Recommended polarized lens color?

[Skeet6]

Brown or gray? I am having a new set made, (prescription)... may get transitions this time... my old set was brown, but what is recommended for PA water? (NEPA here) I'll be fishing my community lakes for bass, crappie and pickerel and local streams for trout in the Delaware/Lackawaxen.

Thanks!
Mike B

 

[Fishidiot]

Yellow is unbeatable in my opinion (much better than amber). Unfortunately, it isn't available in a lot of frame styles.

In your case, I'd check the lenses at the eyewear store and go with whichever one is lighter.

 

[pcray1231]

Brown, imo.

Brown/copper/amber/rose all create contrast, which helps when identifying structure and seeing fish. Gray keeps colors and contrast natural, and some like that, especially for everyday use and driving. For fishing, my personal taste is that I want all the contrast I can get, and I'm fine with it elsewhere too.

Note that if there's any sort of mirror, the color of the lens may not match the outward appearance of said lens. Lots of people have no idea what their real lens color is!

Yellow lenses are generally for low light and tend to have more light transmission. With decent lenses you can generally look up the transmission %. Higher transmission allows you to wear them earlier in the morning and later in the evening, under a dense forest canopy, etc, but they may be too bright on a bluebird day in the open. Many fisherman have 2 pair, dark and light, and rotate accordingly. With only 1, I'd opt for a tweener. Light brown or rose.

Even just a polarizer, no tint, will block about 60% of light, so there's just no way to get a lens that'll be wearable right through the witching hour. Polarization loses effectiveness at low sun angles anyway.

 

[poopdeck]

I've always heard that yellow lenses are for low light but can be damaging to the eyes during lots of light. I have no clue if this is true or an old wives tale but it is why I never wear yellow even in low light.

 

[turkey]

If I had to pick brown or gray I'd take brown. I like copper a lot personally.

 

[Swattie87]

Agree with the above...Something in the Brown or Copper range for fishing. I have a pair of Copper lenses with 18% VLT. They are my favorite in terms of being able to see into the water, but they are too bright on sunny days. I have a pair of 12% Brown lenses that I use most of the time. That being said, both pairs are too dark to wear in low light conditions.

For everyday non fishing use, I like mirrored gray in as dark of a lens as possible.

 

[GenCon]

Brown has always been my first choice. I have done alot of flats fishing in my life. Brown is the way to go for the flats or the stream IMO.

GenCon

 

[KeithS]

Brown or rose, depending on your eye color.
I have blue eyes and am bothered more by light than anyone I know with darker eyes.
I have inexpensive polarized fit overs that are great through a good portion of dusk. These I wear when out in the open.
I also have the polarized clip-ons from Walmart that work well through a wide range of low light conditions. I wear these brookie fishing under a canopy.
I can't decide if I'll pop for a pair of prescription sunglasses or not his year. I don't want to have to carry around 2 pair of glasses.
Make sure you try them outside the store on a bright, sunny day. Hopefully, there will be some water nearby, maybe a fountain or something.

 

[krayfish2]

I've used amber, copper, rose and yellow. As others have mentioned, amber performance is best all around and in bright light. If you get back in where there's a lot of canopy cover, there isn't enough light to use them effectively. At that point or low light / overcast days, yellow does brighten things up nicely.

Current pair are Smith polarchromic which is like a transition type of lens. It's to darken in bright light and lighten in low light. I'm sure this is supported by high tech light transmission equipment but my marbles (aka defective eyes) didn't notice much "light transmission" differences.

Its almost like 2 pairs would be best for all light conditions (amber and yellow). If you are getting one pair, amber / brown covers most conditions.

 

[pcray1231]

I've always heard that yellow lenses are for low light but can be damaging to the eyes during lots of light. I have no clue if this is true or an old wives tale but it is why I never wear yellow even in low light.

What damages eyes is UV. You can have lenses that don't filter out UV regardless of color. That said, most lenses above about $20 do filter out 100% of UV, regardless of color. Everyone seems to market 100% UV blocking as if it's some sort of unusual thing, but even most gas station cheapo's do this.

Should also mention fit does matter in this regard. The eye's natural protection is to close the pupil in bright light, and thus lower the UV input. Looking through glasses, the pupils will open up to allow more light in. Hence, yes, shades which do not filter UV are more dangerous than no glasses at all, and lighter colors would be worse as the pupils will be more open.

Even if the lens does filter UV, any light getting in around the lenses is not filtered. Sides, top, etc. If eye protection from UV is a priority, ensure complete coverage.

 

[sandfly]

rose - flats fishing
amber/brown/copper - streams, shallow lakes
blue - open ocean/ deep lakes
yellow - low light

 

[pcray1231]

I don't know of any glasses with a blue lens.

Many have blue mirrored lenses. But I don't know of any with a blue base color. Most of the time the blue mirrored lenses are gray base colors, but you can have any base color with any different colored mirror. Anytime you see a mirrored surface, the base color is NOT the color of the mirror, as it doesn't make much sense to simultaneously reflect and preferentially transmit the same color.

And yes, most often blue mirror/gray lens combo is used for deep water, as contrast isn't necessary if you can't see bottom anyway, and scattered (non-polarized) light from water is generally blue so reflecting that helps see deeper. So I guess my correction is that it actually isn't a "blue lens", it just looks that way.

Why does it matter? Because you should choose based on lens color, not mirror color. For instance, MANY amber/brown/copper lenses have green or even reddish mirrors. They're still amber/brown/copper.

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Native Eyewear with interchangeable lenses. Solve the problem quickly. Mine came with a set of grey, copper and rose lenses.
Native list a blue lens.. not mirrored,fwiw. GG

 

[pcray1231]

Native's "Blue reflex" lens is gray base, blue mirror.....

Polarized Blue Reflex: 10% Visual Light Transmission (VLT). Suitable for extremely bright sunlight. Gray base lens with blue mirror

From:

http://www.sporteyes.com/native.htm

Oh, and btw, Native Eyewear and Costa Del Mar are the same brand.

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Thanks PCray.
GG

 

[Swattie87]

I'll vouch for Natives as a good bang for the buck, middle of the road brand and what I currently use for fishing. Regularly on STP for $50-$65 with the usual STP discounts. They've held up well to my usual abuse of sunglasses...I've still managed to kill a pair or two though...flying off the tonneau cover, tumbling down a 15ft waterfall on a Poconos stream.

Probably not as good as some of the higher end glasses out there, but 1/4 of the cost, and better than the gas station/grocery store/Walmart type of deal.

 

[Brown71]

I too would go with the brown. I feel they are better all around. I use amber 95% of the time.

I also agree with the previous post, you can get a good pair of polos for $50 or so. I have owned them in all price ranges and really haven't seen a huge difference.

Honestly, one of my favorite pairs ever was a Walmart special lol.
Cant seem to find that exact pair anymore though.

 

[krayfish2]

Hey, prior to getting my current pair of smiths, had a pair of Bill Dance shades from BassPro and some old foster grants I got from Clouser years ago.

Didn't know Native and Costa were same company. Probably be my next pair with multiple lenses.

 

[AkDan76]

I had a bunch of older smiths when guiding. The copper polarchromics were awesome! 6oz and 24 oz leads do a number on them!

Just had a new box arrive tonight...3 new pairs! (to replace the 3 I broke over the years). look for the lenses on the techlites

 

[PatrickC]

I just got new Rx fishing glasses with the brown polarized. Brown and Gray were all that were available for my Rx. I added the Progressive trifocals this time. I must say, I'm glad I added that to my fishing glasses. As for the Transitions, depending on your Rx, they can get expensive. I wanted the Transitions with the trifocal lens. It was available. Insurance would not cover the Progressive trifocal with Transition lens and it was going to cost $600. Needless to say, I decided to postpone the Transitions for now. Hopefully it will be cheaper when I need a new pain in a few years.