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| Those bulges are giant mature tarpon! |
I may have a beard like the ZZ-Top boys but I definitely
don’t like cheap sunglasses!
Anyone who has spent enough time on the water knows how
important it is to see. Whether it is
sight fishing or cutting glare while you’re on the oars or running a power
boat, having clear and sharp vision is paramount. The problem I see is that many anglers treat
sunglasses as a side thought, when in reality they can be as important as your
rod, reel or line on any given day.
I
am not even going to bother talking you into polarized lenses of some sort,
because if you fish you must have them!
What I am going to tell you is that
Smith Optics has, in my opinion, the
superior fishing optics on the market.
Their lenses, particularly the techlite glass lenses are the sharpest,
best performing sunglasses I have ever worn.
To preface that statement; I have tried all of the top brands over the
years in search of the supreme lens. You
can ask my fishing buddies how many sunglasses I carried in my boat, but I am
pretty sure it was up to 5 pairs at one time…
I have tried
Costa Del Mar,
Maui Jim,
Oakley, and
Kaenon to name
a few. When I saw what Smith had to
offer as they expanded their lineup I knew I had to try them. Let me say this, after trying some Smiths I
sold everything else… I will try to
explain why in the next few paragraphs.
It began on the flats of the Florida Keys targeting
migrating adult tarpon as they work their way down the keys and into the Everglades backcountry to spawn. This was my first big tarpon experience and I
was geared up. No kidding, I brought 4
pairs of sunglasses on that trip. 3 were
Costa del Mars (blue mirror, green mirror, and sunrise 580 lenses) and 1 pair
were my new Smith’s in polarchromic amber.
Being able to sight the tarpon at distance, especially the migrating
fish, is key to any success and after running through my Costas with some
difficulty I grabbed my Smith’s. I had
bought the Smiths since wanted a glass lens in a lowlight option as Costa had
discontinued the sunrise in glass. It
had been blazing hot and sunny so I had been sticking with the darker lenses,
but decided I had to try the Smith’s.
They were unbelievable! I could
see fish 20, 30, 50 feet further than with any of the Costa lenses. I could much more easily make out which
direction the fish were facing and heading.
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| These are the kind of conditions that Smith Optics show their worth. |
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| When the tarpon reach this point it is too late! |
I was sold.
The contrast on the Smith polarchromic lenses was astounding
in any light condition. That is where
the polarchromic technology really shines.
The lenses have the ability to change their shading based on light
conditions. I won’t bore you with the
technical details, which are very cool, but if you want to learn more, browse
around smithoptics.com in their tech section.
Since that trip, I have been putting my Smiths through the
paces of my various fishing exploits:
high mountain lakes, winter and summer steelheading, bassin’ and trout
bumming all over. They have never let me
down, and have certainly accounted for many fish for me. I have since ditched contacts and went to
Smith Rx, which I was leery about since most polarized Rx lenses are a
compromise on performance or do not come in glass. I will tell you that there is no compromise
with Smith’s Rx lenses! So if you are in
the market for great Rx polarized sunglasses, look no further. Andrew here at the shop loves to tell the
story about when I flipped my pontoon on a small waterfall in a local river and
lost my Smith Rx shades and was nearly in tears, which is almost entirely
correct. I was so distraught I went back
the next day and snorkeled the freezing river in search of my lost love… Well, I didn’t get lucky, but let me say that
I ordered a new pair the next day and included a set of sunglass retainers…
lesson learned the hard way.
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| Smith's Polarchromic Technology |
Smith has quite a few lens options available (check out
George Cook’s breakdown on Smith lenses
here),
but in my experience, the only ones I would consider for fishing optics are the
techlite glass lenses in brown, copper mirror, ignitor or low light
ignitor. Glass lenses are unbeatable
when it comes to clarity and scratch resistance, and the saying around the shop
is “once you go glass, you never go back to plastic”. If you were looking for a lens just for eye
comfort in very sunny locales and not too worried about sight fishing the brown
or copper mirror would be a great choice.
I find the brown lenses a little too dark for sight fishing or lower
light conditions. The better all-round
options are the polarchromic copper mirror or ignitor.
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| Polarchromic lenses are a huge asset here, nothing but glare and shadows. |
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| Stop in and try some on! |
I recently invested in a pair with ignitor Rx techlite glass
lens. I wanted a slightly darker lens
than the amber for sunny days and driving, and these fit the bill. The great thing about the ignitor lens is
that it allows enough light through to wear in all but the lowest light
conditions. The color of this lens really
gives great contrast and makes things pop!
I have worn them from dawn till dusk in all light conditions and they
have been awesome. The ignitor lenses
have a lightly mirrored finish that
will also help in reflecting glare
away from your eyes. For true low light
conditions (dawn, dusk, overcast) and for serious sight fishing, the glass low
light ignitor is the boss. After fishing
with these you will wonder how you ever fished without them. This color polarized lens allows the most
light to enter your eyes while still cutting the glare and refraction. This is why they are so good for sight
fishing and overcast conditions and are now my go to lenses for the PNW. Check out Greg’s review of these lenses
here.
The bottom line is this; you need to consider your sunglass
optics as part of your gear. They should
be part of your daily planning in as much as your rods, reels, lines and flies
are. You will probably also like to have
2 or more pairs to adequately cover the variety of fishing conditions you will
encounter. Just as fly rods, there isn’t
one model that fits all conditions. At
the very least you should have a pair with a medium dark lens (brown, copper
mirror, ignitor) and the low light ignitor for dawn, dusk, sight fishing and
overcast conditions.
When you wake up in the morning and the light is hurt your head
The first thing you do when you get up out of bed
Is hit that water a-runnin' and try to beat the masses
And go get yourself some SMITH sunglasses
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
Do your self, your eyes, and your
fishing a favor and ditch the cheap sunglasses (Sorry ZZ-Top). Grab some Smith’s (with a retainer) and you
will never look back!
The Bearded Pescador
Ryan Van Duzor
Gorge Fly Shop | Product Specialist
541.386.6977
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