Finesse Line Question

[warefisher]

First post from an appreciative lurker!  Thank you all for the great knowledge and opinions regularly posted on this site.  I've primarily been a saltwater inshore angler for many years but also make two trips to Ontario every summer.  On the Canadian lakes I've primarily fished crankbaits, jerkbaits, and plastic swimbaits, targeting smallmouth and walleyes.

I'm starting to consider how to rig up for my initial attempts at finesse fishing, mainly ned rigs and drop shots.  

How important is it to use a brightly colored line to see the pause in the line indicating I'm on the bottom?  I'll be using a nice St Croix Eyecon spinning rod (MLXF 7'6") and am tempted to rig up with 6# flouro line to keep it simple.  My other choice is 6, 8, or 10# bright green Sufix 832 braid to a flouro leader. 

I do have an extra spool so maybe the smart solution is to rig up both options and see what works best.  Any thoughts?

[waymont]

I use 8 and 10lb Power Pro yellow line and I find it totally helps out when waiting to hit bottom, but more so when getting hits, Seeing small line jumps and pops is way easier. When I was using 6lb mono or flouro seeing line movements was more difficult.

[FishTank]

Welcome to the forum.  

 

My personal preference would be to use straight 6lb FC.  My personal favorite is Trilene XL 100% FC.  I have used Power Pro depth hunter for something like this but only for night fishing.  I tend to use my finger on the line and bounce the Ned rig that way. 

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard!

 

I use yellow Power Pro regular and Super Slick 8 on all my

reels and use a leader. Yellow braid helps so much for visibility,

and the leader gets cut several times before I have to cut in

to the braid mainline, saving me $$  .

[MN Fisher]

I don't even go to braid. 8# Suffix Elite in Hi-Vis Yellow for my DS rig/backup Ned rig for sight monitoring. My primary Ned rod has 4# YZH, and I just keep a finger on it to feel.

[walleyecrazy]

I think the importance of the line color is going to come down to your vision. It is very important to be able to see your line to detect bites that happen during times of slack line. If you have trouble seeing the the normal dark green braid color using light line then I think switching to a high vis color would definitely help. I personally have no trouble seeing my line without using high vis colors so I stick with the darker line color because(at least in my head) it helps.

[WRB]

I don't use braid with a leader. Maxima Ultra Green 5 lb and Sunline 7lb Sniper tied direct. No problem seeing and feeling line movements with transparent line. 1 knot offsets any advantage braid with a leader and 2 knots may offer.

Tom

[Russ E]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

I don't use braid with a leader. Maxima Ultra Green 5 lb and Sunline 7lb Sniper tied direct. No problem seeing and feeling line movements with transparent line. 1 knot offsets any advantage braid with a leader and 2 knots may offer.

Tom

^^^ this.   I have used braid to leader and still see no advantage over straight mono or fluorocarbon. 

 

Straight fluorocarbon or mono has more sensitivity on a slack to semi slack line than any braid. Texas rig, jigs, and weightless palstics all fit into this category

if you are fishing on a tight line, braid is more senstive.. ( dropshot is one technique that comes to mind).

 

 

[The Bassman]

Looks like you've been given some good advice. I will add a side note about the 832. It's thick for its stated strength. 6 lb. is as thick as 10 lb. PP. On light setups that will affect casting distance (if that's an issue) for you. I bank fish so it's very important to me. I use 4 and 6 lb. Fins Windtamer. It throws a country mile and is very strong. I use pink which is easy for me to see.

[ChrisD46]

17 hours ago, FishTank said:

Welcome to the forum.  

 

My personal preference would be to use straight 6lb FC.  My personal favorite is Trilene XL 100% FC.  I have used Power Pro depth hunter for something like this but only for night fishing.  I tend to use my finger on the line and bounce the Ned rig that way. 

*I like the Trilene FC but it is larger diameter for it's #size than others such as InvizX or Sunline … While I use the Trilene FC for leaders , I would recommend either InvizX #6 lb. or Sunline #7 lb. size FC lines over the #6lb. Trilene FC line as a main line (unless you intend to want a #8 lb. / #10 lb.  FC size line .