Fishing goggles: how to protect your eyesight

Among magazine articles and Internet publications there is a lot of interesting and useful information about the choice of various equipment and accessories for fishing. And about choosing the right polarizing glasses is also written enough, but here I will try to add my “nickel” to the general piggy bank of useful knowledge, after all, any little experience is useful and may be useful to someone.

Glasses with polarization can be of different purposes

Índice

¿Cómo elegir?

Up to 2000-s I did not think about the necessity of any glasses on fishing, and I just did not like glasses from the sun. And I learned about the usefulness of polarizing glasses in fishing from some magazine article, I thought about it, but I was rather cool and skeptical about this information. But the fact that the faces of famous athletes and experts in the field of fishing and in particular spinning more and more often began to appear on the pages of various publications in such glasses, and on the Internet was the same picture, all this confirmed that it is probably worth to be concerned about buying such accessories. Using the recommendations of the already existing at that time methodicals, I went to choose my first polarizing (what a tricky word) glasses. The set of rules of their choice has not changed since then, in general, and it is reduced to four basic postulates:

1. choose glasses specifically for fishing;

2. choose glasses from a well-known manufacturer and, if possible, check their authenticity;

3. choose a suitable color of lenses (filters) and check their work;

4. try on the selected goggles.

Why exactly for fishing? Simply because the market is full of such products, and glasses with polarization can be of different purposes. At any bazaar you can inexpensively buy all sorts of beautiful glasses with a sticker Polarized.

Many of these crafts even have polarization, and it seems that this is what you need, and cheap. But any thing serves exactly as long as it is paid for. There is no magic in technology. Most often it will be general-purpose glasses, and if they have any relation to the real manufacturer, then in their passport or at least on one of the stickers you can find a note like “Glare Protection”, i.e. for the beach. In other words, despite the presence of polarizing filters (if you are lucky), these glasses will have a minimum of everything, and this is low resistance to shocks and abrasive impact, and a small margin of overall strength of the design as a whole and its individual elements. In essence, such things are disposable products based on the cheapest and available for production of materials with a limited period of validity, in essence created for a single trip to the beach or on vacation to the resort, followed by their disposal there, painlessly enough for any purse. That’s why decent fishing equipment stores do not sell such glasses, but offer glasses designed specifically for fishing, that is, from durable materials, with elaborate protection from various natural factors, and all this from proven worthy manufacturers. Of course, the price for them will be somewhat higher, and in the case of expensive brands seriously higher, but the quality of their filters and durability is also incomparable with disposable products.

Glasses for fishing should be resistant to abrasive impact

What does the color of the lenses say?

As for the choice of color of polarizing filters in fishing glasses, the most popular for freshwater fishing can be called brown and gray shades, they are really the most universal, the other color solutions are created more for the range and under our mood, but in general they are also not inferior to gray and brown in their polarizing properties, creating except that a slightly different color picture of the world around. But for catching in cloudy weather or early morning and evening, in general, with a lack of light, you will need one more glasses – with filters of yellowish shades, in the bright sun they will have to be replaced by darker, let’s say, basic, about which we wrote above. So ideally, at the very least, an angler needs two goggles.

Ideally, an angler needs different glasses for different weather conditions

How to check polarizing glasses in the store, today probably do not need to explain for a long time. Usually at the counter there are special signs with text and different pictures, which become clearly distinguishable through the filters of the right glasses. Alternatively, you can simply stack two glasses across, and if the image is blackened, then everything is fine.

How do you know if the glasses will be comfortable?

Trying on glasses is also an important point. Sometimes buying glasses without trying them on over the Internet, even if you managed to save a decent amount of money, may not please you at all. Glasses hang all day long on our nose during fishing, and our mood will depend on how comfortable they will hang there and how comfortable they will cover our head with their shackles. After all, uncomfortable glasses except for irritation will not bring anything to our life on fishing, and we go there for a good mood, so you should not spoil it with an ill-considered choice. It is better to try on glasses in the store or your friends before buying them, and only then buy or order them online. You can understand not only how comfortable different glasses will sit on you, but also how much they will mist up when fishing. To do this, you should look closely to see if there is a gap between the frame and your face from below and above. A frame that fits against your cheeks and eyebrows will most likely cause these goggles to fog up while fishing and especially while moving around, and then it’s better to look for goggles with better ventilation. There is nothing particularly difficult in choosing polarizing glasses, perhaps, except for checking the authenticity of the manufacturer, but here you should rely more on the good reputation of a trusted store.

You should look closely to see if there is a gap between the frame and your face at the bottom and top of the frame

Personal choice

Next, I will try a little to guide those choosing their own fishing polarizing goggles to some proven manufacturers from my own experience. My first glasses for fishing with polarizing filters are still alive and quite usable, although they have already worn out a lot on top, and their temples are a little flared wide, but the company logo is still intact. But, as I wrote above, these are real quality glasses, not disposable. Although they are not particularly expensive, like all Flying Fisherman products.

Quality and inexpensive glasses

Of course, such a model is no longer produced, but the firm’s catalog is full of any options for every taste and color. Today, even the brand logo of Flying Fisherman has changed, but the quality remains, as before, at a high level, given the main focus on the American market, conquering which the company first of all created reliable glasses for sea fishing, where the requirements for such things are especially high. These goggles were repeatedly tested by leading American sportsmen and experts in the field of fishing. Later in the range of the company appeared also goggles for freshwater spinning and fly fishing. The ACUTINT filters developed by Flying Fisherman are traditionally placed in their goggles between layers of especially durable special plastic-polycarbonate RHINO, or between special glasses, depending on the variant and model of goggles.

I used glasses of this brand with different colored filters and still use them with pleasure, their glasses are always light and durable, on what only fishing trips and in what lands they have not been on my nose, never failing me. And their yellow-brown filters for cloudy weather and twilight I generally consider the best, despite the not top price tag, the quality of these glasses is excellent.

The next of the inexpensive polarizing goggles I had were eyepieces from Extreme Fishing. They look rather modest, but are very well executed goggles, for very reasonable money. The company claims multi-layer protection of the filters in their glasses on both sides, with a total thickness of 0.75mm polycarbonate. Given the very modest price tag, I have these goggles for traveling along the most infectious forest rivers, where goggles can be broken or simply lost by getting caught on branches. But strangely enough, no matter how many times they were knocked off my head by branches, no matter where they fell, the glasses are alive and well for several seasons and do not ask for any repair.

The glasses have been alive and well for several seasons and have not asked for any repairs

If we talk about the possibility of damaging glasses and breaking their filtered lenses, it is worth mentioning especially durable glasses, which can be useful for those who love fishing trips deep into the taiga wilds or who combine fishing with riding on all kinds of open ATVs and other all-terrain vehicles or even with hunting. I have one such super-durable glasses from the American brand ESS, model ROLLBAR. They are designed especially for shooters and hunters, their durable lenses made of special polycarbonate with increased thickness of 2.2mm can withstand even shotgun blows. But special durability is not all, this model is equipped with a set of replaceable filters, among which there are polarizing, all of them are stored in a branded hard case together with the glasses. It does not take much time to replace them, so you can use transparent or light yellow ones to go through the forest on an ATV or in special bright sun-protective ones on a snow field on a sunny day on a snowmobile, and on arrival at the fishing spot change them for polarizing dark gray ones. You can also buy separately some other interesting filters for these glasses. This is an optimal choice for fans of combining extreme sports and fishing.

The model is completed with a set of interchangeable filters

Another of the glasses of the middle price range, I like the products of a very well-known among fishermen Finnish company Vision. Based on information from their official website, they order glasses in France. The level is really high, the package is solid, i.e. a case, a strap, a soft case, a cloth for wiping lenses and a passport, everything as it should be. I am mainly interested in their glasses in winter spinning. With Bronze Dark Gold polycarbonate lenses they are very comfortable, especially on sunny days, when there is a lot of glare from snow and ice, cutting the eyes.

Sooner or later we start to appreciate quality

And a little bit about the top goggles for fishing. There are quite a few famous brands, but Costa Del Mar products are especially respected in the fishing environment. And it is deserved, because their glasses are created for the needs of fishermen and for the most different fishing conditions.

Sooner or later we all come to good tackle, equipment, clothing and other items and accessories accompanying fishing. In other words, we grow up, gain experience and replenish our wisdom, especially as we begin to appreciate our health and comfort more with age. Let me tell you right away, if you buy yourself very inexpensive glasses for the price of a decent spinning rod or reel, then, putting them on, you are unlikely to feel any special delight from the picture seen through their filters. Glasses as glasses, if you paint over the brand label, you won’t distinguish them from cheap Chinese ones from the alley. Here everything is the same as with spinning rods, because today Chinese rods also look decent against the background of more technological Japanese ones, again, if the labels are painted over.

Polarizing glasses will help to save your eyesight

The whole matter, as usual, in any things, lies in small things imperceptible to the simple eye – materials and quality of assembly, plus a wealth of experience in the production of glasses. In general, such monsters as Costa (Costa Del Mar) or Ray-Ban have chosen a high bar for themselves, which should be firmly held, following certain principles. While it’s probably more profitable to sell cheap sunglasses by weight, the principles are different for everyone. As a consumer, I ultimately care about what I get for my money. In the case of goggles from the companies I listed, including Costa, I have always received high quality things that have pleased me and served me for a long time, and sometimes even very long, without causing any problems on fishing.

At the end of my opus I can only recommend to all anglers, if they have not yet penetrated it, to get at least one glasses with polarizing filters. This will help to protect your eyesight from all kinds of parasitic glare, given that we sometimes spend all day fishing. And most importantly, good goggles will help in observing the underwater world, revealing what is inaccessible to ordinary eyes without filters. I can say for sure that I owe at least one quarter, and maybe even one third of my catches to the presence of good polarizing glasses on my head while fishing. Thanks to them, I often managed to notice the cautious outputs of various fish behind my baits. And without “polarics” I would not have seen them and would have gone further with nothing, and so I was able to change the bait or wiring, to catch stubborn and cautious predators. So without my favorite polarizing glasses I never go fishing, rather I will forget some box of baits than glasses, they are in my “table of ranks” spinningist on their importance go right after the rod and reel.

Autor: Bob Nudd es un experto pescador con más de 20 años de experiencia y ganador de numerosos concursos.