What do baits look like?

[tolmaz]

This guy dove down to see what trolled baits look like from the fish's perspective. What do you think??

The Eyes Have It

Naturally, we realize that people and fish don’t see things in the same way. So we found a fish vision expert, British marine biologist Daniel Bagur, who has done extensive research on big game fish.

The first thing Bagur tells me is that in some ways the eyes of a fish aren’t all that different from our own. Both species use the same basic process: Light impulses are modified and focused in the lens, then gathered by cells in the retina. These are attached to the brain via the optic nerve. Our retinas, like theirs, have receptors called cones and rods. Cones are color sensitive and used in open daylight. In some fish, including billfish, cones are present only in the upper half of the eye. Rods are more sensitive and used for low-light and night vision, but they’re limited to producing mostly black-and-white images.

There are, however, two major differences between fish and human eyes. To start, big fish have big eyes, whereas ours come in one size. Take a look at the horse-size eyes of a 100-pound tuna. The larger an eye, the more cones and rods it has, and the more light it can gather. The second, and more important difference, is eye placement. Fish have one eye on either side of their head. This provides them with a huge field of vision, nearly 360 degrees. The downside: There’s only a small area in front of a fish where the field of vision of each eye overlaps. This limits its binocular vision, which is necessary for good depth perception, and limits a predator’s ability to judge distance to its prey until it is pointed directly at it. So it all boils down to this: We can see color and judge distance better; they can see more of what’s around them and in lower light levels. “When looking up from the depths, a fish would be limited to monocular vision,” says Bagur. “It would have a poorer sense of the exact distance between the bait and themselves than a diver would. Otherwise, a human wearing a diver’s mask would see a similar image as the fish.” That’s good news for our experiment. With his mask in place, Don submerges and the trolling begins.

Diver Down

First, we wanted to discover what a fish saw when a boat trolled by at a distance. So we found a lobster pot with a float to serve as a down line, and shoved Don over the side. He submerged to 40 feet and waited as we set out a diverse and dehooked spread that included a pink squid daisy chain, a rigged ballyhoo, a purple and silver squid-like MP Lures chugger, and a green Boone bird rig. I drove well into the distance, turned, deployed the lines, and trolled back and forth right next to the float. After a dozen passes, Don’s head popped up.

“When are you going to start?” he asked. Looking up the entire time, from 40 feet down, he never saw a single lure. In fact, he never even saw the boat. “I could hear the prop’s whining noise,” he told us, “and I could see the surface. But no boat.” What gives?

“Distance and the turbulence would hide the bottom of the boat from view,” explains Bagur. “Even when the water is at its clearest, an object more than 100 feet away from a fish is not likely to be seen.” Add that to Don’s inability to see 360 degrees, as the fish can, and it’s likely that any fish down at his depth wouldn’t see the lures.

For the next 12 runs, Don moved up to 20 feet. At this depth, the view changed radically. He saw the boat moving overhead, spotted the rigged ballyhoo as well as the flapping bird rig. The purple squid and pink daisy chain remained invisible. Don reported that the bird rig was the easiest to see but that it didn’t look like anything in particular so much as a noticeable commotion. Ready for the real stunner? On each pass before he saw any lure or bait, he always spotted the “V” created where the line met the water. That means fish can see it, too.

At a depth of 10 feet, Don could spot all the lures. He reported that the ballyhoo was by far the most real-looking item in the smorgasbord. Like the bird rig, the daisy chain appeared more as a mass disturbance than a series of specific baits, and the squid was also tough to distinguish.


Fish Stories: Fish Eyes

(continued)


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Join the Spread

For the next experiment, we trolled Don along on a line with the baits. This way, he would have a close-up view of the lures as they worked through the water.

First, the ballyhoo. With the ’hoo’s tail twitching a couple of feet from his mask, Don reported that it looked so good, he was tempted to take a bite. Just one bummer—from about a foot away, the 50-pound test fluorocarbon leader was visible. When he shifted over to the daisy chain, he easily noticed the 150-pound test monofilament between each pink squid. The purple MP Lure was a real surprise: Even though it was invisible from a distance, it looked like a real squid up close. When the boat rocked or speed varied the tiniest bit, the skirt flared out, and to Don’s eyes, it looked like the real deal. The bird and daisy chain created so many bubbles that it was tough to focus on them — but maybe that’s a part of what fools fish into thinking it’s real food. I then put the boat into some fairly tight turns — into, with, and across the seas. I didn’t expect anything different to happen, but I was wrong. When Don told me what he saw, it was fascinating. “As the lures passed in and out of the prop wash and with bubble trails coming off of each corner of the boat, the lures remained visible. But the leaders — all 50- and 80-pound test fluorocarbon — disappeared in the disturbed water.” Aha —the advice of an old charter captain friend of mine suddenly made a whole lot of sense. He suggests making a small S-turn every two minutes or so, so that the lures and baits passed into and then back out of the prop wash. He claimed that 70 percent of his hits came during these turns.

Don’s observations may not stop the arguments that are bound to arise when two captains discuss what a fish sees, but we certainly learned a lot. Now, the next time a fish rejects your baits, you might be better able to understand what’s wrong by looking at it from a fish’s point of view. A



Fish Eye For the Angler Guy
•Use flat line clips, long leaders, or suspension from close rigger lines to make sure your lines don’t enter the water and make that highly visible “V” anywhere near the lures.

•Try pulling rigged ’hoo a little more often. Time and time again, Don claimed it was the best thing we had in the water.

•Replace the heavy leaders in your daisy chains for lighter stuff that’s not so noticeable. All of the leaders were visible up close, even 50-pound fluorocarbon, so stick with the lightest possible.

•Zigzag as you troll, enough so that your lures pass through the whitewater and bubble trails.

•Consider a fish’s inability to shield its eyes from the sun. When the light is bright, try running a few subsurface lines.

•Don’t forget that fish have more rods than cones in their eyes. When it comes to lures or skirts, worry less about color and more about contrast; imagine what they’d look like in black and white.


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[Sea Draggin]

Cool!...Thanks.

[Reel Draggin' Tackle]

This ia a great read. We have a lot of luck puttling small birds in front of chains and including them in the spreadr bar rigs. The added comotion draws attention to the spread. Some days it makes the difference.
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I think we may spend a little more time slow trolling our sport dredges deeper, and stacking daisy chains above them on the downrigger cable. The past few years we have ran the sport dredge around 15 feet deep and ran the daisy chain with a bird on the surface, just behind it. There are days we are marking them deep, but they just won't come up. It sounds like they can't see a reason to come up. Birds in the spread may help, but I am thinking slow trolling deep rigs may also help.... There have been a few days this past year that 4.5kts was the magic speed, but we were not pulling anything really deep. Thoughts anyone?

[Chesney Land]

I really enjoyed reading ................... thanks.

[gottaflylee]

"First, we wanted to discover what a fish saw when a boat trolled by at a distance. So we found a lobster pot with a float to serve as a down line, and shoved Don over the side. He submerged to 40 feet and waited as we set out a diverse and dehooked spread that included a pink squid daisy chain, a rigged ballyhoo, a purple and silver squid-like MP Lures chugger, and a green Boone bird rig. I drove well into the distance, turned, deployed the lines, and trolled back and forth right next to the float. After a dozen passes, Don’s head popped up.

“When are you going to start?” he asked. Looking up the entire time, from 40 feet down, he never saw a single lure. In fact, he never even saw the boat. “I could hear the prop’s whining noise,” he told us, “and I could see the surface. But no boat.” What gives?"



I find this a (the quote in red) little hard to swallow. I have been a diver since 1970. Now they did not say how clear the water and this has a lot to do with it but I have seen boats when I'm down that deep as well as people on the surface. other than that...this was an insteresting read.

[JD5652]

Tolmaz-

Lots of food for thought in that post..... Thanks!

[Double D]

Very interesting article. Possibly explains why the greenstick boys can pull 'em up consistently, with that huge dredge acting as a visual stimulant

Would like to know what the various dredges look like from below. Maybe we can further the experiment by slapping a mask on Marty

One thing I have tried with some success when marking them deep with no takers is to put out a couple diving plugs such as a braidrunner or bonita. Seems to drag 'em up

[fishskipper]

This is a great topic and thanks for the info..... However I agree with Gottafly , I think water calarity would have a impact on what the fish sees. But also , how about what a fish hears. Most fish have two inner ears and sound speed in water is about five times faster than in air. The fish ear consist of three endolymp-filled semicircular canals, which contain a bony mass, the otolith. The otlith is covered with 100,000 little hairs. In my opinion these ears are pretty sophisticated.. Anyhow the point I'm trying to make is that these two senses together, sight and sound. are pretty dag gone good. I think thats why those good humming boats usually catch more fish... My opinion only!

[tolmaz]

I was wondering about the 40 ft myself. I found it hard to believe that at 40' he couldnt see the boat? even in green water I would think you could see something splashin around up there. But I think getting the most splashing and commotion is the trick. thats why the bird Green Weenie works so well

I would think baits lower in the water colomn get the attention of fish that are deeper,,,dredges etc and raise the fish. then we they get a little closer they can get a better view of what is actually there and pick of the indvidual baits or trailer baits.

People have been using big rattles attached to baits and lures for a few years. I think that has something to it

[#1Gaffman]

So far in my days at SFC, i do believe this informatoin has taught me the most.
wow thats intresting stuff.


The only bit of info id like to know is what the balllyhoo looks like rigged up with a silver hook? andhow does it actually effect the swim of the hoo?

Thanks tolmaz for the INFO.