Fish Can't See Red? Capt. John Begged to Differ

Adapted from Capt. John King's two-part article "2010 Myth Busting," first published November 22, 2009 on MichiganSportsman.com. Original: Part I · Part II.

A common belief says red disappears in deep water, so fish can't see it. Capt. John's 2009 season said otherwise.

The evidence

  • Fish have 6–9 types of color receptors. People have 3.
  • John's 2009 catches were built on red, 60–150' down, in 38–48°F water, at 1.5–2.3 mph.
  • Fluorescent red has a long track record for Coho and Steelhead.

The Puke patterns

  • Leland Puke (red, copper and silver) was developed with Leland charter captains for the BTI flasher.
  • For 2010, John added a 12" Leland Puke flasher and a Monkey Puke meat rig with a Sparkler head.
  • The Leland Puke BTI out-produced everything on John's boat during the off-peak bites of September–October 2009.

Color snippets

  • Location beats color. Fix depth and speed first.
  • Whites and chrome early in the season; glow from mid-July.
  • In cloudy spring water, use copper, gold, red and orange.

Shop the colors: Color Guide · Flashers · Meat rigs

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