Come rain or shine, you can guarantee that you’ll see anglers out and about, doing their thing. And, come rain or shine, many of us will have our sunglasses on and will probably leave passing members of the public wondering why we’re wearing them! If only they put a pair of polarizing sunglasses on, looked in the water and saw for themselves what we can see….
Unless you’re very new to angling, chances are you’ll know just how important a decent pair of polarizing sunglasses are. Yes, they protect your eyes from the sun, as well as from flying bits of tackle, and yes, you may even look quite cool in them, but that’s not why we wear them. No, the main reason any angler wears polarizing lenses is that it enables us to look below the surface of the water and see what is lurking below the depths.
Quite often, this will be the fish themselves (trust me, if you haven’t seen a big fish following a lure in before, try it. It’ll make your heart miss at least two beats!). However, it’s not just fish we like to see – the bottom of the lake or river, any weed growth, any obstructions and so on – it all helps us to decide where we want to place a bait, and how.
Some time ago, I reviewed the Polaroid Hydro 36 shades – you can see the old review by clicking here.
I’m not going to pretend otherwise; I’m a fan of Polaroid. They are the at the top of the tree when it comes to sunglasses because, frankly, they’re damned good at what they do! Therefore, I know that when I put on a pair of Polaroids, they’re going to perform well. I’ve got enough on my plate without worrying about my shades. They go on, and they get forgotten about. End of story. There have even been occasions when I’ve been driving home and wondered why it had got dark so soon, only to then remember I still had my shades on!
So, anyway, when I decided to try another pair of sunglasses for low-light conditions, I reached for the Polaroid website, the Trappers immediately drawing my attention.
At £70, including VAT and delivery, these glasses aren’t the cheapest out there, but they are also certainly not the dearest. However, whilst cheap glasses do have their place in my tackle box (I usually have some cheap and cheerfuls strategically located in my luggage, car and anywhere else I can think of, as I often forget them when leaving the house!), a quality pair of lenses will offer you so much more and, if you are in a position to be able to afford them, I’d certainly suggest that a good pair of sunglasses are a worthwhile investment.
The Trappers have slightly larger lenses than my Hydro 36 glasses and the frame has more solid ‘arms’ on it. It’s impossible for me to scientifically state this, but I’m sure that this would mean that less light is likely to leak in from the sides. The glasses themselves are lightweight, and fit comfortably with their soft rubber ear and nose pads.
The lenses themselves are yellow and give great contrast. For most fishing in the UK, you’ll find that yellow is the optimum colour lens. They are a quality lens and really do give you the edge when it comes to outwitting fish. Being a category 2 lens, they also offer protection against harmul UV rays.
But here’s the bonus with the Trappers……they float! To be honest, they fit that snugly that I’ll doubt you’ll ever need to take advantage of this quality, but having fallen in numerous times and seen various bits of equipment pay a visit to Davy Jones’ Locker, it’s comforting to know that I’ll at least have my sunglasses on to hide my shame the next time the AA man comes to recover my car, whilst my keys are swimming with the fishes somewhere!
The Trappers P7125C sunglasses from Polaroid are highly recommended. They cost £70, come in a smart case with a lens cloth, and are available directly from
Polaroid – CLICK HERE.
