Are 3d Eyes For Fish Or Fishermen?

[bass100]

Hey Guys,

Our waters iced out up here in the last week and a half. We decided to go out and try our swimbaits with 3D eyes and without 3D eyes. We had one color swimbait with 3 different color eyes and no eyes. We caught 19 smallies and 5 of those came on the swimbait with no eyes. So right now I am thinking the eyes are more for the fishermen than the fish. Of course I will still have them on my lures because they look so good. Has anyone else done any tests like this and would care to share their results?

[TBaits]

LOL.....I would say that YES, more baits catch fisherman than fish. I have a heck of a lot more baits that I have caught no fish on than ones I have. I say that it is better for marketing purposes. WE are the ones that pick the baits to begin with. Of course, the more realistic they look, the better we think they might catch fish. And that seems it could be right. Although if you think about the colors what we use to catch fish, a ton of them are not ordinary colors a fish would see in its normal habitat.

[GB GONE]

There have been many studies done on the reaction of fish to baits with eyes. As a matter of fact, over-sized eyes elicite a greater reaction from a fish than just normal sized eyes.

If I can find you the scientific studies, I'll post the links up.

All that being said.... I think they help catch fisherman as well as fish!!!!!!!

Jim

[mainbutter]

Eyes are one of the things that many MANY animal species recognize. Think of all the critters that use fake eyes as part of a deterrent camouflage.

I think for a true test to see if a fish notices a difference between an eyed lure and a no-eyes lure, you'd want to compare a swimbait with eyes to a swimbait with no eyes and fish 'em under a bobber. Eyes give the impression that "yes, this thing is in fact a prey item, and not a stick".

I much prefer oversized eyes on my lures.

As far as 3D vs flat stickers or painted, I think that is definitely more just to look pretty.

Fishing with lures is all about giving fish the impression that "hey, that thing is a living prey item"

[VermontPhisher]

Great stuff! I think its for both fish and fisherman. 3-d eyes look nicer but I don't think humans will ever know how a fish really feels about it, they are just hungry or aggressive when they strike. I am becoming a big fan of over sized 3-D eyes.

Next you will start wondering if baits need fins and tails , its good to keep thinking and wondering:D.

[mainbutter]

I actually prefer no dorsal fins. Pectoral fins are generally unneeded, but the ones on some through-line swimbaits help prevent rolling.

I've read enough studies on gamefish diet to say with confidence that just about all north american freshwater gamefish LOVE to eat prey that is streamlined. Everyone knows that bass love to eat pokey bluegills, but that is simply because they are so abundant in bass waters. They absolutely RELISH a soft, easily swallowed and digestible shad.

Muskies have been introduced plenty of lakes in MN. When musky stocking began in lake Minnetonka, the bullhead population drastically decreased and is pretty nonexistant today (to the best of my knowledge). Catfish, despite spines on pectoral fins, are soft, pretty easily swallowed, and make for good eats. They are much more streamlined than fish like sunfish, bass, and walleyes. Heck, just look at white suckers, the #1 live bait for pike and musky, streamlined and very little fin. The minnows we use for crappies and panfish are just the same. We hear about the odd walleye caught but eaten by a musky back to the boat, but that in itself is pretty rare.

Rather than make realistic looking lures, I prefer impressionistic lures. My swimbaits have oversized eyes, no tall pectoral fins, and enough bulk to look like they'd be a good source of energy if eaten. Now how much of that each gamefish picks up on, who knows, but I do know they have preferences so I try to cover all the bases. I want to give the impression of an easy meal.

[Flecksbaits]

While most baits are created to catch fish...... They must first catch the fisherman.

[Doug Mitchell]

I tie flies and work in a fly shop for a living and when i tie for the the shop box i tie to catch fishermen. That means the fly must have wings on it. Do fish know the difference don't know but the fishermen do.Point is I put eyes on my crank baits I even put them on a lot of my hair jigs and some crappie jigs, The reason is it give me more confidence in the bait and just looks more realistic to me. I have never caught a fish that did not have eyes so eyes make me feel like it is more of a realistic bait.

[longhorn]

Looks like the eyes have it!

[Pitbull Baits]

The 3D eyes give off more of a flash thatn the flat sticker eyes do. The flash should help attract fish I belive

[bojon]

The 3D eyes give off more of a flash thatn the flat sticker eyes do. The flash should help attract fish I belive

The eyes make a lure look better to the fisherman,and make him more confident,but I have always felt that a fantastic beautiful realistic looking lure paint job doesn't by its self catch more fish.How would you explain pure white being one of my favorite fish catching colors.What about all those treble hooks hanging there.Not very realistic,but I have caught tons of fish with them.When I was young everyone would hide the hook in the bait when bait fishing,not me I used a oversize hook,and made sure the point was exposed.Rarely missed a fish.Did the bait look natural.Who knows?It never looked natural to me,but the fish could care less.I always figure fish are really dumb,and work on instinct.Food,or reaction rules its life.If fish were that picky in selecting what they eat,they would all starve.If they weren't dumb I'd never catch one.