How a Atlantic cod sees your lure
Which lure colour a Atlantic cod can actually see, at your depth and in your water. 2 cone types, peak 517 nm. Ranked contrast for 54 colours.
Gadus morhua
Measured for this species
Cone peaks are direct measurements for this species. The rest of the model — water optics, contrast, detection distance — is still an estimate, and none of it predicts whether a fish will strike. Cod is the species the visual-range model was calibrated on, so its detection distances are the most trustworthy in the catalogue.
Spectral sensitivity
| Cone peaks | λmax | Chromophore |
|---|---|---|
| Short | 450 nm | A1 |
| Medium | 517 nm | A1 |
| Rod | 500 nm | A1 |
Rods do the work at dawn, dusk and night — which is when most people fish.
Lure table
Ranked by how much each colour stands out to a Atlantic cod in these conditions. — Oceanic II, 55 m.
| Colour | Contrast | Seen from | Fish view | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | White | 97 | 11 m | Buy now | |
| 2 | Sexy shad | 94 | 11 m | Buy now | |
| 3 | Glow Glow finish — not modelled | 94 | 10 m | Buy now | |
| 4 | Silver holographic Metallic finish | 94 | 10 m | Buy now | |
| 5 | Bone | 91 | 10 m | Buy now | |
| 6 | Chrome Metallic finish | 90 | 10 m | Buy now | |
| 7 | Chartreuse / white Fluorescent finish | 89 | 11 m | Buy now | |
| 8 | Blue / white | 88 | 11 m | Buy now | |
| 9 | Pink / white Fluorescent finish | 86 | 11 m | Buy now | |
| 10 | Blueback herring | 86 | 11 m | Buy now | |
| Stands out least | |||||
| Watermelon | 26 | 3.9 m | |||
| Copper | 25 | 3.7 m | |||
| Green pumpkin | 24 | 3.6 m | |||
| Olive | 23 | 3.4 m | |||
Contrast quoted at 1.0 m viewing distance. · Light that survives best here: 480 nm
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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
Blue-green offshore water. The transmission window is starting to move.
Water types
Target species
Questions people actually ask
Can a Atlantic cod see colour?
Yes, but only just. It has 2 cone types, peaking at 450 nm, 517 nm, so it has a single dimension of hue where a human has 2.
Where does this data come from?
Direct microspectrophotometry, ERG or behavioural spectral sensitivity for this species.
Sources
- Anthony, P.D. & Hawkins, A.D. (1983). In Fish Physiology.
- Bowmaker, J.K. (1990). In Douglas & Djamgoz (eds), The Visual System of Fish.
- Aksnes, D.L. & Utne, A.C.W. (1997). Sarsia 82, 137–147 — the measured Ke ≈ 1.0 that anchors this whole parameter.