Is this true.

[fish face]

I have this book that states that fish can only see up, they can not see down. Is this true?

 

[ChezJfrey]

I don't know for sure, but I will say that when steelhead or trout fishing, you will do much better if you can keep your stuff about 6 inches to a foot above them. Sure, I've had a few takes where the gear dredged into the rocks and a fish grabbed it, but my guess is they probably spotted/tracked it before it hit the bottom and when it dropped to the bottom, they angle down to snatch it.

That said, especially for beginners, it's usually more important to get low enough, rather than keep from getting too low.

 

[FishFinger]

No it not a true statement, fish can indeed see in a downward position. Fish such as Salmonoids in a static posture have a wider range of vision than that of the human eye. They also have sighting grooves allowing binocular vision or depth perception looking forward.

There are two blind spots in a fishes vision; again in a static position. Those two areas are directly in front of their mouths and directly below their body. Just because these blind spots exist doesn't imply they can't look down.

Take the human eye for example, in a static forward gaze blinds spots occur in front of the mouth, above and below the head. Without head movement it could be theorized humans can't see up, down, or anything beyond a 180 degree field of vision. Of course a sight movement of the head brings those blind spots into view.

In the case of resident fish : ie trout in a lake or stream; the majority of their food source are aquatic nymphs who's early life exists in the fishes blind spot below them. Considering these insects comprise 90% of a trouts diet, they can and do successfully target food stuffs below them.

 

[hookbait]

As FishFinger says, definitely not a true statement. If you are interested in further investigation check out What Fish See, by Colin Kageyama. That a link off the Washington County Library web page.

 

[Mad dog]

Very true.....for halibut! But, dogs can look up!!!

 

[hydropsyche]

That's just what dry fly purists tell them selves in the middle of winter when they are skating or waking flies for steelhead. It helps them feel a little less insane.