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SPOTLIGHT ON...<br />
EYEWEAR<br />
making them well-suited for use in low<br />
light and foggy conditions, as well as<br />
being a good choice for sight fishing.<br />
Vermilion/rose lenses are the colour of<br />
choice if you are fishing in the clear and<br />
relatively uniform waters of the saltwater<br />
flats or in deep slow spring creeks,<br />
especially in low-light conditions.<br />
Blue lenses are often the prefered<br />
choice choice for those heading offshore,<br />
while for freshwater and inshore, green<br />
is a great option. A pure green tint is<br />
considered by many to be the ultimate<br />
colour for sight fishing, since it offers<br />
both high contrast and high polarisation.<br />
PRICE POINT<br />
As we mentioned earlier, you’ll find<br />
polarised sunglasses across a wide<br />
range of price points, and, as a rough<br />
generalisation, the cheaper they are, the<br />
lower the quality and performance they<br />
offer.<br />
For anglers where brand loyalty is key,<br />
then many famous tackle names offer<br />
their ‘own’ glasses, often at a reasonable<br />
price.<br />
That said, some of the better-known<br />
sunglasses specialists such as Costa,<br />
Oakley, Smith and so on have spent<br />
years perfecting their offerings and often<br />
use their own proprietary technology in<br />
their lenses and/or frames.<br />
One interesting entry into the market<br />
a few years back was Bajío, which has<br />
been gathering market share quite<br />
quickly thanks to founder Al Perkinson’s<br />
understanding of the sector.<br />
Budget makes do tend to sacrifice<br />
some of the functionality you might<br />
reasonably expect from sunglasses.<br />
You not only need them to help you<br />
see through the glare but you’ll want<br />
them to protect your eyes from harmful<br />
UVA and UVB rays while you are<br />
spending hours in pursuit of that elusive<br />
fish.<br />
FORM AND FUNCTION<br />
Some, like Wiley X, have used their<br />
experience of the military market to<br />
deliver eyewear that not only performs<br />
well but also offers amazing protection<br />
from flying hooks and lures and even<br />
from shotgun pellets!<br />
For the fashion-conscious fisherman<br />
or woman there is a huge range of<br />
styles, frames and colours to choose<br />
from which, added to the lens colour,<br />
make for a bewildering array of options.<br />
Some will choose their glasses based<br />
on fit and lightness of weight as well as<br />
lens colour and polarisation strength.<br />
Wrap-around styles are loved by<br />
many anglers as they block light<br />
from entering their peripheral vision<br />
and offer additional protection from<br />
flying hooks – some brands even offer<br />
removeable facial cavity seals, side shields,<br />
straps, cords and more – for the ultimate<br />
in protection or simply to prevent your<br />
glasses from going astray.<br />
Originally, you could really only<br />
buy glasses with glass lenses but the<br />
introduction of impact-resistant<br />
polycarbonate has made fishing eyewear<br />
lighter in weight and less prone to<br />
damage; many of these declare themselves<br />
scratch-resistant, which is especially<br />
important if you have spent hundreds of<br />
pounds or dollars on a pair.<br />
Equally, keeping them on a cord, chain<br />
or retainer strap is a must to ensure you<br />
don’t lose them, although some brands like<br />
Flying Fisherman are also now offering<br />
glasses that float, especially useful if you<br />
are on a jetty or a boat.<br />
www.tackletradeworld.com<br />
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