How a Channel catfish sees your lure
Which lure colour a Channel catfish can actually see, at your depth and in your water. 2 cone types, peak 533 nm. Ranked contrast for 54 colours.
Ictalurus punctatus
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. 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. Very low acuity; this species finds food chemically far more than visually.
Spectral sensitivity
| Cone peaks | λmax | Chromophore |
|---|---|---|
| Short | 420 nm | A2 |
| Medium | 533 nm | A2 |
| Rod | 525 nm | A2 |
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 Channel catfish in these conditions. — Stained, 7 m.
| Colour | Contrast | Seen from | Fish view | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chartreuse / white Fluorescent finish | 96 | 1.3 m | Buy now | |
| 2 | White | 96 | 1.3 m | Buy now | |
| 3 | Chartreuse Fluorescent finish | 95 | 1.3 m | Buy now | |
| 4 | Glow Glow finish — not modelled | 94 | 1.3 m | Buy now | |
| 5 | Bone | 91 | 1.3 m | Buy now | |
| 6 | Silver holographic Metallic finish | 88 | 1.3 m | Buy now | |
| 7 | Clown | 86 | 1.3 m | Buy now | |
| 8 | Yellow | 86 | 1.2 m | Buy now | |
| 9 | Pink / white Fluorescent finish | 85 | 1.3 m | Buy now | |
| 10 | Sexy shad | 84 | 1.3 m | Buy now | |
| Stands out least | |||||
| Black / blue | 0 | 44 cm | |||
| Black | 0 | 43 cm | |||
| Purple / black | 0 | 43 cm | |||
| Purple | 0 | 14 cm | |||
Contrast quoted at 66 cm viewing distance. · Light that survives best here: 640 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
Noticeably coloured. A white plate is gone by about 1.3 m.
Water types
Target species
Questions people actually ask
Can a Channel catfish see colour?
Yes, but only just. It has 2 cone types, peaking at 420 nm, 533 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
- Sillman, A.J., Bolnick, D.A., Bosetti, J.B. et al. (1993). Can. J. Zool. 71, 2258–2265.