Do you believe in the power of red...???
It’s one of those things where you either believe or you don’t. Some things are just like that in the bass fishing world.
I was checking out the In-Fisherman web site, just browsing around, when I came across an article from last month in which they revisit the “red revolution”. Seems like they hit this topic every couple years with an update, and this most recent one has some interesting insider opinions.
A couple excerpts from the article:
- “The red Tackle revolution has lost steam. But it left lingering effects and pockets of supporters.”
- “It’s no longer possible to call red a hot trend,†says Alan McGuckin of Dynamic Sponsorships. “But the red-tackle craze created a cadre of anglers who continue to believe in the benefits of red line, lures, and hooks.
- “A lot of product can be sold on hype, but if it’s all smoke and no fire, sales eventually dwindle. The red craze may be leveling off in places, but it continues to skyrocket in others.”
- George Large, Executive Vice President of Yo-Zuri America, remembers the appearance of the red Mann’s Jelly Worm as significant back in the 1970s. “I would say the craze started in the late 1980s or early 1990s,†Large says. “Remember the Texas Red Craw? Red lures began taking off about then
Be sure and check out the full article for all the juicy details. On the science side of things, there’s not a lot to add that hasn’t already been beat to death a million times before on a fishing message board forum somewhere. As I said, you’re either a believer by now or you’re not – it resembles a bleeding, wounded fish, or it disappears faster/shallower than other colors – and everything in-between.
So who believes and who doesn’t? What has your experience been? Have you seen it make a big difference or not – Do share: Bass Paraders want to know…
5 Comments
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Swamp Thing
July 11, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Like anything, it has its place (and what I say is “its place” is just opinion and likely wouldn’t hold up to anybody else’s experience). I carry them and use them about 1/3 of the time.
My brothers and I constantly joke about a redneck buddy who gave up fishing due to laziness, and once told us, “Man, put those red hooks away. Red scares the fish.” Our official name for all red tackle since then has been “Pass me that (lure name) in fish-scarin’ red.”
Dwain
July 11, 2011 at 1:22 pm
I don’t use red hooks or red line, occasionally I’ll paint a lure that’s got some bleeding gills or something, but for the most part I don’t even usually paint a red mouth on my poppers. If it helps someone have more confidence though, and they believe red works for them, by all means they should throw all the red they can.
Chad Keogh
July 11, 2011 at 7:15 pm
My theory is it can’t hurt to fish with red hooks or lures that immitate bleeding prey. The red line disappearing under water though is just retarded. If it were true, I’m sure military submarines would all be red… Red turns to grey at a certain depth in water, not invisible.
YankeeBasser
July 12, 2011 at 2:23 pm
I believe Chad has hit the nail at least partially on the head when he says that red turns to grey at a certain depth in water, not invisible. But, as I understand it from talking to some friends who are scientists (one is a physicist) items of the same color but differing materials will react differently to changes in the light spectrum whether that change takes place in the water or not. A transluscent material like monofilament fishing line allows light to pass through the material. This will change must faster than a dense, opaque and reflective material like a red chrome hook. Thus a red chrome hook and red monofilament will look different at the same depth level, with the reflective material of a hook remaining “red” to much deeper levels of light penetration than a transluscent mono. With a fish’s vision being so much more acute than ours it is highly likely that they can perceive a hook as “red” from a much further distance than they could perceive a mono line as “red”. As for those submarines, being made of reflective metals I guess that means they would remain red and highly visible unless the military can find a way to build them out of transluscent monofilament fishing line. LOL. just my 2 cents worth.
Rich
July 14, 2011 at 10:26 am
I have seen to many fish lodge them selves onto to a front red hook to think in some instances with topwater or shallow running baits where it can alter a fishes striking behavior in some cases