How a Atlantic salmon sees your lure
Which lure colour a Atlantic salmon can actually see, at your depth and in your water. 4 cone types, peak 570 nm. Ranked contrast for 54 colours.
Salmo salar
Measured for this species UV cannot be shown
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. 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. Salmon move between fresh and salt water and their visual pigments shift with the migration; this profile is the freshwater/pre-smolt state.
Spectral sensitivity
| Cone peaks | λmax | Chromophore |
|---|---|---|
| UV | 380 nm | A1 |
| Short | 434 nm | A1 |
| Medium | 535 nm | A1 |
| Long | 570 nm | A1 |
| Rod | 503 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 Atlantic salmon in these conditions. — Gin-clear, 5 m.
| Colour | Contrast | Seen from | Fish view | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | White | 98 | 9.5 m | Buy now | |
| 2 | Sexy shad | 95 | 9.4 m | Buy now | |
| 3 | Silver holographic Metallic finish | 95 | 9.3 m | Buy now | |
| 4 | Glow Glow finish — not modelled | 95 | 9.2 m | Buy now | |
| 5 | Chartreuse / white Fluorescent finish | 94 | 9.5 m | Buy now | |
| 6 | Bone | 94 | 9.2 m | Buy now | |
| 7 | Chrome Metallic finish | 92 | 9.1 m | Buy now | |
| 8 | Pink / white Fluorescent finish | 91 | 9.5 m | Buy now | |
| 9 | Blue / white | 90 | 9.5 m | Buy now | |
| 10 | Clown | 89 | 9.5 m | Buy now | |
| Stands out least | |||||
| Red craw | 45 | 5.1 m | |||
| Brown | 42 | 4.6 m | |||
| Junebug | 34 | 4.5 m | |||
| Black | 22 | 2.9 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.
Affiliate links: we earn a commission from Amazon, at no extra cost to you.
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 Atlantic salmon see colour?
Yes. It has 4 cone types, peaking at 380 nm, 434 nm, 535 nm, 570 nm. That gives it 3 colour dimensions, against a human’s 2.
Where does this data come from?
Direct microspectrophotometry, ERG or behavioural spectral sensitivity for this species.
Sources
- Bowmaker, J.K. & Kunz, Y.W. (1987). Vision Research 27, 2101–2108 — UV cones lost and regained around smoltification.