Conference wahoo::fishing

    I'm no expert on this, but I think it has more to do with refletion. The
    lake I live on in Ashburnham Ma, and like most ponds in Ashburnham the
    water is redish in color, and the gold colors work well, but silver
    does not. Also as a former fly fisherman, I learned that the noise
    that the lure makes plays a big part. Its a funny thing though,
    about 15 years ago I used to get fish on a yellow "Jitter Bug",
    but then they stopped hitting it, and started hitting "Hulla Poppers",
    now they don't hit those ether. This year I'm considering trying
    a fly rod with a weight forward line, and trying some bugs that
    I used to tie. 
    
    Jim

I believe bass do see in color. 

For noisy topwaters I don't think color makes a whole heck of alot of 
difference.  For minnow type topwaters I think natural colors are best.
For spinnerbaits I think the more visible the better (white, chartreuse).
For a pig-n-jig natural crawfish colors.  For crankbaits I've adopted 
Rick Clunn's "if it don't have a bit of orange on it, don't throw it"
attitude.

For stuff like worms, grubs, gitzits, etc., I think various colors do make a 
difference, but the anlgers confidence in the color makes and even bigger 
difference.  These baits are fished slow, with finesse.  And they don't appear 
(to me) like any exact type of prey, the bass says "what the hell is that?,
I don't know, but I'm gonna eat it!".  And for whatever reasons it appears to
me that some colors work better than others at some times.

My partner has a combo-c-lector.  We use the temp and ph readings all the 
time, but only take the color reading half seriously.

Don Mac

    
    I hate to point you in this direction since you have such an aversion
    to printed matter, but the latest issue of In-Fisherman has a good
    article on the effect of light on fish and fishing.  There is a
    series of drawings that depicts the vision capabilities of 4 different
    groups of fish; bass and sunfish being one group.  I forget the
    specifics but the rods/cones would indicate the ability to see red,
    green, blue and ultraviolet to varying degrees.  I believe that
    green was the most prominent.
    
    I was going to tell you that fish see black but not white ;-)
    
    See what you can learn from books, Worm?  Books worm, bookworms,
    get it? Ha!
    
    Steve

    YO Steve,
              I read plenty. But not picture books like you. I don't
    get INFISHERMAN but you say "ability". I realize that color has
    its affect (I prefer certain color lures over others and fish them
    better and with more confidence because of it), but..........having
    the ability does not mean they see in color. Dogs see in black and
    white, cats see in color but what about BASS? 
    
    My question still stands, CAN BASS SEE IN COLOR?  No or Yes. How
    do you know? I would guess yes....

    
    
    
                  Hey,Nightcrawler,aren't black and white colors???
                  If so,there is your answer!
    
                  By the by that article in the In-Fisherman magazine
                  was very good and you,Nightcrawler should read it.
    
    
                  I knew I would be teaching you how to fish sooner
                  than later.
    
    
    
                                           The one and only (Aren't ya glad?)
    
    
                                                      Keg

    Yo keg!!
    
    Black is the absents of light!  White is the presents of all light!
    
    In colors black is the presents of all color and white the absent
    of all colors.  
    
    So what does this tell us all?
    
    Bassin Bob
    \
    sorry if I used your YO worm...
    

    YES they can.
    
    
    But worms can't, so why are you concerned??

    
    Individuals who are color blind lack a set of rods/cones.  I would
    guess that scientists compared those found in Bass with those found
    in humans and drew their conclusions.  I don't think you can be
    sure HOW bass perceive color but you can be reasonably sure that
    they do distinguish between colors.
    
    Maybe someday they'll breed a talking bass and we can ask.
    
    RE: books with pictures.  I guess my imagination isn't as well developed
    as some.  My favorite magazines ALL have pictures.  If a picture
    is worth 1000 words, the Audubon field guides are worth a shelf of
    books.  I stand by my recommendation.  
    
    Steve

    .3
    > the rods/cones would indicate the ability to see red,
    > green, blue and ultraviolet to varying degrees...
    
    .4
    > but..........having
    > the ability does not mean they see in color. 

    (huh?)

    It seems that having the ability means they CAN see in color.
    I have that same issue if In-Fisherman, and it is very plain from 
    that article that they DO see in color, and, in fact, it makes a
    big difference, the colors you use for lures. If they didn't
    see colors, then any black/white/gray/silver lure would work as 
    well as any colored lure. One of the recommended color combinations 
    is the fire-tiger pattern, because it is so highly visible to bass.
    Why does Chartreuse (fire-engine yellow/green) work so well 
    sometimes? Why do so many minnow type lures have a spot of red in the 
    front? A fishing book I read says that adding a flourescent red or 
    orange line down the side of a lure, or painting another all black or   
    all green can make the difference, too - so bass can and do see and 
    react to color. In fact, they speculate that bass may have enough 
    sensitivity to ultra-violet light for that to make a difference, too.

    The article also says that bass have very good night vision, too, 
    better than us, better than most other fish except walleyes.

    .6
    > Black is the absents of light!  White is the presents of all light!
    > In colors black is the presents of all color and white the absent
    > of all colors.  
    > So what does this tell us all?

    that Digital hires people who can't spell.

    YO,
           RE; .5 - Keg, when did you learn to read?
    
           RE; .7 - Alas, I was almost a believer. But your checkered
                    past stains the credibility of your "yes vote".
    
           RE; .9 - OH NO! You can read too! And besides that you grace
                    us with being a grammer instructor! RODS AND CONES
                    CAN'T BREAK OUR BONES TEACH.
    
                                                   NIGHTCRAWLER~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Well my 2 cents....To what depth. The deeper you go the less light
    penetration (easy worm!) there-fore the fewer colors that are seen
    without artifical light.
    I think red is no longer visable after 15 feet, so much for fire
    tails. This is all based on the human eye, I wonder if fish experiance
    the same color loss at specific depths that we do. I think i'll
    have a few cocktails and ponder this. Nice note 'crawler. 
    
    Ray  

    RE .3
                 Not a bad article. The jury is in. Reds, Greens, Blues
    and UV to some degree, but not as we see the same colors.
    
    To quote "Fish don't see colors the same way we see them. And different
    fish see colors differently. Anglers can't tell what color a fish
    thinks a lure is by looking at it. We can, however, use lures of
    colors we know catch each species based on our past experiences
    and the experience of others"  THE IN-FISHERMAN
    
                                                      NIGHTCRAWLER~~~~~~