Grab a baseball cap and polarized sunglasses for fly fishing

In gin clear conditions whether you are at a lake or river, having a good pair of polarized sunglasses is a must.  Polarized sunglasses seem to be a frequent topic I talk to clients more often than not.  Fly fishing is often a visual form of angling. Success relies on the ability to read the water, finding fish, recognizing feeding activity, and presenting a fly with precision. While much of the focus is placed on rods, reels, and fly patterns, a high-quality pair of polarized sunglasses is one of the most valuable tools an angler can have on the water.

Without polarized sunglasses, the surface of the water reflects like a mirror.  You would mostly see bright reflections of the sky, clouds, trees, and surrounding landscape.  The sun glare disperses light and makes it difficult to distinguish what is happening beneath the surface of the water.  By eliminating glare from the surface, polarized lenses can help you will discover what lies beneath.  They reduce in eye fatigue with long days on the river as well as providing eye protection from the sun and bothersome flies.

The greatest advantage of polarized lenses is the ability to see the fish beneath the surface.  Polarized sunglasses will help anglers detect movement, shape, and color below the water's surface.  Being able to see fish before they see you can improve your success with approach and fly presentations.  

I spend a great deal of time reading the water before making my next cast.  Being able to see the river bottom contour provides a tremendous advantage, allowing me to identify feeding lanes, current seams, submerged rocks, and weed beds.  Looking beneath the surface offers valuable insight into how the river is structured and where trout are most likely to be holding.  With a better understanding of what lies below, a I can make a more informed presentation and increase the chances with my next cast.

Even with polarized sunglasses, it still can be challenging to see the trout.  Spotting trout is an acquired skill that improves with time, patience, and repetitive practice.  Trout are masters of camouflage, and movement is often easier to detect than the fish itself.  The trout may appear as a slight change in color, a soft shadow, or a shape that seems just a little out of place with the surrounding rocks and gravel.  Look for subtle clues that reveal a trout's presence like a brief the white of the trout's mouth as it opens to eat drifting food, the soft flick of a tail, or the light silhouette of a dorsal fin breaking the river bottom pattern.  As your observational skills improve, these subtle differences become easier to recognize, allowing you to spot trout that once went completely unnoticed.  This is when sight fishing becomes one of the most rewarding and exciting parts of fly fishing.

Having polarized sunglasses will make you that much better of an angler reducing glare and eye strain as well as seeing below the water surface, an idea of the underwater structure, and where the trout maybe holding.  Don’t forget to also grab your favorite, lucky fishing baseball cap which will also help reduce sun glare over your sunglasses. 🕶️ 🧢 A good pair of polarized sunglasses and a baseball help together enhance in searching for those trout.

See you on the river!