Panfish Vision!

[INTIMIDATOR]

Panfish Vision
by In-Fisherman Magazine…no author noted.
For educational purposes only!


Understanding the physical capabilities of the fish we seek plays a role in making decisions about fish location and presentation. It’s all part of the game.

Panfish, especially crappies and bluegills, tend to be sight feeders, which means they prefer to see it before they eat it. But what’s to see under 3 feet of ice and 2 feet of snow?

Light is diffuse under hard water. Scattered by ice and snow cover, light penetrates but seems to come from all directions. It’s a world without shadow, but hardly a world without light. During the day, it’s not as dark down there as logic might suggest. In fact, it can be quite bright. Even at night, panfish can sight feed under the ice in slightly cloudy to clear water, but probably require a little more help from their lateral line (which picks up vibration) in the dark.

Many studies have been done on the visual acuity of panfish. The ability to see and feed on individual zooplankters has stimulated lots of scientific attention. The eyes of fish are similar to our eyes, with the same basic construction of cornea, iris, lens, and retina. Like us, panfish have multiple cones in the retina that allow for color differentiation. Laboratory tests with bluegills, sunfish, and the closely related black basses seem to indicate that these fish can distinguish one color from another...

Read More Here: Panfish Vision - In-Fisherman

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