Fishing a few local bass tournaments each year, I've heard quite a few anglers say with a surprising amount of surety, that they believe a boat bottom that doesn't match closely to the view a fish has from underwater will scare fish as it passes overhead in their vicinity. When shopping for a new boat, these guys will opt for a color they most think matches the fishes view. I dont really think the fish sees much more than a shadow cast by the boat as it passes over them, and probably not even that in deeper water where less light penetrates, but these gents are staunchly set and refuse to be swayed in their theory. Market to this crowd a fully rigged bass boat with standard shiny metal flake paint on the top side, and a full sky mural on the bottom complete with clouds and maybe even a few lazy w's for birds. It doesn't matter whether it actually works or not. If they think it works, the fisherman will have more confidence in his equipment and in his ability to catch fish. He's been sold a helpful product either way. There could be several options in this product line. Perhaps you fish alot of dead standing timber, choose the bottom that looks like a gigantic log floating by. maybe a huge clump of some kind of water dwelling grass, moss, lilly pads, etc. Whatever vegetation is most prevelant in your area. Again, does it make a difference to the fish? Nah. It's the confidence I'm selling.
-- hard-scrabble, Jan 30 2003

Color Changing Car http://www.halfbake...or_20Changing_20Car
[RMNixon, Oct 17 2004]

OK, so the boat hull is blue. Or wait, is it morning blue or is it evening blue? Or is it a sunny blue or a cool rainy, slate-gray day. You mention clouds and a few birds, but what if it's a still, clear day? Do the fish get nervous if the birds shapes appear at all like eagles, ospreys or kingfishers?

"It doesn't matter whether it actually works or not." I'm inclined to agree with that opinion. Which is one of the reasons I don't really enjoy fishing for bass from a boat unless there's a lot of cold beer involved. Now, fly-fishing for trout, that's an entirely different matter.
-- jurist, Jan 30 2003


<diver> You can’t see the color of the underside unless you are very close and you don’t have to go that far down (condition dependent) to not see the boat at all. </diver>

Yeah, you’d sell more boats that way. (+)

<sprays Dr. Juice Scent on new Mepps and starts rambling something about the big one>
-- Shz, Jan 30 2003


The fish have this one baked. It is called counter-shading. Many fish have dark backs and light bellies, rendering them difficult to see from either above or below. Other fish in the twilight zone have photophores (bioluminescent cells) on their bellies which can match the light coming from above and make them almost invisible from below. This would work better for your boat as even a white painted hull is going to show up as a dark shadow against the brightness of the sky. Also the fish will still register the vibrations of the boat, which is bloody big in comparison with many fish, and so do not actually have to see the boat to know it is there.
-- squeak, Jan 30 2003


(squeak), Considering the counter-shading you mentioned, I'm beginning to wonder if the life-like painted lures one can buy with the darker back and lighter underside are such a good idea? Wouldn't this color scheme only serve to camouflage the lure from the fish? Considering only the visual sense, I tend to think a fish would notice a lure with a sharper contrast to it's backdrop.
-- hard-scrabble, Jan 30 2003


[hard-scrabble], that misses the point. The point of the lure is that it looks sufficently like a prey species to be attractive. It needs to be visible but not too visible. The trick is to have the lure mimic the natural camouflage of the prey species (which the predator expects to see), but not do it so well that the lure isn't spotted at all.

What you want is for the target species to recognise the lure as being just visible, but sufficiently like a tasty morsel to be worth swallowing.
-- 8th of 7, Jan 30 2003


Glass boat?
-- Monkfish, Jan 30 2003


Light emissive coating or illuminated hull?
-- bristolz, Jan 30 2003


Combine boat hull with this idea, mix vigorously, serve <link>
-- RMNixon, Jan 31 2003


/surplus laptop screens, inside zip-lok bags, duct-taped to the bottom of the hull/

Ooohhh... now that_is_nice! Perhaps you could play video of a school of smaller fish frolicking about, more or less "video chumming" for the fisherman. I don't think there are any rules against that *yet*.
-- X2Entendre, Jan 31 2003


an electromagnetic signal that causes fish brains to ignore the boat(ultra\sub sonic?)
-- bulb, Nov 12 2006



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