Why Black??

CiK · 07-23-10, 04:48 PM

Black is the popular lure color when night fishing. I don't argue this because I know it works. I wonder why though. Anybody here have a scientific explanation to satisfy a curious mind? Is this because of limitations in a bass' visual capacity, or is it because of Isaac Newton?

Tony

MississippiBoy · 07-23-10, 05:08 PM

A black lure will have a darker silhouette than a white/clear/green one. Many times the lure will be between the fish and the surface, so you want something that stands out as much as possible against the slightly lighter background.
That's why most fish have a darker back and light belly...it's harder to see something that's almost the same color as what's behind it.

nofearengineer · 07-23-10, 05:30 PM

The reason this works is because black actually contrasts more against the dull gray (to a night-sensitive bass' eyes, of course) of night time than the white spinnerbait. White only looks white because there is lots of light reflecting off of it. At night, that white is going to look gray to the bass just like everything else.

During the day, the white will contrast more than the black.

CiK · 07-23-10, 07:20 PM

Sorry guys! I am either being dense about this or I am missing something deeper. Just not getting it, from a scientific point of view.

Tony

spruce · 07-23-10, 07:30 PM

take a white plug and hold it up above your head at night, now do the same with a black one. you will be able to see the black one better while looking "up" at it.

Ebbetsguy · 07-23-10, 09:25 PM

It works I don't care why. it just works thats good enough for me

walkeraviator · 07-23-10, 10:17 PM

NOFear nailed it. The reason a white luer appears white is because it reflects all wavelengths of light and a black one appears black because it absorbs all wavelengths of light. At night, light is lower and therefore leaves less to be reflected from teh white lure, so it appears to be teh same shade as everything in the background (starligh or moonight or docklights whatever)... Black however still absorbs all the wavelengths making its silhouette more pronounced to the fishes eye.

islandbass · 07-25-10, 04:50 AM

I just want to clarify something. An object will appear a certain color because it reflects that certain color and absorbs all other colors and our eyes perceive that reflected light.

Take for example a red apple. When visible light hits the skin of an undamaged red apple, its skin reflects red light and absorbs all other light.

In addition to this, to compound and complicate things a bit more, the distance you are from the object and the medium through which the light (air or water and with or without particles or other matter in either) is travelling before it reaches your eyes can markedly influence how we see or perceive an object's color.

If something absorbed all wavelengths of light and didn't reflect any light, I am sorry to say, but we could not visually detect it. Human eyes need visible light to see and visible light is such a tiny part of the light spectrum. If you want an example of something that would absorb all light you need not look any further than a black hole. For those puppies, although not visible to the human eye, we can "see" or more accurately "detect" them by looking for areas where gravitational forces are very high.

Sorry to go geek-bass mode.

Anyway, I digress. Spruce has provided a nice visual. Lastly, if you guys want more information on this subject look for a book called, "What Fish See," by Dr. Colin Kageyama. Not only will you crush the fluff and heresay, you could potentially save $ on your color selection of lures, more than you would switching to Geico.

Mac2 · 07-25-10, 08:51 AM

Great Posts.....thanks, Mac

When fishing the black shad Culprit with the black back and silver belly in daylight, we started fishing them on the hook with the black side down and the silver side up thinking it would show up better from beneath with the black sillouette and when swimming would show up better with the bright side reflecting light better when going through suspended fish and showing better on the bottom.

No scientific evidence other than we caught fish and it worked well at dusk and dark as well as in daylight. We still fish it that way upon occasion. Good Fishing, Mac

walkeraviator · 07-25-10, 09:39 AM

Just to clarify... there is no such thing as black light... Roy G Biv remember? So an object indeed appears black because it absorbs light and reflects very little... this is why black top is so much hotter than concrete... it is absorbing all the light which includes the radiant energy heating teh surface... same reason a black car gets hotter inside in the sun than a white car...

islandbass · 07-25-10, 12:46 PM

Thanks, walker. I was typing too quickly and not thinking through completely about the black.

walkeraviator · 07-27-10, 05:49 PM

Just had another thought...(please forgive the over in depth explanation)

The human eye has two different sections on the retina. The Cones are in the center of your eye that conatin Iodopsine which allows us to see colors, but are not very sensative to light. This is great during the day when you get a lot of light to your eye.

IN low light consitions, the rods that surround these cones are more sensative to light but are covered in Rhodospin which reacts to light but only in gray scale (black/white)... this is why you can see an object better at night if you look slightly to one side of it or the other...

If a fishes eye is anything like ours it may simply be more perceptive to black and white shades as the Rhodopsin is more succeptable to low light conditions...

This is all stuff i learned while studying aeromedical stuff to become a pilot, and today it just hit me out of nowhere that this could be a good reason for using black at night...

Vegasspider · 07-27-10, 07:32 PM

This is 100% spot on. I lost a 6 pack bet on this topic. We tested it in the bathtub. An awful lot of "Well I 'll be damn"... Don't ask why just do it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nofearengineer

The reason this works is because black actually contrasts more against the dull gray (to a night-sensitive bass' eyes, of course) of night time than the white spinnerbait. White only looks white because there is lots of light reflecting off of it. At night, that white is going to look gray to the bass just like everything else.

During the day, the white will contrast more than the black.

geezer1 · 07-29-10, 12:40 PM

Black works for me.....ALL the time. Black 6" lizard, mostly.

07-23-10, 04:48 PM	#1
CiK BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio Posts: 221	Why Black?? Black is the popular lure color when night fishing. I don't argue this because I know it works. I wonder why though. Anybody here have a scientific explanation to satisfy a curious mind? Is this because of limitations in a bass' visual capacity, or is it because of Isaac Newton? Tony

07-23-10, 05:08 PM	#2
MississippiBoy BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: May 2007 Location: Ridgeland MS Posts: 3,923	A black lure will have a darker silhouette than a white/clear/green one. Many times the lure will be between the fish and the surface, so you want something that stands out as much as possible against the slightly lighter background. That's why most fish have a darker back and light belly...it's harder to see something that's almost the same color as what's behind it. __________________ I smell smoke, and I hear sirens. Do you think that's a problem?

07-23-10, 05:30 PM	#3
nofearengineer BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southwest IN Posts: 5,630	The reason this works is because black actually contrasts more against the dull gray (to a night-sensitive bass' eyes, of course) of night time than the white spinnerbait. White only looks white because there is lots of light reflecting off of it. At night, that white is going to look gray to the bass just like everything else. During the day, the white will contrast more than the black. __________________ Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.

07-25-10, 04:50 AM	#8
islandbass BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: WA State Posts: 1,783	I just want to clarify something. An object will appear a certain color because it reflects that certain color and absorbs all other colors and our eyes perceive that reflected light. Take for example a red apple. When visible light hits the skin of an undamaged red apple, its skin reflects red light and absorbs all other light. In addition to this, to compound and complicate things a bit more, the distance you are from the object and the medium through which the light (air or water and with or without particles or other matter in either) is travelling before it reaches your eyes can markedly influence how we see or perceive an object's color. If something absorbed all wavelengths of light and didn't reflect any light, I am sorry to say, but we could not visually detect it. Human eyes need visible light to see and visible light is such a tiny part of the light spectrum. If you want an example of something that would absorb all light you need not look any further than a black hole. For those puppies, although not visible to the human eye, we can "see" or more accurately "detect" them by looking for areas where gravitational forces are very high. Sorry to go geek-bass mode. Anyway, I digress. Spruce has provided a nice visual. Lastly, if you guys want more information on this subject look for a book called, "What Fish See," by Dr. Colin Kageyama. Not only will you crush the fluff and heresay, you could potentially save $ on your color selection of lures, more than you would switching to Geico. __________________ ARX "If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." Doug Larson (Shimano 2005 Reel Catalog) Last edited by islandbass; 07-25-10 at 01:09 PM.

07-25-10, 12:46 PM	#11
islandbass BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: WA State Posts: 1,783	Thanks, walker. I was typing too quickly and not thinking through completely about the black. __________________ ARX "If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." Doug Larson (Shimano 2005 Reel Catalog)

07-23-10, 07:20 PM	#4
CiK BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio Posts: 221	Sorry guys! I am either being dense about this or I am missing something deeper. Just not getting it, from a scientific point of view. Tony

07-23-10, 07:30 PM	#5
spruce BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 10	take a white plug and hold it up above your head at night, now do the same with a black one. you will be able to see the black one better while looking "up" at it.

07-23-10, 09:25 PM	#6
Ebbetsguy BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sacramento, California Posts: 483	It works I don't care why. it just works thats good enough for me

07-23-10, 10:17 PM	#7
walkeraviator BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 1,119	NOFear nailed it. The reason a white luer appears white is because it reflects all wavelengths of light and a black one appears black because it absorbs all wavelengths of light. At night, light is lower and therefore leaves less to be reflected from teh white lure, so it appears to be teh same shade as everything in the background (starligh or moonight or docklights whatever)... Black however still absorbs all the wavelengths making its silhouette more pronounced to the fishes eye.

07-25-10, 08:51 AM	#9
Mac2 BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: East Tennessee Posts: 389	Great Posts.....thanks, Mac When fishing the black shad Culprit with the black back and silver belly in daylight, we started fishing them on the hook with the black side down and the silver side up thinking it would show up better from beneath with the black sillouette and when swimming would show up better with the bright side reflecting light better when going through suspended fish and showing better on the bottom. No scientific evidence other than we caught fish and it worked well at dusk and dark as well as in daylight. We still fish it that way upon occasion. Good Fishing, Mac

07-25-10, 09:39 AM	#10
walkeraviator BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 1,119	Just to clarify... there is no such thing as black light... Roy G Biv remember? So an object indeed appears black because it absorbs light and reflects very little... this is why black top is so much hotter than concrete... it is absorbing all the light which includes the radiant energy heating teh surface... same reason a black car gets hotter inside in the sun than a white car...

07-27-10, 05:49 PM	#12
walkeraviator BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 1,119	Just had another thought...(please forgive the over in depth explanation) The human eye has two different sections on the retina. The Cones are in the center of your eye that conatin Iodopsine which allows us to see colors, but are not very sensative to light. This is great during the day when you get a lot of light to your eye. IN low light consitions, the rods that surround these cones are more sensative to light but are covered in Rhodospin which reacts to light but only in gray scale (black/white)... this is why you can see an object better at night if you look slightly to one side of it or the other... If a fishes eye is anything like ours it may simply be more perceptive to black and white shades as the Rhodopsin is more succeptable to low light conditions... This is all stuff i learned while studying aeromedical stuff to become a pilot, and today it just hit me out of nowhere that this could be a good reason for using black at night...

07-29-10, 12:40 PM	#14
geezer1 BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Lakehills, Tx Posts: 185	Black works for me.....ALL the time. Black 6" lizard, mostly.

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