Sunglasses

Time to replace the ol’ polarized fishing sunglasses. Any good recommendations out there? What do you like about whatever you use?

I have Maui Jim’s, great for fishing but to heavy for golfing.

I use Costa DelMar sun glasses and they are great for looking in the water. They have many coatings that block harmful rays and increase your ability to see into the water. They also resist scratching and breaking as i have dropped my pair on the cement before. They may cost a little more but they last forever. I think i have had mine for 6 or 7 years. Before i bought them i was buying a new pair every year due to breakage or scratching.

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Costa DelMar sun glasses

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And available over the counter from none other than The Cookie Monster<<<

I bought some Maui Jim’s 3 years ago and have been very happy with them. One of the Sport models, not sure which one. They are very comfortable and in my opinion very light. I think they were about $140 at Cabela’s. Good luck

I have a pair of fit over sunglasses from Cabelas which do the job. However, I am looking for a pair that helps me during sight fish bedding bass. OR what color does that job the best. Thanks for your input.

Costa Del Mar all the way here.

I’m in the same boat as you Snow Dog. When I get the cash I’m going to Dean and springing for a nice pair of Costas. I’ve had the opportunity to fish with buddies Costas, and it’s like X-ray vision. With the glass lenses, they seem to last forever for them as well.

When browsing some of the big box stores, it’s tough figuring out where/what they have, and it seems like they have lots of sunglasses for sale to fisherman that should never be used for fishing. Which is why I was impressed that Dean carried the styles I liked in the amber lenses I wanted. Rather than getting sold on a pair of $75 glasses I don’t really want, but is all that Roch. Gander had in stock, I’ll spend a little more, get what I want and make them last.

Did a short stint as a temp. trout guide out west, and the amber in a quality lens makes fish pop without hurting your eyes. Lots of other polarized lens colors out there which will darken the picture too much IMO. If sight-fishing is something you ever do, I’d keep that under consideration.

Dean at Everts

Joel

Thanks for the color suggestion of amber.

Smith-Guide Choice model.

Costa Del Mar “Wavekillers”

I will second the recomendation of Amber. I mostly muskie fish and often on cloudy days so the Amber lenses help me see follows better I think without making it too dark. My 2 cents.

I’m a prescription guy, so my lenses have a prescription ground into them.(BiFocals)

I have a pair of wrap around RayBands right now, but doubt I will have them much longer. The wrap around style distorts the prescription a little and am afraid I need to go back to a flat lens. I still have a pair of old Bolle glasses that were not only a flat lens, but they also had the little side blinders on the glasses arms that blocked out the glare from the side. I love those glasses for fishing, but they haven’t been in style for the last 5-6 years with the popularity of the wrap around style.

So much for being a fishing “fashion-ista”. I’m going old school and going back to my polorized flat lens Bolle’s with the little side blinders.

What the heck, the fish don’t care, at least until the see me, but then its too late, they are in the net and heading to the frying pan!!

Am I the only one here that buys less expensive glasses cuz I loose them all the time or they get broken? The less expensive ones last longer than the more expensive ones. Murphy’s Law with me.

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Am I the only one here that buys less expensive glasses cuz I loose them all the time or they get broken? The less expensive ones last longer than the more expensive ones. Murphy’s Law with me.

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I’m with you mnfish! I get $20 polarized glasses because they are constantly being replaced due to being lost, crushed, falling out of the vehicle/boat etc.

I’d love to have a nice pair, just don’t want to see $150 falling to the bottom of the lake or getting run over, or sat on.

JD

I’m with you as well mnfish and jd, but yet I still want to protect my eyes with something comfortable. That’s why I went with H3O sunglasses. They are around $100 and are very nice. They feel like $200 shades. I looked for a long time and for the person that’s tough on glasses these are great. They come standard with three different colors of all polorized lenses. This is the only company that offers this that I know of. I’m very impressed so far. http://www.h3opolarized.com

When it comes to fishing this is the one thing that bugs me the most. As much as I would like a pair of really nice glasses the price is the one thing I can never get over. Although I do not do a lot of sight fishing or for that matter fish lakes with good clarity, eye strain is really bothersome at times. I buy the cheap ones simply because I loose them a lot in lakes. If all my sunglasses I have ever lost in a lake were to be piled in one spot, you would get a good structure for fish. It is over 50 for sure, mostly in the same lake.

Thanks for all the recommendations guys!

Good to know about the amber. Through the years I can’t recall ever owning anything with amber lenses. I think I will probably give them a try this time around.

In regards to cheap vs. expensive shades, I used to use strictly cheapies. I was buying a new pair yearly because they were constantly getting lost, scratched, broken, etc. plus I was young, careless and dirt-poor. Then I discovered lanyards and I was no longer losing/damaging my shades. I then upgraded to some high-quality sunglasses (with a lanyard) and got a pair of H2Optix. They’ve lasted me 10 years or so, but time has finally gotten the best of them so it’s time to get a new pair. Just figured I’d see what else people were recommending.

One other thought on the expensive shades is that I used to get a lot of eyestrain and headaches after a long day on the water. The H2Optix almost completely eliminated that problem. I also know I was giving my eyes better protection from UV than I was getting from the cheapies. That alone, to me, is worth spending the $$.

Got the H30’s this year and love them. Used to always just buy the ones from W-Mart for $27 but I think I was averaging 4 pairs a year. We’ll see how long my $100 pair lasts…

I have Costas in the Amber, and Costas in the Vermillion lens color. Vermillion HANDS DOWN IMO. In the glass, I would go for the Copper.

Across Costas and Oakleys, the coppery/rose colors (Copper, Vermillion, VR28) are much better to my eyes for fishing uses (picking out grass rocks and fish in water).