I shore fish in the dark sometimes and at night in the boat. When fishing from shore. Many hits are close to where I stand. Would having the headlamp on in red light mode spook the fish or can I use it to give me a bit of light to see what I am doing?  

It'll spook them less than white light, but they can see red light. Red is absorbed faster than other colors, but it takes about 20' of water before it 'disappears'. I'd get a headlamp that allows you to change intensity, then use the lowest level light - even red - you can get by with.

I use both red & green headlamp lens colors with equal effectiveness at night.

Meaning I feel like I retain the majority of my night vision and still catch fish safely doing it.

I only use the light when I need it, so it's not on all night.

Can't say if either color is better or worse at spooking fish but I'm certain both are considerably better than white for my vision.

YMMV

A-Jay 

 

I go with blue.

Better for me, fish and mosquitos

I don't think it bothers them too much. The red light messes with my eyes though, I go without any light unless I'm retying or unhooking a fish. 

I use red backlight in.my yak at night and a red headlamp to retie.  If the moon is half or more I only use the headlamp while retiring. Red saves my night vision.

As long as you're not shining it directly in the water for extended periods of time you'll be fine.