What colour lights?

[tunaticer]

Ok guys, need your opinions on what colour white lights are
1. easiest to see squid with and
2. what colour attracts the squid more.

I am about to order a 100w LED Floodlight and they come in two different colours for white.
Soft white is the 3500-4000 heat range which is yellowish tinge and cool white is 6500-7000 temp range and blueish tinge. We have all seen the normal yellow type headlights on cars as well as the blue ones that are a harsher and brighter blue type.

Out of all the lights that shine on the water we as a group fish around, which colour is preferred?

My floodlight will be mounted on the top of a furniture trolley with a deep cycle battery at the bottom and a inverter to run the floodlight. I plan to take it to places that do not normally have lights but good amounts of squid habitat.

[ifishcq1]

I think it really depends on water clarity and colour which colour works the best
I have been testing blue, white and green led with heaps of success lately and maybe the ambient lighting might be another influence eg the moon or the deck lights, but they really do work very well for all types of bait stuff as well as squid

cheers

[Horse]

Commercial squid boats use brilliant white while some docks have used yellow lights so as not to attract baitfish etc. I would probably run your cool white which is a bluer light. Natural sunlight ranges from about 5000K to 6500K(overcast) so I would not go below that. UV pigments are poular with Jap Squidders so it seems they can see in those spectrums

[IRMC000]

Jack
Found this - it may be usful for consideration - it's from a Squid site?
"Light has a frequency and each colour a different wavelength the longer the wavelength of the colour the further it penetrates the water. ... The optic nerve in squid is massive in relation to the size of the animal and the cones at the back of the squids retina suggest that it is adapted to work very well in low light conditions. This, I reckon, helps the squid to recognise and locate contrast, when combined with a particular movement the attack response becomes irresistable and thats what we want every time. Sadly something as everyday as the effect of wind on the surface of the water, time of day or cloud cover will change the way the squid see a jig."
http://www.squidfish.net/forums/inde...inter&f=1&t=18

If you want penetration through the water with your light - is the above suggesting the colour with the longer wavelength? If light travels at the same speed then those with a lower frequency would have a longer wavelength - thus better penetration??? Seems a bit counter intuative though??? If I find more I'll post
IRMC000

[IRMC000]

Same site - "... a documentary on Cuttlefish ... showed that they not only see in the normal spectrum of light but also in Ultra Violet which could be reflected differently by different colours and materials."