conditions glossary
What color lure should I use in stained or clear water?
Stained water or low light: contrast beats color (dark, chartreuse, black-and-blue). Clear water, bright light, near the surface: natural colors read true. Deep: reds disappear first, blue-green persists.
Water absorbs long wavelengths first: red and orange are absorbed more than green and blue, and at depth blue and green are the only colors left. Objects show their real colours only near the surface where all wavelengths are available, and contrast against the background may matter more than colour for detection.
So match natural forage in clear, bright, shallow water; switch to high-contrast dark or chartreuse in stained water or low light; and lean green, blue, and chartreuse for anything deep.
See it in the report
Sources (quoted verbatim)
“visible light of long wavelengths (e.g. red, orange) is absorbed more in water than light of shorter wavelengths (green, blue).” — Wikipedia — Vision in fish · T3 (checked 2026-09-17)
“Shorter wavelengths penetrate further, with blue and green light reaching the deepest depths.” — Wikipedia — Vision in fish · T3 (checked 2026-09-17)
“Blue is the only colour of light available at depth underwater, so it is the only colour that can be reflected back to the eye, and everything has a blue tinge under water.” — Wikipedia — Vision in fish · T3 (checked 2026-09-17)
“Objects in water will only appear as their real colours near the surface where all wavelengths of light are still available” — Wikipedia — Vision in fish · T3 (checked 2026-09-17)
“The study indicates that an object's contrast against the background, rather than colour, may be more important for object detection.” — Wikipedia — Vision in fish · T3 (checked 2026-09-17)
“Colour vision is more useful in environments with a broader range of wavelengths available, e.g., near the surface in clear waters rather than in deeper water where only a narrow band of wavelengths persist.” — Wikipedia — Vision in fish · T3 (checked 2026-09-17)