![]() This is where lens color becomes important. Often by fishing from the other side of the stream and facing/fishing the other direction, you can totally eliminate the glare.Įven on overcast days or in shady areas, you can encounter significant glare, so I almost always wear polarized glasses when fishing. For example, you may be on the left side of the stream facing and fishing toward the right and encounter an insurmountable amount of glare. During these times, your best bet is to change the angle the light is hitting your eye by repositioning. There will be times on bright sunny days when the light reflects at such a severe angle that even the polarized lenses don’t seem to help. Just how well your polarized glasses eliminate glare often depends on the angle the light hits and reflects off the water. Additionally, being able to better see the stream bottom will allow for easier, safer wading. However, the most consistent benefits you will receive from polarized glasses are the ability to better see your dry fly on the surface, and the ability to read water by better recognizing slower seams and deeper troughs and pockets. Because light only travels in one direction through polarized lenses, glare is eliminated, or at least reduced.Ĭontrary to what I believe many anglers expect, this technology does not create “magic fish-seeing glasses!” Fish will not suddenly be visible when you put on your polarized glasses, but with better ability to see through the water, you will be much better equipped to spot fish. But the chemical filter on the lenses of polarized sunglasses is designed to absorb horizontal light waves, while still allowing vertical waves to pass through. So, “regular” sunglasses will help in these situations by essentially darkening this reflected light, making it less stressful to your eye, but the glare will still be there and will prohibit you from seeing anything on, or in the case of water, under that surface. ![]() With that in mind, it stands to reason that you will get even more intense glare when light reflects off the surface of lakes, rivers, streams, etc. Wet pavement intensifies that reflection and creates more intense glare. Pavement is a flat surface that can reflect light and cause glare. More than likely, the worst glare you ever encountered when driving was during or right after a rain. I’m sure everyone can think of instances when driving where significant glare was encountered. Water has highly reflective properties and basically acts like a mirror that intensifies those reflected rays even more. The more reflective that flat surface is, the more intense the glare will be – consider how a signaling mirror works. This creates a serious intensity of reflected light that causes glare and reduces visibility. Light usually scatters in all directions, but when it’s reflected from flat surfaces, it typically becomes polarized, travelling in a more uniform (usually horizontal) direction. While polarized sunglasses do protect your eyes and reduce eyestrain in bright conditions, they have far greater importance when it comes to tactical applications. They see sunglasses as merely a means of protecting your eyes from bright light and may opt not to wear them at all on overcast days or when fishing in shadier locations like the mountains. Many fishermen, particularly those new to the sport, probably underestimate them because they don’t understand the difference in sunglasses and polarized sunglasses. While polarized sunglasses may not be THE most important piece of gear, they are often the most underestimated by many fishermen. These sort of statements always amuse me because I can’t help to wonder how important those sunglasses would be if he didn’t have a rod or a line or a fly! But I definitely get what he meant. I once heard a highly regarded fly fisherman say that he considered polarized sunglasses to be his most important piece of gear. ![]()
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