Glasses

[IrishFan]

Hi everyone and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Hoping to get some suggestions for a good pair of polarized glasses for trout fishing creeks and rivers. I have a pair of Oakley jackets and the interchangeable shallow water lenses but not ideal. I used to have a pair of orvis, amber lens. Fantastic glasses, kids lost them. Perfect time of year for suggestions.

Thanks in advance, and Go Irish! ☘️

 

[rancid waders]

I like the amber polarized in my Ray Bans. The quality of lenses has come a long way

 

[ryansheehan]

Love my Maui Jim's. I have a fishing pair that are the superthin glass and then a pair for everything else that are mauipure. I can't recommend these enough.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I'd probably go with Smith. I don't have any Smith pairs but I've heard really great things about them and they seem to be the cutting edge in fishing optics.

As for myself I like Costa plastic and glass (580P/G) lens in the green mirror finish. I have three pairs of them (2 glass and 1 plastic). My favorite pair may be the Permit 580P's, just a great fitting pair of sunglasses that spaces the lens far enough away from my face to where the lenses don't fog up as much. The Tuna Alley sunglasses I have are a much tighter fit and the glass fogs up much easier. If I had bought the Permit 580P first I wouldn't have gotten the Tuna Alley sunglasses. I've owned Costa's for 13 years at this point and really dig them. At this current time the Permit model is my favorite (rocking em' today). I like rocking the green lenses when it's sunny out. EBAY has good prices on Costa's, the Permits only cost me $110 and the Tuna Alleys were $160.

I also have set a of Maui Jim Waterways that I wear when it is overcast. These have a gray gradient lens. I'm not a big fan of the gradient. I have a pair of Manu's too that have a bronze lens. I have stopped wearing these for fishing because the frame is bent. They were a cheap EBAY buy. I'm not sure how satisfied I am with the lens. All of my Maui's were glass lens.

For low light I have a pretty laughable and gaudy set of Oakley Jawbreakers. When I initially bought these they came with a non-polarized lens so I had to buy a polarized lens to put in them, making them the most expensive pair of sunglasses I have ever bought. I bought these simply because they looked cool but they work for fishing. The Jawbreakers may seem a bit garish to some but I find their crazy frames to be a breath of fresh air among all the boring colored sunglasses. I don't recommend these for fishing, just what I use. This pair is plastic lens.

Overall there is a debate on whether to go glass or plastic in terms of lens. I know glass is superior as it doesn't warp but I have personally not seen too much of a difference between my glass and plastic lens sunglasses.

 

[JeffK]

I'm a Smith optics guy, but their cheaper Suncloud brand is good if you are on a budget.

 

[BrookieChaser]

I have Smith's and I like them. I've used them chasing trout in PA, redfish in central FL and oceanside tarpon in the Keys. I've used the same "Chromapop +" amber lenses with bronze mirror everywhere.
I like the coverage of Guide's Choice frame.
I was planning to get amber lenses with green or blue mirror for tarpon season and maybe a low light lense. But they will be glass, my plastic lenses are slowly delaminating after 10 years.

I've only had to use Smith's customer service one time (I broke the leash that came with the sunglasses swatting at pine flies) and they sent me a new one right away.

 

[Facemelted]

I use Smith Reddings model in brown chromapop lenses and the guides choice in the low light igniter yellows. Used em for years, no issues.

I'd go for the plastic lenses IMO, easy to replace and cheaper. Glass is nice but, really expensive.

 

[3sip]

Smith low light ignitor guide choice. I got these for low light trout fishing and they have become my everyday glasses. Worth every penny. I also have Costa del Mar but not in a low light lenses. Although I've heard great things about their low light lenses. Always 580gs

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Always 580gs

Gotta love 580G, everything looks better with em' on, green algae stands out and my gear looks cooler viewed through the lens of 580G. Love the "flat" picture they provide.

 

[Dr.J 1952]

For us older guys( I’m 71) I’ve been using Ray Ban Wafayers bivocals for the last five years. Work great in low light.

 

[DomR]

I'm a Maui Jim guy, been wearing various pair in the amber or smoke lense for 20+ years. Nice thing about Maui's is you get 1 free repair/replacement per pair for the life of the pair.

 

[DGC]

I use Smith Low Light Ignitor for most of my fishing, which is mostly for trout in shaded areas or on cloudy days or during late afternoon to sunset. In bright conditions, I use Costa bronze mirror 580G.

Been using these for years. And therein lies the problem for suggesting what to buy: the Smith LLI is no longer made; I don't know about the Costas.

If I was looking today, I would consider the Smith glass Ignitor, which is a rose lens and photochromic up to 30 VLT.

 

[hunter1]

I get the cacoon knock offs from Wally world. They work just fine for $ 20 bucks. I have had expencive glass's and these work as good as they did. I have apair for ff and salt water surf casting.

 

[CRB]

cocoon's work very good I've used them for years but the frames don't hold up well for Me the temples ware out after a year..
Purchase a pair of Smith Rx guide glasses this fall. Impressed from ordering on their web site to quickly receiving them service and quality top notch. Better service than Eye Glass World or Lenscrafters.

 

[TimMurphy]

I get the cacoon knock offs from Wally world. They work just fine for $ 20 bucks. I have had expencive glass's and these work as good as they did. I have apair for ff and salt water surf casting.

Dear hunter1,

Like you I am an eyeglass wearer and while I have a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarer's in progressive lenses I find them to be a bit of a PITA when I fish late in the day into the evening. It means I need to also bring my regular prescription glasses to find my way back to the truck in the gloaming.

With that in mind for general fishing I use a pair of $ 9.99 amber lens Bass Pro fitovers most of the time. They work well, but I will admit that a month or so ago I visited Cabela's and tried on a more updated modern set of fitovers. I don't even remember the brand but they were about $ 50.00 and the clarity of vision with them was light years better than the cheapies I usually wear.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[IrishFan]

I use Smith Reddings model in brown chromapop lenses and the guides choice in the low light igniter yellows. Used em for years, no issues.

I'd go for the plastic lenses IMO, easy to replace and cheaper. Glass is nice but, really expensive.

Thanks for the info. Do you have 2 different frames or just pop the different color lenses in and out

 

[Facemelted]

Thanks for the info. Do you have 2 different frames or just pop the different color lenses in and out

Two separate frames. Unfortunately, they don't make the yellows in anything but the guides choice (which is too large for my weirdly shaped head!)

 

[IrishFan]

Two separate frames. Unfortunately, they don't make the yellows in anything but the guides choice (which is too large for my weirdly shaped head!)

Can I get away with brown in low light?

 

[TimMurphy]

Can I get away with brown in low light?

Dear IrishFan,

This just an idea and by no means gospel. Once you wear polarized glasses often enough you and learn to recognize what you see, you will be surprised by what you can see without them. It's like patterning your brain to see what is there.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[Facemelted]

Can I get away with brown in low light?

I personally wouldn't use a dark lense in low lighting conditions, no.