The colour of baits

[zeliosky]

Hi, i'm new to fishing and was wondering what peoples thoughts were regarding the colour of ground bait and pellets.
Is it best to have the same colour groundbait as pellet, or does 2 different colours help because of the variety on offer?

Hope you can help!

[barbus maximus]

Hi zeliosky, and welcome to the forum.

I will let you into a secret, that at times has caused a lot of dicussion. I have a close friend who is a biologist specialising in Icthyology (Fresh water fish), and he tells me that fish do not see colour!
What they do see is shades of grey, but considerably more accurately then the human eye.
He explained as an example that if you or I were to look at say, 2 halibut pellets, we would see a uniform brown colour, but a fish would see the pellets as a grey shade, and different to one another at that.

As far as bait goes, fish have 'shades of grey' preferences not colour.

It is the same with the likes of Salmonoides. They will chase a lure or fly because of the shades of grey, in addition to any sparkle or light reflection from tinsel or streamer.
Smell comes before movement / sight, so baits should initially be chosen for that first, with the exception being spinning or lure fishing for predators, which rely on sight over smell.

Hope this helps a little


Barbus

[Maddison_Twatter]

Originally Posted by barbus maximus

Hi zeliosky, and welcome to the forum.

I will let you into a secret, that at times has caused a lot of dicussion. I have a close friend who is a biologist specialising in Icthyology (Fresh water fish), and he tells me that fish do not see colour!
What they do see is shades of grey, but considerably more accurately then the human eye.

Nice one , you learn something new everyday !

[barbus maximus]

Aaaahhhh, Young Maddison_Twatter, hows tricks?

I am actually looking into a basic Icthyology course myself at the moment (about £300 for the diploma course) having spoken to my biologist friend. It appears to be a good course to do as a fisherman, as it gives all sorts of insights into the behaviour and life cycles of our fishy friends, and the habitat they reside in.

The colour thing was an eye opener to me too, excuse the pun, and very interesting.

Barbus

[Maddison_Twatter]

Originally Posted by barbus maximus

Aaaahhhh, Young Maddison_Twatter, hows tricks?

I am actually looking into a basic Icthyology course myself at the moment (about £300 for the diploma course) having spoken to my biologist friend. It appears to be a good course to do as a fisherman, as it gives all sorts of insights into the behaviour and life cycles of our fishy friends, and the habitat they reside in.

The colour thing was an eye opener to me too, excuse the pun, and very interesting.

Barbus

All is well mate, only one barbel out this season but hopefull that will change next week.
The course sounds very interesting and it sounds like it will certainly add an egde your angling.

[tightlinesdaz]

Originally Posted by barbus maximus

Hi zeliosky, and welcome to the forum.

I will let you into a secret, that at times has caused a lot of dicussion. I have a close friend who is a biologist specialising in Icthyology (Fresh water fish), and he tells me that fish do not see colour!
What they do see is shades of grey, but considerably more accurately then the human eye.
He explained as an example that if you or I were to look at say, 2 halibut pellets, we would see a uniform brown colour, but a fish would see the pellets as a grey shade, and different to one another at that.

As far as bait goes, fish have 'shades of grey' preferences not colour.

It is the same with the likes of Salmonoides. They will chase a lure or fly because of the shades of grey, in addition to any sparkle or light reflection from tinsel or streamer.
Smell comes before movement / sight, so baits should initially be chosen for that first, with the exception being spinning or lure fishing for predators, which rely on sight over smell.

Hope this helps a little


Barbus

Interesting... Is this why luminous pop ups are made. I'm guessing they would produce a lighter grey?

[barbus maximus]

Originally Posted by tightlinesdaz

Interesting... Is this why luminous pop ups are made. I'm guessing they would produce a lighter grey?

That may be so mate, perhaps just a different shade of a shade.
Also you have to factor in the fact that tackle and bait catches more anglers than fish.
When I lived in Scotland I took up fly fishing for wild brown Trout, and a wise old scotsman told me to beware the variety of flies available, the old man himself only had 8 varieties in his box, of different sizes, and had only used those 8 for over 40 years. Compare that with the literaly thousands of patterns available in the shop or at the fishing fair.

Its a dog eat dog world in the tackle and bait industries.....Do the fluorescent pop-ups have a major effect on carp? If so how and why? I have not yet met the carp that can answer that for me.

Barbus

[Wayneuk]

You DO learn somthing everyday..

I always wondered why red maggots were a preference for most anglers i know(including me but i think its just a confidence thing). But red fishing line was supposed to be invisible in water? I wonder exactly how much fish rely on smell rather than sight.

[barbus maximus]

Fish that live in rivers will follow a scent trail up-stream of where they are, and can smell this trail for some distance on the current. Its only when they sense the stronger scent near bait that they bring in the sight, and with carp and barbel, touch.
Another thing to remember is that we have habits such as adding flavourings and glugs to baits, which stink to us, but what is it like to a fish that has a much much stronger sense of smell? You don't need gallons of the stuff to give a good scent trail.

Barbus

[zeliosky]

Thanks for the replys, thought it was a silly question to ask at first but glad i did now!