Fly line color... do you think fish care?

To further derail....Commercial Crab fisherman, in these waters, are starting to prefer a pink color for the netting as opposed to the white color often used. Below ten feet the color red disappears and the deeper you go the more everything "looks" blue. The theory is "pink" is more invisible to the crab.... Now that may be true, and heated discussion, and various experiences complicate the question. However...if a crabber truly believes that pink is better than white....that confidence will equate to more money for the fisherman.
 
Jim in Anacortes said:
But, the fish's ability to see a fishing line is something that I have pondered from the age of six.
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And if they do see it, do they know what it is? It's purpose, and that it is a threat? Do they know what a hook is? Do they know what brand it is? Do they know that you only fish on certain days? Do they know about that time when you were a kid and got beat up at school? Do they know how to fix your windshield wipers?
 
Fish survive by being wary, especially fresh water fish I think. So when they see something out of place, I have to believe it puts them on a minor alert. If it then starts jumping around (through stripping or failing a “lifelike presentation”), I’d guess that’s strike two. Strike three(?), could be stomping through the water. Now I do believe they live in a noisy environment, but they get used to the natural gurgle of moving water. Without a scientific degree (except for a minor in oceanography) I’ll say that SRCs and Salmon are used to both noise, and long stringy shit floating in the water. Think eel grass and kelps. So I think Puget Sound saltwater fishing is different and more forgiving in some ways.
But, why wouldn’t you pick a subdued color?
 
No absolutely fish don't care. At least not the freshwater fish we commonly fish for.

I won't comment on all those big bug eyed fish you find in warm salt water :)
 
Jim in Anacortes said:
the fish's ability to see a fishing line
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Yes, trout can see fishing line. And fish hooks. And most anything that shows up in their environment. A fish spends most of its life weighing risk and reward. The risk of falling prey to a predator. And the reward that what they see in the water is food and not some bit of inedible flotsam. That's pretty much it for the life of a fish, . . . until spawning season.
 
G_Smolt said:
Man, those poor anglers in the 70's must not have caught anything, especially when the vast majority of flylines produced were white or peach 🙄
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And before the 70’s, how about that black braided line we used on our baitcasters, with just a short nylon leader?
Oops, sorry for drifting away from fly lines!
With fly lines, I don’t know what fish see, but I absolutely need to see my floating line. Last month, I took my first fly outfit off the rack, because I was curious how it would feel to use an early 60’s cheap fibreglass rod and its level C dry line. (7 weight, in today’s lingo). Casting was very pleasant, but I couldn’t see the dark green line on the water at all. This was on a river. Maybe it would be visible on a lake surface.
 
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_WW_ said:
And if they do see it, do they know what it is? It's purpose, and that it is a threat? Do they know what a hook is? Do they know what brand it is? Do they know that you only fish on certain days? Do they know about that time when you were a kid and got beat up at school? Do they know how to fix your windshield wipers?
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Well said. Now we’re getting to the important stuff!
 
One each way.
https://www.tu.org/magazine/uncategorized/how-much-do-fly-line-colors-really-matter/
https://gorgeflyshops.blogspot.com/2015/01/floating-fly-line-color-does-it-matter.html
Again, to me with a dry line it doesn't matter. If a fish has a 30degree cone of vision, is 4' deep, I think it's window is 2.5'. The way I fish out from a position I've already shown my fly(S) and some leader to a location before I cast the line over it.
For the most part I guess I figure/trust that all the big outfits have done enough research to offer lines in the correct color palate for the application.
 
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You can spot them by the way their glasses show up on yer sonar.
 
I'm not sure but am leaning towards no. I'm partial to peach/orange floating fly lines as I can usually see them fairly well. I haven't noticed any difference in catch rate between different line colors.
 
SilverFly said:
If it mattered, I would think lighter would be better in a floating line. Less contrast viewed against the sky as viewed from below?
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I had an experience from work that convinced me that yellow is best when the sun is behind it. Scientists using pedestal mounted binoculars. White vertical poles for the awning blocked and created additional glare for them. Crew tried different colors. Yellow became near invisible.
 
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