pair of glasses that are polarized and the correct color will out perform a $200 pair that are the wrong kind for flats fishing. For the best and clearest optics, you are going to pay over $100. Wear them only in the boat and keep them in a case between trips and you will get years of use from them. My glasses never leave the boat and do not have one scratch on them after hundreds of trips. I use Guideline Elite Bimini glasses with the green mirror lens.




Whichever brand you buy, make sure you are choosing the right color lens. Wraparound style frames or those with side lenses, will provide additional visibility enhancement.

Capt. Chris Myers
Central Florida Sight Fishing Charters

http://www.floridafishinglessons.com/
321-229-2848

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