Story by Hunter Sales | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Long days on the water are hard on an angler’s body, including the eyes. The intense focus when looking into the water coupled with light reflection can seriously fatigue your eyes. Growing up, I would always leave the lake with a splitting headache. I learned early the value of a quality pair of polarized glasses, and—over my professional career—I’ve learned that selecting the right pair of glasses goes far beyond polarization.
I’ve got light blue eyes, so throughout my baseball career and early fishing career, I always chose blue mirror lenses. They filtered out the most light and gave me the most comfort on the water. I still choose blue mirror lenses on bluebird days when fishing offshore in the summertime. In these conditions, I’m rarely relying on my ability to see into the water and what’s happening beneath it.
During the summer, I’m usually spending long hours behind my graphs and fishing in deep water. In the spring however, I reach for a different lens color.
In the springtime particularly, there is a ton of value in being able to pick up subtle details below the surface. Whether it’s a cruising bass, the presence of bluegill underneath a dock, or a bass on bed, the difference in noticing these details and not can mean thousands of dollars to a professional angler.
In 2025, I started wearing the Hobie Eyewear Sightmaster Plus lens. I’m not paid by this company, but I definitely made more money because of them. This yellow-tinted polarized lens brightens the entire scene and increases the contrast between items below the surface. Think of this contrast as “target separation.” Small variances in color stand out more with this lens color.
At Lake Norman last season, I was fishing for fish that were around the spawn with a glide bait and a wacky rig. Being able to spot a fish under a dock float or set up on the edge of a rock break and then observe their interaction with my bait was key in practice and throughout the tournament. Every fish except two that I weighed were fish that I had spotted at an earlier time and came back to catch them later. I watched a competitor fish right past two of these fish without noticing them. They were set up on a crossbeam of a marina and not quite ready to bite. I was able to circle back to those fish a few hours later and catch them quickly.
While the Sightmaster Plus lens was the most impressive to me last season, I also started wearing the Hobie Eyewear Copper w/ Sea Green Mirror lens quite a bit. This lens still increases contrast while filtering more light than the Sightmaster Plus. I struggle to wear a lens as bright as the Sightmaster Plus in sunny conditions without getting a headache by days-end. My eyes have never taken bright light very well, and the Copper w/ Sea Green Mirror lens is a good compromise between the blue and yellow options. I choose the Copper w/ Sea Green lens when the weather is changing throughout the day, and I need a lens that will cover all ends of the spectrum.
Getting away from the basic lens colors and opting for sight-fishing specific options made the biggest difference in my bed fishing game. It won’t be long until we’re all looking at bass cruising the shallows. In a world without FFS, your eyes are your most important asset. Make sure they’re protected and your vision is amplified by selecting the right pair of lenses.
Hunter Sales – Angler Profile
