Line shy or not

[senile1]

This is one of those repeated subjects where too often we look it at with a human perspective, but we really don't know and may never know the answer to this question.  We think if they are not scared off by hooks then they aren't scared off by line.  But we don't know how the line sticking out of the front of a lure appears to a bass when compared to hooks.  Maybe hooks could be seen as a deformity on a bait fish and the line sticking out is something else. Or maybe both are seen as something entirely abnormal, or then again, maybe the fish don't notice them at all.  It could also be that some fish are spooked by both and those are the fish that never bite.  Studies show there are some fish that will never bite a lure.  

 

Regarding things such as this, we may never know the answers but they always give us excuses to make when we are struggling to catch fish.    

[InFishingWeTrust]

2 hours ago, Choporoz said:

I don't think much about whether bass can see my line.  However, I respect the opinions of those who do.  I think the variety of opinions of experienced fisherman and even biologists leads me to believe that we can't really know how much effect there is.  So, my overriding concern regarding line visibility is whether or not I can see the line.  When using worms and jigs, and such, all other factors being equal, I'm going to catch more fish with bright yellow line than I will with invisible line.

I do appreciate people's opinions. Ine thing I like about fishing I am constantly learning. 

13 minutes ago, 2tall79 said:

Too many times I have fished with a guy in the backseat where one is catching and one isn't and the only difference is the line being used.  So yes, I do believe fish can be line shy.

Has been on the same baits and all? I have been yanking fish out before and my buddy get skunked and he uses "standard" line. 

4 minutes ago, senile1 said:

This is one of those repeated subjects where too often we look it at with a human perspective, but we really don't know and may never know the answer to this question.  We think if they are not scared off by hooks then they aren't scared off by line.  But we don't know how the line sticking out of the front of a lure appears to a bass when compared to hooks.  Maybe hooks could be seen as a deformity on a bait fish and the line sticking out is something else. Or maybe both are seen as something entirely abnormal, or then again, maybe the fish don't notice them at all.  It could also be that some fish are spooked by both and those are the fish that never bite.  Studies show there are some fish that will never bite a lure.  

 

Regarding things such as this, we may never know the answers but they always give us excuses to make when we are struggling to catch fish.    

True statement. 

[Bankbeater]

I am wondering if fishing pressure has anything to do with it.  I have used straight braid on larger bodies of water with no problem, and caught fish with moving baits, and with plastics on the bottom. 

 

When I use the same baits locally there is no bite at all with plastics.  I have better success with moving baits, as long as the braid is small diameter.  When I change over to mono and fish the same plastic baits, my bites start picking up.

[InFishingWeTrust]

2 minutes ago, Bankbeater said:

I am wondering if fishing pressure has anything to do with it.  I have used straight braid on larger bodies of water with no problem, and caught fish with moving baits, and with plastics on the bottom. 

 

When I use the same baits locally there is no bite at all with plastics.  I have better success with moving baits, as long as the braid is small diameter.  When I change over to mono and fish the same plastic baits, my bites start picking up.

I have been trying leaders. I fish ponds a lot. They are close to where I live so can hit them easily. I haven't seen a difference yet personally in producing fish. At least in the ponds I fish which is in a middle of a neighborhood so it sees a lot of action. I have noticed some days they prefer smaller profiles then others they dont care and will hit any thing. 

[Brad in Texas]

38 minutes ago, 2tall79 said:

Too many times I have fished with a guy in the backseat where one is catching and one isn't and the only difference is the line being used.  So yes, I do believe fish can be line shy.

Well, there are some variables here that still make it dubious.

 

First, was your experience that the angler with what we consider to be a more invisible line was the one always catching more fish?

 

The second would be if two of you were sitting in a boat, both with a "fair" coin, flipped it 10X, would you expect the same outcome? Nothing is less different than flipping a fair coin.

 

That is always the issue, that we can never be absolutely certain what would have happened in the other case. And, there should be no expectation of a similar outcome even if two guys are standing shoulder to shoulder and fishing. One might be dropping straight down on fish, the other a few feet away.

 

It makes it all the more mysterious. And, still, you are correct that if you make an observation that repeats over and over, you have to consider it.

 

Brad

[2tall79]

One particular instance that is etched in my memory.  My brother and I were fishing a hump on my home lake which is gin clear water.  I began catching 2-3 lb smallies on a Fat Gitzit.  After my 3rd fish my brother asked to borrow some of the tubes.  Still, I caught fish and he didn't. As an experiment, we switched poles...his with 10# Stren Flourescent Blue, mine with 8# Green Trilene XL.  He caught a 4# smallie on his first cast and several following while I managed to catch one dink.

I am not here to convince anybody that line type makes a difference, but in my experience it can.

[scaleface]

7 minutes ago, 2tall79 said:

I am not here to convince anybody that line type makes a difference, but in my experience it can.

I have had similar experiences enough so much so that it is beyond a reasonable doubt that bass "can become" line shy .

[InFishingWeTrust]

2 minutes ago, 2tall79 said:

One particular instance that is etched in my memory.  My brother and I were fishing a hump on my home lake which is gin clear water.  I began catching 2-3 lb smallies on a Fat Gitzit.  After my 3rd fish my brother asked to borrow some of the tubes.  Still, I caught fish and he didn't. As an experiment, we switched poles...his with 10# Stren Flourescent Blue, mine with 8# Green Trilene XL.  He caught a 4# smallie on his first cast and several following while I managed to catch one dink.

I am not here to convince anybody that line type makes a difference, but in my experience it can.

Interesting. What I want to hear. Like to hear experiences. Do you think because it was gin clear had a difference? The river I fish is clear but there is a gin clear lake by me which I have been skunked on a few times and when I say gin clear its clear.  Can easily see bottom in 10 foot of water.

[2tall79]

6 minutes ago, InFishingWeTrust said:

Interesting. What I want to hear. Like to hear experiences. Do you think because it was gin clear had a difference? The river I fish is clear but there is a gin clear lake by me which I have been skunked on a few times and when I say gin clear its clear.  Can easily see bottom in 10 foot of water.

Abolutely!  My home lake is clear enough to see a dime on the bottom in 20 FOW.  Trust me, when I fish stained or off colored water, I'm definitely using high vis line.  After 40 years in construction, I have lost a lot of sensation in my hands and where I haven't lost it they're covered with callouses. After all, I am a line watcher first and foremost.

[NorthStar]

My take is Yes and No, depends on the presentation and clarity.  Fishing fast horizontal baits looking for reaction strikes, line visibility is probably less important.  Fishing more finesse Vertical presentations, when fish have time to examine your offering, line type and diameter are very important, especially in clear water.  Lighter line will also allow more action in your presentation and give it a more life like appearance.  The specifics of the different line types should also play a factor in your decision.  

[greentrout]

31 minutes ago, 2tall79 said:

I am not here to convince anybody that line type makes a difference, but in my experience it can.

Aaron Martens agrees with you...So did the legendary Guido Hibdon...

[N Florida Mike]

I have used mono mostly throughout my life. My experience with it has been that the lighter I go, the more bites I get. That was nearly always my experience  in clear to moderately clear water.

In the st Johns and other tannic stained waters it didn't seem to matter at all.

I don't use floro because I like floating line for the techniques I use.

Not sure about braid. I have it on a few combos. I'm currently leaning a little to it being more visible, even though friends tell me it isn't. I definitely dont catch the numbers that I do with 8-10 pound mono.I tend to lose more fish with braided line too for some reason.

I really like the yo-zuri hybrid line, which acts like mono to me and floats. I can use 8, and it has like 11 pound tensile strength. Get plenty of bites, and rarely have one break off.

[LonnieP]

My answer would be no. If a bass will try to eat a lure with 3 treble hooks hanging off of it I doubt that line would spook them. There are no clear water lakes in my area so maybe it does matter if fishing clear water? 

[WRB]

Trout are extremely are line and so are Bluefin tuna, LMB are not line shy fish.

Line can affect how lures perform and our ability to detect strikes.

Braid line popular with bass anglers long before monofilament line. 

Tim

[Lucas Cooper]

In my experience bass are not line shy. I fish up in minnesota and you can see 12 or so feet to the bottom. A smallie was sitting in 4 foot of water right under my boat, and tossed a senko on red braid and he hit it even though I was right there.

[Armtx77]

Plastic bills, treble hooks, split rings, crazy colors that dudes on LCD could not have dreamt up...people still catch fish.

 

I have used green 8lb NanoFil exclusively for the past 9 months. I caught 19 spotted bass last weekend, on a hot pink/black, 1/16th oz Rooster Tail and I tie direct to my lures.

[soflabasser]

10 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

I am wondering if fishing pressure has anything to do with it.  I have used straight braid on larger bodies of water with no problem

 I catch plenty of big bass in extremely clear water( +15 foot visibility) that is highly pressured using strait braid attached to the lure. Its easy for someone to blame the line, the rod, the lures the weather, etc and not pay attention at what they are doing right or wrong when fishing. Having confidence in how you are fishing is far more important than if a person if using braid or mono. Besides lots of bass fisherman catch some nice bass using strait braid in the clearest water.

[scaleface]

 Bass dont hit our lures 100 per cent of the time they see them , Every single one of us has often experienced  bass coming up to our lures and not committing . So a statement like " i catch bass on heavy line in clear water therefore bass cannot possibly be line shy " is flawed . 

[NHBull]

Most of the time that I use braid to FC, it is to preserve my braid.

 

I don't know the answer to the OP'S question and all the test and studies are not diffinative.

 

Many pro's believe so......

 

Personally, I Need to see the line and my yield is better better.......and that is all that matters to me. 

'

[BrackishBassin]

In my admittedly limited experience, I haven't seen a difference in catching or not catching fish that I could attribute to the type of line I'm using. I think Tom is on the right track, as well as some others that have posted in this thread. Personally, I believe that some species of fish are more likely to be line shy than others (e.g. trout vs. bass), but you're also going to have variations of 'personality' within a given population of a certain species. I haven't noticed this in bass fishing, but have definitely noticed it throwing a top water for red drum. This past summer there were a group of three drum that I could see hanging around near my dock. All three of them had a go at the top water, but one went for it every single time I threw the lure. The other two had a go at the lure and then, for whatever reason, decided not to give it another look.

[Brown Town]

I think line diameter is more important than color. Fish will probably pick up a large diameter line moving through the water with their lateral line before they see it. When casting past a target with a moving bait I've wondered if they sense the line moving above or past them first and then the bait goes by and they react to that. Kind of like the line got their attention and they anticipate bait/prey is going to be moving through there.

[Spider]

@OP

 

Take this with a grain of salt.

 

This is just my opinion, and due to the bathtub clear water, and severely pressured lakes I fish. "I can see 12 feet down on some days, a Quagga "Spelling?" mussel lake".

 

It depends on the lakes you fish, time of year, how much pressure and technique you are using. I fish a lot of slow bottom baits, with these, the fish have more time to look closely at the presentation. So a leader is a must. I won't get a single bite without one. And this may be how fast or slow the worm falls

 

If fishing top water, a mono leader helps with shock and to keep the hooks from tangling on walking baits. On crank baits i rarely use a leader, but will use a moderate action rod.

 

If fishing thick brush, or cloudy water I don't feel the need for a leader.

 

This is just my experience, so don't take it as Gospel.

 

Spider.

[Shimano_1]

I agree that no one will ever know for sure. I go about it with the mind set that...if....they are I will fish the line I feel gives me the best chance of catching them. I'll fish straight braid on frogs and buzzbaits but everything else is fluoro. To each their own tho as with everything else fishing related,  it's all about confidence!

[InFishingWeTrust]

3 hours ago, Shimano_1 said:

I agree that no one will ever know for sure. I go about it with the mind set that...if....they are I will fish the line I feel gives me the best chance of catching them. I'll fish straight braid on frogs and buzzbaits but everything else is fluoro. To each their own tho as with everything else fishing related,  it's all about confidence!

I agree 

[Stalking bass]

5 hours ago, InFishingWeTrust said:

I agree 

Same here.