How a Arctic char sees your lure
Which lure colour a Arctic char can actually see, at your depth and in your water. 4 cone types, peak 600 nm. Ranked contrast for 54 colours.
Salvelinus alpinus
Measured in a close relative UV cannot be shown
No spectral measurement exists for this species. The cone peaks are taken from other Salvelinus species, its close relative with the same feeding ecology. Treat the hue rankings as indicative rather than exact. This species has a UV cone: about 83% of that cone’s sensitivity lies below 400 nm, where a phone screen cannot show you anything. The UV channel is drawn in a declared false colour. Its retina uses the A2 (porphyropsin) chromophore, which pushes its long-wavelength sensitivity well to the red of what an A1 retina would give. Many freshwater fish shift the A1/A2 ratio with season and temperature, so real sensitivity drifts through the year.
Spectral sensitivity
| Cone peaks | λmax | Chromophore |
|---|---|---|
| UV | 380 nm | A1 |
| Short | 440 nm | A1 |
| Medium | 530 nm | A1 |
| Long | 600 nm | A2 |
| Rod | 515 nm | A1 |
Rods do the work at dawn, dusk and night — which is when most people fish.
83% of this species’ UV cone sensitivity lies below 400 nm, outside anything a screen can show.
Lure table
Ranked by how much each colour stands out to a Arctic char in these conditions. — Gin-clear, 16 m.
| Colour | Contrast | Seen from | Fish view | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | White | 98 | 8.8 m | Buy now | |
| 2 | Glow Glow finish — not modelled | 97 | 8.7 m | Buy now | |
| 3 | Chartreuse / white Fluorescent finish | 96 | 8.8 m | Buy now | |
| 4 | Silver holographic Metallic finish | 95 | 8.6 m | Buy now | |
| 5 | Sexy shad | 94 | 8.7 m | Buy now | |
| 6 | Bone | 94 | 8.6 m | Buy now | |
| 7 | Chartreuse Fluorescent finish | 93 | 8.4 m | Buy now | |
| 8 | Chrome Metallic finish | 92 | 8.4 m | Buy now | |
| 9 | Clown | 89 | 8.8 m | Buy now | |
| 10 | Blue / white | 89 | 8.8 m | Buy now | |
| Stands out least | |||||
| Red craw | 41 | 4.2 m | |||
| Purple / black | 33 | 4.7 m | |||
| Junebug | 25 | 2.6 m | |||
| Black | 22 | 2.5 m | |||
Contrast quoted at 1.0 m viewing distance. · Light that survives best here: 570 nm
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UV cannot be shown — This species has a UV cone, and a phone screen cannot emit ultraviolet. The UV channel is drawn in a declared false colour. Note also that UV is absorbed fast underwater and vanishes within centimetres in tannic water.
Get these colours
The three that came out on top, searched on your own Amazon. The ranking above is worked out from the water and the fish, before any of these links exist.
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Gear this page implies
- A lure kit with a spread of colours See on Amazon
The point of knowing which colour wins is having it in the box.
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What this water lets through
Alpine lake or spring-fed quarry. You can see the bottom in 8 m.
Water types
Target species
Questions people actually ask
Can a Arctic char see colour?
Yes. It has 4 cone types, peaking at 380 nm, 440 nm, 530 nm, 600 nm. That gives it 3 colour dimensions, against a human’s 2.
Where does this data come from?
No measurement exists for this species. The cone peaks come from a congener with the same feeding ecology.
Sources
- Salmonid pattern; Bowmaker, J.K. & Kunz, Y.W. (1987). Vision Research 27, 2101–2108.
- Bridges, C.D.B. (1972) — documented seasonal A1↔A2 switching in char.