Red

[bmc2b]

What's up with fish and red? Cajun line is red because fish can't see it, and many hooks are red to simulate bleeding bait. Can they see it or not?

[Nick Kuhn]

Red is the first color to disappear in water due to it not absorbing all colors equally (or why water looks blue...)

"This absorption spectrum of water (red light absorbs 100 times more than blue light), together with the five-times greater scattering of blue light over red light, contributes to the blue color of lake, river and ocean waters."

[Bandit]

OK then. Why do fish bite on red lures and plain red hooks better than others at times???????????

[prov1900]

Red is red, blood is blood...regardless of where it is? Water or land? Good question.

[S.D. Ice Angular]

Gee, and here I thought the water looked typicaly blue because of the reflection from the sky???

Something to Ponder???

[sparkyaber]

maybe the red hooks "disappear" under water, I always thought blood looked more black under water.....

This has been an argument in fishing circles for quite some time.

[riverrat56]

Red is Red is Red. Weather or not it "disappears" faster or it looks like blood. I have heard two theories, both make sense to me. One is that red line "disappears" because it is translucent and that red hooks may look differnt underwater, but being as they appear the same as blood does out of water then they appear the same underwater too. The other is that when red is filtered out and because almost invisible, it makes your bait apear like it has no hook in it at all and that may provide a much more natural presentation than even a bare hook.

[Paul_Kramer]

Personally, I don't think red stuff really makes as big of a difference as some people make it sound. One good fisherman that I know told me this, and I read it in a magazine article also: Yes, maybe red is the first color to dissapear underwater. But, even if the red color goes away, that dosen't mean that it will be clear. Baisically, as the line goes deeper into the water, it will go from red to a grayish/black color, and still visible to the fish. If you really don't want the fish to see your line, clear mono or fluoro would probably be a better choice.

As for the red hooks, the same thing probably happens as with the line. I guess they might look like blood to the fish, especially in shallow clear water. Even if it doesn't actually look red to the fish, it's still about the same shade as blood.

If you use red gear and have good luck with it, and I know some people do, you might as well use it. But I've tried red line/hooks and don't see a difference. Whatever you've got the most confidence in.

[Nick Kuhn]

Gee, and here I thought the water looked typicaly blue because of the reflection from the sky???

Something to Ponder???

The reflection on the surface and the color of water are two different things. Most lakes around here are either dark brown or green due to other things in the water. If you go to the ocean however and catch anything that is white (like a kingfish), it will look blue coming up to the surface (assuming you're fishing in fairly deep water).

[croixflats]

The reason red hook simulates blood. New one to me. Sounds feasable.

Another reason red is used for hooks and on bellies of rapalla's

When fish go into spawning red become prevalant on there bodies. Predator fish keey off the color red as they associate the color red to easy pickens to fish roe and vulnerable fish that are spent energy wise from the spawn.

Just another tidbit floating out there.

As for the line being red maybe its best used in stained water as it may blend in with the color of the water.

[mn_bowhunter]

The most important thing to pay attention to with line is the index of refraction. Matching the index of refraction would render the line as close to invisible as possible. Flourocarbon is closest to water's refraction. Red will appear in a greyscale beyond 15 meters depth in pure water. Lakes will all vary in maximum depth penetration. Why red hooks work better then? Not really sure. Let me know when you figure it out.

[DancesWithWaves]

Its whatever the hook peddlers need it to be.

[JohnK]

Personally, I don't think red stuff really makes as big of a difference as some people make it sound. One good fisherman that I know told me this, and I read it in a magazine article also: Yes, maybe red is the first color to dissapear underwater. But, even if the red color goes away, that dosen't mean that it will be clear. Baisically, as the line goes deeper into the water, it will go from red to a grayish/black color, and still visible to the fish. If you really don't want the fish to see your line, clear mono or fluoro would probably be a better choice.

I don't think red line is all it's cracked up to be either. Last winter we were out trolling walleyes on Banks Lake (in WA), 4 rods in the water, all rigged the same except one of them had Cajun Red on it. That rod hooked less fish than any of the other three. Sadly that was also my rod. After that trip I pulled off the red and went back to clear mono.

[mainbutter]

Bright green line is popular with salt water fishing, I always found that interesting.

[metro fisherman]

In Infisherman there was an article that said fish dont have the computing power to associate red with food. It goes like red=red, and they dont think about it, food=food, lure looks like food so lure=food. I think its a gimmick so instead of having 1/0-5/0 you have all those in red, brass, blue, green and what ever they come out with next.