Part 3: Polarising sunglasses
This month, Don Stazicker discusses a piece of kit that will catch you more fish, protect your eyesight and that he would never fish without
YOU DON’T need a reel or even a fly line to catch fish — Tenkara anglers have been proving that for generations. You don’t necessarily need a rod either — Lee Wulff famously cast a line with his bare hands and landed salmon successfully. A fly? Well, it is called fly-fishing.
For me, there’s only one item that crosses the line from useful to indispensable: a pair of polarised sunglasses. Without them, I won’t fish.
The unfair advantage
Let’s start with the obvious: polarised sunglasses help you catch more fish. Not by magic, not by luck, but by letting you see what others can’t.
They cut through glare and open a window into the water. Fish that were invisible become shapes, shadows, movement. Currents reveal themselves. Subtle seams and structure, those fish-holding spots, suddenly stand out.
The view of a pool with polaroids on. The elimination of surface glare makes the riverbed and fish more visible.
I was standing on the bank of a clear limestone river, watching an angler nymph a run. He was being filmed for the pilot episode of what has since become one of Britain's most successful angling series.
Beside me stood the angling advisor for the series, a fly-fisher of immense and varied experience.
“I think he’s missed a couple,” he muttered.
“He’s missed seven,” I replied.
“How do you know that?”
“Try my glasses.”
He slipped them on, stared for a few seconds… and then simply said, “Wow.”
The part people ignore: safety
Catching more fish is a great reason to wear polarised glasses. But it’s not the most important one. Far more important is protecting your eyes.
The moment of danger — a fly can travel past your head and face so fast that it can cause serious damage.
That pair of glasses didn’t just save my fishing trip; they saved my career
If you’ve ever powered a cast forward without letting the line fully straighten behind you, you’ll know the sound: a sharp “crack”. That’s your fly breaking the sound barrier. Literally. We’re talking 767 miles per hour. Over 1,100 feet per second. Roughly the muzzle velocity of an air rifle.
Now think about that for a moment.
In many sports, objects move away from your face. In fly-fishing, the hook comes towards it. Why would you not protect your eyes? I worked as a dental surgeon, a job that’s particularly hard to do with only one eye. I learned just how quickly things can go wrong when a Muddler Minnow buried itself into the lens of my glasses, directly in line with my pupil. The lens took the impact. My eye didn’t. That pair of glasses didn’t just save my fishing trip; they saved my career.
The invisible threat: ultraviolet light
But hooks aren’t the only danger. Spend long days staring at water and you’re exposed to a double dose of ultraviolet (UV) radiation: directly from the sun and reflected off the water’s surface. The short-term effects can be brutal. Photokeratitis — essentially sunburn of the cornea — is intensely painful. Mountaineers know it as “snow blindness”.
How polarising lenses work
The long-term risks are even more serious: Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light and high levels of visible light increase your risk of developing cataracts and macular degeneration. It can also cause premature ageing of the retina or cause cancer of the surface of the eye. If you’ve been around fly-fishers long enough, you’ll know how common cataract surgery becomes later in life. That’s no coincidence.
The problem is that not all sunglasses block ultraviolet light. Dark lenses reduce light intensity and make you feel comfortable, but unless they block UV, they can actually make things worse. By dimming visible light, they cause your pupils to dilate, allowing more harmful UV into your eyes.
So, if you’re going to wear sunglasses, and you absolutely should, make sure they meet recognised safety standards. Anything less isn’t just ineffective; it’s risky.
A recent survey of sunglasses purchased from a variety of online retailers showed that one pair in three failed safety tests, including blocking UV light, making them illegal for sale in the UK
Safety standards
Look for sunglasses with one or more of the following marks — sunglasses that meet these standards will protect your eyes against UV light:
- CE (Europe)
- UKCA (UK)
- ANSI Z80.3 (USA)
- AS/NZS 1067.1 (Australia/New Zealand)
- ISO 12312 (International)
- UV400 means a lens will block 100 per cent of UV light up to 400nm in wavelength.
- CE sunglasses will also have a category rating from 0 to 4. This tells you how dark the lenses are. It does not relate to UV light protection.
A recent survey of sunglasses purchased from a variety of online retailers showed that one pair in three failed safety tests, including blocking UV light, making them illegal for sale in the UK.
Cutting through the glare
What exactly makes polarised sunglasses unique? When light reflects off a flat surface, like water, it becomes polarised in a horizontal plane. That horizontal light creates blinding glare that hides everything beneath it.
Polarising lenses contain vertically aligned molecules that block this horizontal glare while allowing useful light through. The effect is transformative. Colours become richer. Contrast improves. Depth perception sharpens. And, most importantly, you can see into the water. That means safer wading. It means seeing currents and structure. And above all, it means spotting fish.
As G.E.M. Skues famously said: “A fish seen is a fish nearly caught.”
It’s hard to argue with that. Of course, not every angler embraces technology. Back in 1967, legendary nymph angler Oliver Kite acknowledged the benefits of polarising lenses but dismissed them as unnecessary for a truly skilled angler.
“Indeed, if I couldn’t catch trout without wearing these things now, I should not consider myself competent to discuss practical nymph fishing,” he said.
It’s a nice idea, that pure skill should be enough. And it's easy to say when you’ve done much of your fishing on the relatively shallow and crystal-clear Hampshire Avon. Personally, I'll take all the help that I can get.
Dark lenses are good until light levels fall.
Choosing the right lenses
Once you accept that polarised sunglasses are essential, the question is: which to choose?
Materials: Glass lenses offer exceptional clarity and scratch resistance but they’re heavier and more expensive. Plastic lenses are lighter and more impact-resistant, but they scratch more easily. If you’re throwing heavy flies such as coneheads and weighted streamers, then impact-resistant polycarbonate lenses provide extra protection. Excellent lenses can be made from both materials, so it’s less about the material and more about the lens colour, coatings and overall build quality.
Fit and coverage: Bigger is better. Large, wrap-around frames protect against stray hooks and block peripheral light. A large frame that fits close to your face maximises your peripheral vision. Frames that fit too close to your face may cause the lenses to steam up — something to consider if you’re doing long walk-ins or fishing in very hot conditions.
Frame fit matters — too tight and you’ll end up with headaches; too loose and you’ll spend the whole day pushing them back into place. The ideal? Secure, comfortable and aligned so the optical centre of the lens sits directly in front of your pupil.
There is no such thing as a clear polarising lens; the tint in the lens is what blocks the polarised light
Lens colours
Different conditions call for different lenses:
Bright, harsh sunlight: Grey lenses with mirror coatings reduce intensity while preserving natural colour. They are the lens of choice for saltwater fishing.
General freshwater fishing: Copper, amber or tan lenses boost contrast and help you pick out detail. They can be too dark when light levels fall.
Low-light or overcast days: Yellow lenses brighten the scene and enhance contrast, though they can strain your eyes in strong sun. Violet or rose-coloured lenses are an alternative, but they don’t pass quite as much light as yellow.
Very low light (dawn/dusk): Clear protective lenses. There is no such thing as a clear polarising lens; the tint in the lens is what blocks the polarised light. This isn’t a problem because polarisation is less relevant when light is reflected at low angles during dawn and dusk.
Other features
Some lenses are photochromatic: they react to ultraviolet light, becoming darker as light intensity increases. There are some that change colour, from yellow to grey or amber.
Spectral control allows the lens to block certain wavelengths. Blue light scatters in the eye, causing eyestrain and blurring. Lenses that block this blue light make everything look clearer and sharper. Some lenses also block yellow light — this enhances contrast and definition. It’s a complex subject, but most manufacturers’ websites explain the benefits of their proprietary technology.
Mirrored lenses reduce the amount of light striking the eye by reflecting it before it passes through the lens. They transmit slightly less light than their unmirrored counterparts, making them less suitable for low light. Reflections from mirrored lenses may spook fish. Remember, the colour of the mirrored finish isn't representative of the lens’ true colour.
There’s no single perfect lens, but there is a perfect lens for each situation
If you need vision correction there are several options. Some anglers fit polarised glasses over regular spectacles. This is a quick, cost-effective solution but can be rather bulky and may reduce your peripheral vision.
Prescription polarised glasses can be excellent, but some specialist tints are unavailable as prescription lenses. They can be expensive too, especially if your prescription changes regularly. A word of caution: if your prescription incorporates bifocal or varifocal lenses, these can make it hard to see where you’re putting your feet, which may cause problems when wading.
Use stick-on magnifiers or a lens with bifocal inserts for close work. Avoid clear bifocals — they create a blazing hotspot of light that’s really distracting.
Each solution has trade-offs in cost, convenience and optical quality, but there’s always a workable set-up.
I favour simplicity: standard polarised glasses paired with a flip-down cap magnifier. It’s a lightweight, practical, uncluttered solution.
Like many, Don favours a flip-down magnifier for ease of use. Note how he places this back from the edge of his cap’s peak to stop the sun from lighting up the plastic bracket (he covers the bracket with black insulating tape for further measure). This closer alignment with your eyes also gives you a better sterio image.
Look after them, and they’ll look after you
Good polarised sunglasses aren’t cheap, so treat them accordingly. Keep them in their case when not in use. Avoid resting them lens-down. It’s best to clean them with a microfibre cloth. A clean cotton T-shirt or handkerchief will also work. Dried watermarks or greasy smudges on the lenses are best removed by washing with water and mild hand soap. Never use tissues or paper towels to clean sunglasses; they are too abrasive.
Always use a retaining cord. You might think you won’t drop them, but rivers have a way of proving people wrong. When you’re wading, wearing your glasses on top of your baseball cap is about as sensible as balancing your wallet on your head.
Using them like a pro
There are things you can do to make your sunglasses more effective. Start by using the optimal lens colour for the prevailing conditions. Also wear a hat with a brim that has a dark underside to block stray light. Adjust your viewing angle too — tilting your head slightly to the left or right can reduce glare further.
A dark buff reduces reflections from your face, meaning less glare and less harm to your skin.
Landon Mayer, a guide based in Colorado who is renowned for his fish spotting abilities, wears a dark Buff neck snood to reduce reflections from his face. This is similar to how American footballers blacken their cheekbones to reduce reflections from stadium lighting. It definitely helps to make your view clearer and shields your face from ultraviolet light.
According to some, taking off your polarised sunglasses briefly, at regular times during the day, will result in greater benefits when you put them back on. I’m not sure that any science backs this up, but try it. Just don’t cast while you’re not wearing them.
The Brewster angle
Polarising lenses reduce glare from water most effectively when the water is viewed at 37 degrees from the horizontal. This is known as the Brewster angle (See diagram above). Viewing water at a lower angle, parallel to the surface, reduces the effectiveness of polarising lenses. Glare is at a minimum when the viewing angle is perpendicular to the water, so polarising lenses are not required when you’re directly over the fish.
The Brewster angle is why saltwater skiffs have a high platform for the guide. It positions the guide’s eyes and polarised sunglasses so that the 37-degree angle is achieved far away from the boat, hopefully at a distance where approaching fish will not be spooked. Gain elevation, when possible, for a better angle of view into the water. The downside of doing so is that it can make you more visible to the fish.
A glide seen from a low angle without polaroids.
A glide seen from a low angle with polaroids. Not much better.
A glide seen at 37 degrees from the horizontal without polaroids.
A glide seen at 37 degrees from the horizontal with polaroids.
The final word
Polarised sunglasses perform critical tasks: They protect your eyes from immediate danger. They reduce the risks of long-term eye damage. They give you an edge — there’s no downside to spotting fish. And they make you look cool.
So yes, you can fish without a reel. Even without a rod, if you’re feeling adventurous. But without polarised sunglasses, shades, sunspecs or sunnies? You’re missing the point, and the fish.
PHOTOGRAPHY: DON STAZICKER ILLUSTRATIONS: SARAH PHILLIPS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Don Stazicker
Don Stazicker is the president of Cressbrook and Litton Flyfishers in Derbyshire, England, and co-author — with Peter Hayes — of The Flies that Trout Prefer. Why they work and how to tie and fish them.
