Sunglasses anyone

I got a deal on Native Eyewear and with replacable lenses I can fish any light conditions. GG
 
Hey Art,
Double check those extra lenses. Any natives I've seen only the lenses that come already on the frames are polarized. The others are not and the virtually clear lenses are merely a form of safety/shooting glasses.
 
Dan........what kind of shades are YOU wearin? I never could get the hang of 'em and i'm too old and set in my ways to change now unless i could buy a pair with infared , heat seeking , (tuned to the exact body temp of trout) lenses.
 
I have natives but the ones I wear are Three Forks which I dont believe are made anymore which sucks. They were expensive but theyre the same ones in my picture from maybe 8yrs ago.
Most comfortable Ive ever worn and lenses are called rose.
 
Thanks Dan. I did check and the other lenses that I ordered are polarized. There was a set included that were not and looked like shooting lenses.
My brother in law works for Academy Sports and gets a discount on glasses otherwise I'd be at Walmart. GG
 
Art.....what would you say are the advantages of wearin them in the salt are , i wore them , the wraparound , Babe Winkelmaqn style , for maybe 5 years off and on and i'm thinkin if i could have changed lenses it might have helped , i just never got used to 'em and i don't wear regular glasses either.
 
I like Polarized Safety Glasses.

Affordable and strong, And I wont have to go home looking like I drowned kittens If I loose a pair.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_309601-98-90879-80025_0__?productId=3102161&Ntt=polarized&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dpolarized&facetInfo=
 
Mike,
I think the ability to match light conditions is key no matter if its fresh or salt. Sometimes its so bright out that dark lenses are a must. Copper seems to work well in most situations in the salt, but Today, just crusing around in the boat, I had dark lenses and my eyes were thankful for them. This past Nov. the overcast days made my copper lenses to dark for the creek in New York . I wished I had a rose or yellow pair as the browns were tough to see.Being able to switch lenses means I 'GG
 
I moved to amber lenses last year and will never go back to anythine else. I may get another pair in grey or bronze, but I'd rarely use them. Amber is great for low light conditions and it has really improved my ability to spot fish and wade more carefully.

Thinking of bringing out some polarized glasses in the next few months through Risen Fly.
 
I also wear prescription and wore Cocoons for awhile; of course the price went way up in the last few years. Sportsman' s Guide carries similar glasses for way less. I got two pairs for 26$ and shipping last summer. The quality was good, and they came in two colors as well. Dark grey works well for bright days on boats, and the copper is my favorite all around for fishing and driving. I think they are called Guide Gear. This is an online co. so you have to poke around a bit to find the deals. I wasn't going to get a membership when I bough the sunglasses, but on the next screen they threw in a nice pair of free binoculars, as well as two 10$ coupons. Had to ....
 
I'm currently using a pair of copper Solar Shields. $20.00 at Wally World. I'm very surprised how well they work, since they're so cheap. Clarity is great, even on an overcast morning on the stream.
 
Here's some heresy for you: I've stopped using sunglasses in some fishing situations- in particular, brookie streams in the springtime, when there's a lot of water and a strong flow.

my reasoning:

1) they seldom help in spotting fish- when it's shady, it's just plain too dark no matter what, and sunglasses make things worse; when it's sunny, the water is so clear and shallow that it's fairly easy to spot fish- or their shadows- without the need for sunglasses to cut glare. And rising brook trout are almost always obvious.

2) sunglasses aren't usually necessary to read the stream bottom in shallow brookie streams; most often that can be done simply by reading the current and looking at the obstructions and stream cover, like boulders. The water is shallow and clear enough that it's easy to read the bottom at the tails of the pools, which is where it counts the most.

3) polarized sunglasses work pretty well to cut glare on smooth and glassy surfaces- but they don't help visibility much when there are churning currents, foam, and fast water. And broken surfaces like those account for at leasthalf of the fishable water in brookie streams in the springtime.

4) Probably the best reason: it's more important to be able to see and track the fly and leader than anything else! If I can track where my fly is on the water more easily without sunglasses, I leave them off.

When the current flow and the water level dwindle down in those streams in the summer and fall, then it starts making sense to use sunglasses. And in most other situations, sunglasses still make plenty of sense. They can make a huge difference on a larger stream or river. Without them on Penn's, I feel really handicapped. But for small, high-gradient trout streams that are carrying a good head of water, I've found that sunglasses are often more of a hindrance than a help.

Also, once the sun goes off the water, it's time to take off the sunglasses. That should go without saying. But it took me quite a while to figure out something that basic.
 
The main reason for wearing sun glasses is to protect your eyes from the retracted UV light off the water. If you have ever been out a day on the lake or at the beach without sun glasses, your eyes feel painful, tired and even sandy (you get the same if you were watching someone weld without eye protection on, of course watching a weld is much quicker).
In broken cloudy days it tends to burn your eyes even more so - your pupils are open wider and the UV rays reflect off the water and also the clouds giving you more exposure.
And it maybe your day to get a hook in your eye. Although the percentile of sticking yourself in the eye is extremely small it can happen.

 
barbless,

I always struggled with sunglasses on brookie streams. I wear amber glasses typically, sometimes yellow. Always polarized. In some light conditions, they do help me track the fly and leader, the white post on my wulffs and parachutes stands out better without the glare on the surface. But even with the brighter lenses, many deep woods situations are simply too dark to wear sunglasses and be able to get around safely. When you're up under hemlocks and such.

The problem is that when brookie fishing, you cover so much ground. Some places you want them, others you don't, and you switch back and forth about 100 times in a typical day. When I don't want them, I usually put them on my hat. Which is a PERFECT way to lose them. You forget, take off the hat to swat a bug. Glasses, gone. You jump down off a waste high rock, glasses gone, or they fall to the ground and you step on em.

For this reason, I'm good to lose/break 2-3 pairs per year. Which is why I stay in the $20-$30 range and forgo the Oakley's and Costa's.

On big waters, I wear them nonstop until the fading light of evening. Then wind up with the same problem I have on brookie streams.

And regarding "keepers", I'm real funny with stuff around my neck. Just don't like it.
 
Good points.

re: UV protection- I wear mild prescription glasses for fine focus and distance when fly fishing- the difference between 20/40 and 20/20 is 20 feet, after all. Helpful when tracking flies. And nearly all modern eyeglasses with plastic lenses offer 100% UVA and UVB protection. Including clear ones.

Good point about glasses offering hook protection, too. Although maybe I should put that differently.
 
I wear sunglasses simply to protect my eyes at all times, even on cloudier, overcast days.

My favorite frames are Native. I have had two pairs for about two years now. I spent some change on them, so they are kept close. One pair has pretty easy interchangeable lenses, I usually keep the grey polarized in for every day use. I almost always forget to swap the lenses to amber on cloudy days or low light situations.

I agree with the above about not being able to see through a fast current or ripples with glasses. Like before though, mine are always on.
 
Paulson wrote: I agree with the above about not being able to see through a fast current or ripples with glasses.


I have to ask - can you see thru the ripples and fast current without glasses?
 
PennypackFlyer wrote:
Paulson wrote: I agree with the above about not being able to see through a fast current or ripples with glasses.


I have to ask - can you see thru the ripples and fast current without glasses?
Click to expand...

Not usually! Sometimes you'll get lucky, but the rest to me is understanding the structure of the part you are fishing. My glasses are always on anyway.
 
One thing I learned while in Switzerland. Most sunglass brands are not different at all. At least not the lenses. I mean, they have top end and bottom end lenses, but the top end of Oakley's = top end of Ray Ban. Different styles on frames, of course. But same lenses.

Many brands are made by one company in northern Italy. Pushing 80% of the sunglass market. Luxottica is the company. Luxottica brands include Ray Ban, Oakley, Revo, Vogue, Armani, Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Paul Smith (& Smith Optics), Tiffany, Versaci, Arnette, Steroflex, and many others.

Same company owns retailers including Sunglass Hut, LensCrafters, Pearl Vision, Sears Optical, Target Optical, and others. While the retailers do carry non Luxottica brands, it's not many, and they mark them WAY up, so that their own brands can be marked up and still compete.

Maui Jim is independent, and use a variety of lenses and frames bought from other manufacturers (do not make their own). But they do use Luxottica lenses and frames in some of their models.

Costa Del Mar is an independent brand owned by A.T. Cross. They make all their own lenses, so they are indeed separate from the rest. They do not make any frames, though, but by them from other makers, including Luxottica. Native (as in Native Eyewear) is another brand that is one and the same as Costa.
 
Pat, Did you get a pair cheap while over there?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Harman's North Fork Cottages


Real Time Data From
the USGS Site

Share this page

Back
Top