The Official Fishy Lookin' Water Thread

[Carlito]

Originally Posted by Grannyknot

I also wouldn't mind heading back up to this place....

Dude, nice photo!

Elkins, fill me in on the details. I happen to have my fishing gear in the back of the Subaru and **** near drove right by the office this morning!

[GrouseMan77]

Originally Posted by Carlito

I happen to have my fishing gear in the back of the Subaru and **** near drove right by the office this morning!

We all should drive by the office just a little bit more.

[bones]

Man I thought I was the only one wearing cowboy hats in the park. You should see the looks I get on the Chimneys' Trail fishing Road Prong.

[Jim Casada]

A couple of thoughts on the cowboy-type hats. (1) They are great for keeping the sun off tender skin, (2) As someone who strongly believes that bright or highly visible attire can and does spook fish, I would urge considering a color other than bright white. I'd be really interested in the thoughts of others on this. For my part, I wear earth tones or camouflage almost exclusively (mostly my turkey-hunting attired) and feel it really makes a difference. To me, the highly visible white hat stands out in an all too readily visible fashion. Mind you, I don't want this to be taken wrong, because obviously each and every angler should wear what he wants. I'm just looking at things from the perspective of what means catching more or fewer fish. Do you agreee? Or disagree?
Jim Casada
www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com

[silvercreek]

Well here goes. It is as easy to wear natural tones as loud colors. There is absolutely no disadvantage unless you go down and the rangers are out trying to rescue you. Having said that. I'm not sure loud colors are a problem as long as you stay below the trout's window, particulary if you are fishing upstream. Below that window and he cannot see you. I worry more about rod flash and line. That is going to be in the window often. As to the hat, the trout is seeing ,if at all, the underside which will be in shadow and therefore is probably not as bright. Just some thoughts from a heretic. Regards, Silvercreek

[Jim Casada]

Silvercreek--I agree and disagree. No question on the importance of keeping a low profile. That is absolutely critical. Likewise, I completely agree on rod and line flash (I think making fly lines in those brilliant orange and yellow colors is a mistake, although the camera's eye sure does pick them up well). I don't fully agree on the small likelihood of trout picking up bright colors, and I actually gave it an unscientific but revealing test some years back.

A good friend (about the only person I will share stream time with) and I often fish together taking trout about. We are close enough to one another in skill level that it pretty well equals out, although he's better than me. That means I fish more but not a lot more.

On this particular occasion though, I wore one of those bright yellow shirts which seem to adorn the covers of many of the catalogs as well as cloth anglers fishing the flats. He eyed me speculatively when me met up but said nothing. We spent the morning fishing, with me taking my normal approach to pools in terms of stealth, keeping a low profile, using streamside vegetation and rocks to hid my approach, etc. Suffice it to say I fished a lot more than he did.

At lunch we sat down on a rock to eat and I shucked off that bright shirt and pulled a camo one out of theback of my vest and put it on. He grinned and said: "Thank God. I thought you'd taken leave of your senses!"

Not much science there, but a field test which was, to me, revealing.

Of course in the end it all boils down to window of vision, and I figure anything which gives me a bit more advantage (such as attire which blends in with the surroundings) is a plus. Also, the fish would see more than the shaded underside of a cowboy hat. Lie at ground level and look up at one and I believe you'll be convinced. It will be interesting to see what others have to say on this topic. I'm frightfully opinionated, which is typical of folks with deep mountain roots, but I'm also fascinated by what others think.

Jim Casada
www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com

Jim Casada
www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com

[silvercreek]

Jim, we've got several points of agreement on this. I do not want a bright line. I almost always cast side arm almost parallel with the water both to keep the rod out of the trout's view and because that usually gives me the clearest backcast. (I fish dry flies almost exclusively) In tee shirt weather I do worry about my white arms, particulary the underside of them being visible when casting. Being blonde and fair skinned, I'm no tan freak and the doc advises be to avoid much sun. I worry more about noise than clothes as a trout can detect noise from anywhere. The biggest trout I ever landed was caught on a western spring creek fishing almost straight downstream on a dry fly. I was wearing a white tee shirt. If the government is kind enough to leave me any money for fun this year, I plan on buying an underwater camera with a video function and put that puppy on the bottom 3 foot or so and see what it tells me about what's visible. Not exactly a trout's eye, but I would like to get my own idea of what's going on. In the mean time, I plan on dressing to fit the background and ghosting along the stream as best I can, although I'm stopping short of putting camo paint on my face and arms. Regards, Silvercreek

[rivergal]

My husband and I fish in khaki and camo. One disadvantage is we have trouble seeing each other on the stream when we blend in a little too well.

[jeffnles1]

No scientific data here. I usually wear browns and subdued earth tone colors when fishing.

I just find the hot pinks and bright colors don't match my manly rugged good looks.

Jeff

[Jubal]

i wear worn out camo or old brown shirts. no fear of me in a fancy sky blue or "salmon" (pink) colored shirt cause this turkey aint paying $40 for a shirt...and i'll never wear pink.

but, each is own, thread is officially hijacked now...so to bring it back around...a pic of some fishy lookin water: