Polarized Fishing Glasses

What Polarized Fishing Glasses Do

Using polarized sunglasses for fishing will help you see more clearly in bright light conditions, dim light conditions (if you're using photochromic lenses), in shallow water, and even in deep water. These benefits are due to the increased depth perception and decreased glare they can provide.

As the Technical Gear website states, you'll "see the fish before they see you." You can get polarized lenses in almost any color, with or without mirror coatings, and even interchangeable sets for different lighting conditions.

How They Work

Bright light comes at you horizontally polarized, causing glare and sometimes eyestrain. What the lenses do is break that light up, easing the obnoxious glare. The end result is a clearer view and reduced eyestrain.

The makeup of regular sunglass lenses doesn't enable them to break down the horizontally polarized light, so while the brightness of the sun isn't so unbearable and you may have UV protection, you still get the glare off of the water. That glare can disrupt your vision enough to be unsafe.

Lens Color Guide

If you tend to fish in varying light conditions, opt for a polarized gray or brown lens. These two colors are the most common, and for good reason! They're the most versatile. If you don't want to worry about changing out your lenses throughout the day, go with one of these colors.

According to Technical Gear.com, if you tend to fish in shallow water, you can get away with yellow or copper lenses. Out in the open water where the fish aren't camouflaged by the mud below, you can utilize gray or brown lenses.

Technical Gear suggests photochromic lenses for low light conditions and mirrored polarized lenses for midday fishing. For early morning fishing, you may also want to consider vermilion or rose-colored lenses.

Oakley actually has two types of polarized sunglasses with blue lenses. They offer deep blue for deep water and shallow blue for--you guessed it--shallow water.

Where to Find Yours

• Fly Fish USA has a nice, reasonably priced selection. You can choose from gray or brown lenses. Prices range from $14.99 to $29.99. Styles vary but the things the have in common are: they're lightweight, they're comfortable, and they're perfect for reducing glare in bright light.

• Technical Gear offers polarized sunglasses ideal for fishing from lines like Smith, Costa Del Mar, and Oakley. Prices vary within each line, but there's an ample selection right on this site.

• JRW Fishing has a selection of polarized fishing glasses. They stand behind the phrase, "You get what you pay for," but they've also taken the care to choose the best polarized glasses to offer on their website.

Prescription Glasses

You may think that because you're required to wear prescription glasses, they'll just get in the way. You have two options:

Polarized Prescription Sunglasses

Your optical shop of choice should be able to take your prescription and a frame you pick out to design a pair of polarized fishing glasses. Wear bifocals? That's still not a problem. Polarized prescription lenses are available in single vision and bifocal versions.

Sunglasses That Fit Over Your Regular Glasses

Some polarized sunglasses are designed to fit over your regular glasses. They're a less expensive version for those who want the benefits of polarized lenses without shelling out the cash for a special order pair.

They tend to be lighter than you may think, but they also have a tendency to feel bulky until you get used to the sensation of effectively wearing two pairs of glasses. Once you get over that feeling, you'll be surprised by just how comfortable they are.

Also, there are so many styles of sunglasses that fit over your prescription frames, you don't have to feel like you look old or unstylish. In some cases, it's hard to tell that you aren't wearing regular sunglasses.

Other Options for Polarized Sunglasses

Polarized sunglasses make up such a broad category, but there are some features you may be interested in just because they're going to be used for fishing. Here are a few of them:

• Water-repellent lenses
• Corrosion-resistant frames
• Flexibility (maybe just in the form of spring hinges)

Also, make sure your sunglasses give you 100 percent UV protection. Check the warranty, too. Some sunglasses feature a lifetime warranty.