Why Do Pro Fishermen Wear Polarized Fishing Sunglasses?

Professional sports have been around nearly as long as mankind has known how to walk. One of the defining characteristics of the human race is that of competition, of wanting to perform things better than other people, for whatever reason. These reasons can be personal, such as wanting to feed your ego, but they can also be practical too, such as wanting to have a reason to get better doing things you enjoy. It should come as no surprise that we humans have managed to sport-ify just about everything you can think of. We have many contemporary sports, such as Basketball and Baseball, however I’d like to spend some time in this article talking about professional bass fishermen, and the tools that they use to get the job done.

It can be said that a man is only as good as the tools he uses. This isn’t a completely true statement; however there is a lot of truth to be taken from this statement. Tools don’t define how good you can be at something, and good tools will never be the only reason you’re able to beat others in a competition, but when your skill level is close to the person you’re competing with, having proper tools in sports like professional bass fishing can make all the difference, even if it’s only sight.

Of course fishermen have a ton of tools at their disposal at any possible moment while they’re fishing, which can include things like a boat that’s built in a specific way intended for long-term fishing trips, fishing lights, maps, bait tanks, and even multiple rods to fit any given situation. However, I want to talk about something that is a little more under-represented here, and that would be the humble pair of sunglasses. Namely, I’m talking about a good pair of polarized fishing sunglasses and which ones do the pros prefer.

I’d essentially consider a pair of polarized fishing sunglasses essential to any trip you could take to go fishing, or for that matter even any time you’re going to be near a large body of water. The main reason for this is due to how polarized lenses work. These special lenses have a coating that causes the light entering the lenses to scatter, which is critical for when you spend a lot of time looking at a body of water which is reflecting the sun at whatever angle you happen to catch it at in the day.

Basically, if you don’t wear good eyewear on your fishing trips, you should expect to deal with some damage to your eyes over time. It may not be noticeable right away, but studies have shown that neglecting your eyes like this for long enough can lead to vision loss, or even total blindness in more extreme cases.

But there’s nothing to worry about here if you’re properly prepared for everything ahead! If you’re just getting started with putting together your fishing supplies, I’d strongly recommend a pair of either Green Mirror sunglasses, Blue Mirror Sunglasses for bright sun days and Red Mirror or Amber/Brown fishing sunglasses for cloudy or low light days.

And even if you’re a beginner, you should prepare to fish as if you were a bass fishing pro, because why not? If you have all the tools you need when you start, then you’ve got absolutely nothing to blame but yourself when things go wrong, which is instrumental when it comes to learning from your mistakes. Obviously you don’t need to start off with every single item that a professional fisherman such as Rick Clunn or Kevin VanDam would use, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to start with the bare essentials. Fisk Outdoor Gear makes and excellent pair of glasses at an entry level price point!

So it might not surprise you to learn that if you decided to wear a pair of amber fishing glasses for example, you would have a much easier time seeing fish deeper in the water than you would if you didn’t wear glasses at all. Even if you decided to wear regular sunglasses instead, you’d perform much better with the specialized fishing glasses, as sunglasses make everything too dark to see in anything less but the most blindingly bright conditions. Amber, green mirror and blue mirror fishing sunglasses have a distinctly professional look to them to, you might even find yourself commanding more respect from others because of how you look with them on.

You can start with either color, although I’d recommend a neutral grey pair as a go to all condition pair of sunglasses or red or amber lens sunglasses to people who aren’t sure. These are extremely versatile colors to work with, as they provide excellent contrast with most waters you’ll want to consider fishing in for yourself. Blue lenses are the best color to consider if you want to block out the most glare possible and block the glare from the water, and they still offer a good amount of visibility.  I’d recommend you head to a local fishing shop and try on a pair of both for yourself and see which one you like more.

Aside from the sunglasses, the rest of your apparel is mostly up to you, as the fish aren’t really going to care what you’re wearing. Obviously you should wear clothes that are good for spending long amounts of time outside, like a Fisk Gear performance fishing shirt, and definitely make sure to apply sunscreen to yourself before going out as well.

It’s hard to know exactly what some pros are doing when it comes to how they are able to find success. Many of them keep their secrets well-guarded. However, if you take a look at pretty much any bass fishing professional, they’re pretty much all wearing these kinds of sunglasses, and given how important being able to see is, I feel like it’s fair to assume that they get a lot of value out of good tools such as these.