impact of rod color?

mikel

mikel

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so, having rods of various colors I'm trying to correlate the impact of color on results, in terms of casting distance, number of hookups and the ability to land fish quickly (so as not to hurt them). It may be that the impact of color is only felt in the casting stroke, though I've heard others intimate that rod color, coupled with colors of rod socks and tubes can skew the results over time.

It's understood by some that color, whether of rod, sock or tube also drives the geographic orientation...for instance, green rods made in the west, which is really nearer the middle, but who cares....are best fished in the east because of the larger water molecules in the west. (that's what "big water is, right?)

Personally, I prefer brown rods in shorter lengths (6'6"-7'6") while grey, matte black and blue dominate my longer rods. It's suggested that the rate of refraction needed to move the rod thru the color spectrum slows the line speed to allow for a dry dropper....although yarn is clearly superior to thingamabobbers on a falling barometer.

Have there been studies that I've not found that explain, once and for all, the impact of the interrelation of rod color and line color? Combining this data and applying chi square test for statistical relevance revealed nothing, especially when factoring metal vs wood reel seats.

That doesn't even scratch the surface of wader and shirt color in the equation. Blue shirts with tan waders can provide the same reaction as tan shoes with pink shoelaces, although that song came from the '60s...and tie dye was left out of the study.

Can anyone help?
 
caseywise

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i must say i've never heard of any thing about that.:confused:
maybe someone else can chime in with an answer but i have no idea.
i agree with bill though....pretty trippy:cool::wow:
 
mikel

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Clearly, I did a poor job of explaining the issue and any attempt to clarify would only make things worse, but I feel compelled to try.

The true question is in the impact of overlining with willow color and underlining with yellow or orange, since the rod weight impacts distance and accuracy in the shade matched to the reel exponentially. See?

Then, when switching from LFW to RHW because of shifting wind and current conditions the anglers finds himself in a consolidation conundrum, of sorts.

If willow color (wc) is in the LHW mode and the shade is agressively asserting itself, then (((wc*lhw)/wind)/.033)=angler IQ

I think it's pretty simple, as long everybody agrees that the 9504 Zaxis is the best 5 wt ever made, except if you're not a sage guy....then it's probably a featherlite if you consider cost/utility in Texas as opposed to Tucson, where it's snowing on the match play.
 
kglissmeyer1

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I do believe I have now seen or read or heard it all. My response would be a simple question "HUH?!?" or perhaps, "DUH?!?" Whatever, I'll just go fishing now...:cool::wiggle:[poke]:wavetowel:grin::lol2::popcorn::icon_idea

I say you pay attention to those Hank videos as he has some 'GUD', as in gee you dee gud, info that might help...Good luck in your quest.

Kelly.
 
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klunker

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The Rod color does not matter, you've over looked the important factor, that is amount of gloss on said rod.

I have had issues catching fish on sunny days. I figured it was the sun reflecting off my glossy rod. So I took it home a sprayed it with a flat clear laquer. Upon returning to the stream I had to fight fish off my fly. I then had a brain storm!! Well maybe it was a light drizzle. Anyways I then painted my rod with a combination of flat greens, browns and olives. I more or less camo'd it. Upon returning to try this version I was attacked by a rather large Brown trout as I waded into the river. I successfully scared him away by flashing my $50 abel nippers. If it was the color of the nippers or the menacing look of these astonishing nippers I don't know. More testing to come.

to be further tested I will tie various sticks and leaves to my rod to see if that increase catch/cast/pool ratio indices. I must figure out how to account for duck traffic during tests as I notice this variable also positively effects fish activity. Tho I must mention its only Mallards that seem to increase fish activity, Mergansers seem to reduce fish activity. I must try other puddle ducks and divers to see if this is a anomaly to puddle ducks vs. diver ducks. I may try using decoys to see if they will induce a similar rise in fish activity.

Look for forth coming books

Matching the Quacks

Selective Mallards

These will be available at your local Hatchery/feed store.
 
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Ard

Ard

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Hi Mike,

Good points your making with this topic. I have found that rod color and a well coordinated attire are mostly species specific. I use dark grey rods for my trout C&R as well as grayling fishing. The earth tone of cane is best used on the days when I really don't care what I catch.

Olive green; now that's the big fish color. I kid you not :D Combine olive green with the proper wader and jacket colors and you can knock them dead. If I were taking you fishing I would offer you one of my black & camo with the barbed wire graphic Chevy caps to wear also. I have 2 of them that the dealer gave me when I got the truck.

These fish were dead when photographed but I released a total of 13 during the 3 day time span of the three pictures. I wore the clothing and used the olive Spey rod each day.






This catching went on for the remainder of the season and I wore the same cloths and cap and I slept with the olive Spey rod. I don't know for sure how many fish were caught and released but I took 3 for food they were 33 - 34 and 42 pounds.

I have found that for whatever reason when I used a gloss black 1981 Hardy Spey with scarlet whippings last year all of the fish were smaller. I caught more of them but they were no doubt smaller. I also wore an old black cap with a red North Face logo on it, strange. This spring I am going back with the olive blanks on a new Hardy Marksman 2 'T' series rod and wearing the Chevy cap and Filson jacket. Time will tell if I am onto something here.

Ard
 
Ard

Ard

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Something I neglected to mention in my post above; it seems that when trout fishing with a dark gray un-sanded blanks circa 1979 Orvis 5 weight, I can't keep silvers off the rod. I believe I can say without danger of embellishment that I have caught at least 65 - 80 large salmon with the dark gray un-sanded rod. It has a cork insert instead of wood and I am not sure if that has any influence on the results or not. It is however uncanny how many untargeted silver salmon are brought to shore with the gray rod.

Ard
 
imxer

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mikel

After your in depth study of this often overlooked aspect of Fly Fishing, I am somewhat perplexed about your not taking into consideration color of the reel.
After all it has to be a huge factor in so called "swing weight", CG of the rod when casting and it's effect upon the proper part of the cork "handle" to hold onto etc etc. I think you owe us an explanation, don't you?
 
moucheur2003

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If indeed there is a serious question lurking in here somewhere, Gary Lafontaine was a big advocate of dark colors and non-reflective finishes to avoid spooking fish with inadvertent, unnatural movements or colors or flashes. His "Stealth" series of rods (which are still in production and available from his website, I believe) had a matte black blank and black windings and hardware, and he had Jim Teeny make a line for him (which likewise is still available) in dark olive with a matte finish. I don't think he ever put his name on a reel, but he preferred dark, flat anodized finishes on them too, rather than the bright metallic or colorfully painted ones that you often see on the market today.
 
Eddie O'Neill

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I don't know about anyone else, but unless this is an attempt at satire then I am completely lost. Maybe it's me and I'm not getting the American sense of humor:confused:

You make the perfect cast and presentation, the fish rises to the fly and says, oh no the rod colour is wrong, turn away :)
 
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littledavid123

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Eddie O'Neill said:
I don't know about anyone else, but unless this is an attempt at satire then I am completely lost. Maybe it's me and I'm not getting the American sense of humor:confused:

You make the perfect cast and presentation, the fish rises to the fly and says, oh no the rod colour is wrong, turn away :)
Click to expand...
I will when possible request a specific year of Spar Varnish to use on my guides and ferrules, helps to reduce reflection glare on the water.

Dave
 
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