Kayak color choice

Just wondering if a solid bright colors of kayak scares fish.

I wouldn't worry about kayak color scaring fish. Very rarely would it make a difference. Being quiet is more important. You could be in a camo kayak, but if you are banging around on it, that would be a bigger factor.

It's more important to be highly visible on the water; especially in lower light/low light conditions.

I am going to paint the bottom of mine to look like the sky.... so the fish think they are seeing the sky.

Or maybe like a shark... see how they react to that.

A saw a thread on this subject 15 years ago where some guys came up with the idea to put bait/bait ball stickers on the bottom of their kayaks for offshore fishing. Like mentioned by CC earlier, its much more important to make as little noise as possible. Sightfishing for bonefish on very shallow flats I noticed that they could detect my presence from over 60 yards away if I wasn't careful. As you paddle forward and slow down or stop to drift in, when approaching fish, your kayak sends a small bow wave ahead of you. On glassy water it is much more noticeable but the second it (ripple) reaches any fish, they know you are there. When possible, its much better to approach your spot from the down wind or down current side, or drift in if you have to approach from upwind or up current.

I have red, sand, olive, camo, and a bright mango colored kayaks. I have caught good from all of them but my personal best have all come while fishing from my mango kayak. I don't think color matters.

Off Topic-I believe in being silent but I have also caught fish right after making a lot of racket. My PB came right after I caught a decent fish and it flopped in my kayak before I could release it. Ever hear somebody beating on their boats deck to attract fish. How about holding a buzzbait out your cars window while driving to make it loose and noisy. Fish can hear in a couple different ways but we don't know exactly what and how it affects them. Like I said I believe in being silent but I don't make it a focus when approaching an area. That clunk I made while setting my paddle down could be what caused that fish to perk up and see my bait.

If noises scared fish, there wouldn't be popping corks.

IslandJim

Go with a bright color. There's a reason the powerboaters refer to kayaks as "speed bumps"..............