I was wading the clear salt ponds at the North end of Huntington Island State Park. It was a spring day. The sun was high. I am told there are flounder in the ponds. All I ever see is Mullet. I think there are few predators in the water and those that are there do not have to work hard for a meal as the mullet are so plentiful.
As I waded schools of finger mullet cruised by my legs. I watched always puzzled at how the whole school turns exactly on cue. Always in the right direction.
As they came close to me and did a 180 and started moving back away I saw dozens, hundreds of red flashes. Their gills were wide open. From behind, ideal predator strike position the gills would stand out. In fact the gills would be the feature to trigger and target a strike upon.
So I like the red prismatic eyes because they are easy. They look cool and they represent both eyes and gills of a small baitfish.
Recently while fishing another small pond a similar little stream was steadily attacked by fish to small to take the hook. After a few casts I noted the eyes were gone. Those little fish I think focused their strikes right on the red eyes until they were picked off at which point their attacks tended to stop just short of a strike.
My opinion: Add eyes, especially to crustacean patterns. For bait fish patterns include eyes and gills.
Did I mention the prismatic stick on eyes were cheaper than the molded epoxy eyes?
When applying them use some super glue or they tend to fall off on their own. Make sure the eyes are not placed so they may interfere with the opening of the hook and cause you to miss hook sets.
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