can fish hear braid?

[jimmyjoe]

   Been going back on my word lately and using braid - 65 lb. Powerpro.  Good stuff, but noisy. Doesn't bother me .... or didn't until a guy standing about 30 feet away said he could hear it clearly. If WE can hear braid so easily, can't bass hear it, too? Is there any indication, any at all, that the noise of braid going through the guides is transmitted to the water? Is there any indication that it spooks bass?

   Thanks for your replies.     jj

  

[Dens228]

All the bass I've caught using straight up braid from 20 lb test up to 65 lb test either didn't hear it or didn't care. 

[Big Rick]

In most cases if you're reeling braid in fast enough to make noises in the line guides then you are probably fishing with a bait making it's own noises via rattles, blades, vibrations, and such. I doubt a bass would distinguish the sound of the line sliding thru the guides over the rattle and thump of your bait. 

 

And if your fishing jigs, T-rigs and such you'll be fishing slow enough there's very little, if any, sound emitted from the line sliding through the guides. 

[jimmyjoe]

Just now, Big Rick said:

In most cases if you're reeling braid in fast enough to make noises in the line guides then you are probably fishing with a bait making it's own noises via rattles, blades, vibrations, and such. I doubt a bass would distinguish the sound of the line sliding thru the guides over the rattle and thump of your bait. 

 

And if your fishing jigs, T-rigs and such you'll be fishing slow enough there's very little, if any, sound emitted from the line sliding through the guides. 

 

   I can't mess with logic.    ?     jj

[Lead Head]

Try a 8 carrier braid (I like suffix 832),  it is less noisy. I believe it was Catt that pointed out fish can most likely hear (or feel) braid coming over submerged branches or other cover when working jigs or Texas rigs. Since that makes sense to me, I decided to use fc leaders more. Haven't noticed any difference in catch rate or had any leader complications so I guess it's a push. Most of my waters are so dirty the added noise and vibration is probably just as likely to help as it is to hurt.

[Dwight Hottle]

I use braid and have had success with it. But I have learned that some techniques might be better used with mono or fc. The Mexican guides at lake Bacarrac insist that braid decreases the bite. I have learned to follow their lead down there. I think the braid transmits vibration through the water with moving baits. The only technique I would use it for in Mexico is jigs or other slowly fished baits. I always used 10 lb braid on Lake Erie for smallmouth combined with long mono leaders for jerk baits, cranks & jigs, blade baits & dropshot. I never felt that the braid costs me any bites on Erie. Mexico has been different for some reason. 

[PhishLI]

Anecdotal: I primarily fish at night in very weedy shallow lakes with very little hard bottom. Bass set up on ambush points and grab baits coming by. Line type doesn't seem to matter here. During warmer months when weeds are in full bloom I catch plenty of fish on braid, or braid to short leader.

 

Up until last winter I fished all year long with braid, but always did poorly once the weeds died off. Late last fall I switched over to straight copoly and Fluoro and did very well from January through May. I really couldn't believe the quantity and quality of fish I was landing. Water temp here was still 42 on May 1st, so the weeds hadn't yet sprung up.

 

Since I fish in the darkness I chalked up my success, in part, to the "difference" in sound made by plastic line. It's entirely possible that I simply went on a 5 month hot streak where I'd previously suffered horrible skunks, but I'm sticking with the "sound" theory. I've used some of the most sensitive acoustic measurement equipment there is for business. Everything has a sound, or resonance, and water transmits and amplifies sound at a very high speed, especially shallow water. Perhaps in colder water, braid may transmit a more unappealing vibration than nylon or fluoro? Everything hardens in cold water, so that may be a factor too. Speculation aside, I'll be fishing with plastic line this winter. Life's too short.

[Catt]

8 hours ago, Lead Head said:

. I believe it was Catt that pointed out fish can most likely hear (or feel) braid coming over submerged branches or other cover when working jigs or Texas rigs

 

Yeah I did ?

 

The noise ain't about the braid going through your rods guides but rather rubbing against wood.

 

Submerged wood is soft & braid will actually cut into the wood causing hangups.

 

Many believe a leader helps but think about this, the braid is rubbing the wood long before the leader gets there.

 

Many top pros fish braid in grass & fluorocarbon in wood.

[r83srock]

10 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Yeah I did ?

 

The noise ain't about the braid going through your rods guides but rather rubbing against wood.

 

Submerged wood is soft & braid will actually cut into the wood causing hangups.

 

Many believe a leader helps but think about this, the braid is rubbing the wood long before the leader gets there.

 

Many top pros fish braid in grass & fluorocarbon in wood.

Catt, I’m a huge braid user and I can’t agree more. Love braid, but I need to be using something else around wood. Big game, or do I haaave to use flouro? ?

[Catt]

1 hour ago, r83srock said:

Catt, I’m a huge braid user and I can’t agree more. Love braid, but I need to be using something else around wood. Big game, or do I haaave to use flouro? ?

 

Ya know me I throw Big Game a lot, mostly 15# but when I'm fishing in timber or brush I step up to 20#.

 

I have been trying Fluorocarbon specifically Seaguar. Started with Red Label & then InvizX.

 

Thanks to @WRB I bought a spool of Sniper ?

[jimmyjoe]

8 hours ago, PhishLI said:

Everything hardens in cold water,

 

   That's the biggest reason I tried going back to braid one more time. Normally I hate and detest braid, and I'd never use it. But with the cold air settling in, my mono (15 lb. Big Game) was reacting like romex. That's not good. I met a guy fishing who was outcasting me by a good bit (unusual) and having real good luck; no backlashes and consistent accuracy. We got to talking, and he was using braid - 65 lb. Powerpro. He said that it was the only braid he used, that he'd had the same problems I had had with smaller diameter braid, and that I should try the 65 lb. size.

   So I did. And in cold air (below 40 degrees) it outcast mono by a great degree. But that 65 lb. Powerpro was a LOT noisier than the 40 that I had used before. So that's why I asked the question here.

 

  

10 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

I think the braid transmits vibration through the water with moving baits. The only technique I would use it for in Mexico is jigs or other slowly fished baits

 

   Thinking back on the fish that I caught, I think I agree with this. I'd put it a little different, though. I caught the most fish on twitched spoons (Silver Minnow and Dardevle)  and only one on a white spinnerbait. So I'd say it like this:

 

   Braid transmits vibration through the water more and more as your line tension increases from resistive lures.

 

   And that fits in with what I noticed; the noise increased dramatically when I used tight-line steady retrieves, and at the same time, that's when the bite dropped way off. When I used stop-and-go retrieves, I had much better luck.

   There were other fishermen within sight, too. They were catching consistently when my results were inconsistent. They were using mono. That's what really started me thinking about this whole noise thing. If I would have had the exact same results as what they had, I'd never have cared. But I didn't.

 

   I'm going to have to think about this. Don't know what I'll do. I think I'll continue using the braid until ice-up, but I'm going to watch my results versus other peoples' results reeeeeal careful.

 

   THANKS, EVERYONE!    ?     jj

  

[Bird]

Definitely hear braid when fighting fish but otherwise, don't notice. 

 

Maybe that squeal is what triggers a bass's predator drive. Lol

[jimmyjoe]

1 hour ago, Bird said:

Maybe that squeal is what triggers a bass's predator drive. Lol

 

   You must have seen the movie "Deliverance".  ?????      jj

[Dwight Hottle]

1 hour ago, jimmyjoe said:

 

1 hour ago, jimmyjoe said:

   Braid transmits vibration through the water more and more as your line tension increases from resistive lures.

 

   And that fits in with what I noticed; the noise increased dramatically when I used tight-line steady retrieves, and at the same time, that's when the bite dropped way off. When I used stop-and-go retrieves, I had much better luck.

   There were other fishermen within sight, too. They were catching consistently when my results were inconsistent. They were using mono. That's what really started me thinking about this whole noise thing. If I would have had the exact same results as what they had, I'd never have cared. But I didn't.

 

   I'm going to have to think about this. Don't know what I'll do. I think I'll continue using the braid until ice-up, but I'm going to watch my results versus other peoples' results reeeeeal careful.

 

   THANKS, EVERYONE!    ?     jj

  

Good observation jj. 

[Cgolf]

I haven’t had loud braid in a long time. I fish 50 lb power pro and 30lb 832. I do remember that some rods, especially the cheaper ones before I upgraded made more noise. It could be a combo of certain braids with certain guide materials just make more noise?

[Catt]

2 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

There were other fishermen within sight, too. They were catching consistently when my results were inconsistent. They were using mono. That's what really started me thinking about this whole noise thing. If I would have had the exact same results as what they had, I'd never have cared. But I didn't.

 

Could have simply been where they were vs where you were. 

[TnRiver46]

You should hear how loud it is when you are swimming in the water! And I imagine a bass can “hear” (feel) a lot better than I can underwater. 

[jimmyjoe]

1 hour ago, cgolf said:

I haven’t had loud braid in a long time. I fish 50 lb power pro and 30lb 832. I do remember that some rods, especially the cheaper ones before I upgraded made more noise. It could be a combo of certain braids with certain guide materials just make more noise?

 

   Hmmmm ...... could be.     jj

37 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Could have simply been where they were vs where you were. 

 

   That could be, too.   jj

20 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

You should hear how loud it is when you are swimming in the water! And I imagine a bass can “hear” (feel) a lot better than I can underwater. 

   So you've heard the sound of braid when you were swimming? Now THAT'S what I was interested in hearing! No way have I ever been able to compare the sound of braid going through the guides from the viewpoints of a fisherman or someone actually in the water.

   The plot thickens ........     ?     jj

[TnRiver46]

22 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

 

   Hmmmm ...... could be.     jj

 

   That could be, too.   jj

   So you've heard the sound of braid when you were swimming? Now THAT'S what I was interested in hearing! No way have I ever been able to compare the sound of braid going through the guides from the viewpoints of a fisherman or someone actually in the water.

   The plot thickens ........     ?     jj

I’m always swimming! You can hear a boat prop from half a mile underwater. Water transmits sound VERY well. Get into a pool and have a buddy go to the opposite end. If you both go underwater, you can hear their voice even at almost whisper levels 

 

 

ever wonder why you can hear people clear on the other side of the lake talking? The surface of the water is carrying the sound 

[jimmyjoe]

17 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Get into a pool and have a buddy go to the opposite end.

 

   You do NOT get old people like me into a pool, unless it's a whirlpool at the gym.   ? ?  The only use for pools I have is to test out lures.        jj

[GetFishorDieTryin]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

You should hear how loud it is when you are swimming in the water! And I imagine a bass can “hear” (feel) a lot better than I can underwater. 

Your spot on...As a kid I used to go swimming to get lures back all the time.  Its hard to find a bait in a submerged brand so I would have my buddy give a few yanks on the line to help me find the snagged bait.  You can hear nylon and FC rub, but braid sounds like a hacksaw against wood.  You can use rounder braid with more carriers or a braid that isn't as stiff to try to reduce some of the noise but there is no way you can muffle that noise to where the lateral lines wont pick it up.  I use fluro to fish cover as long as I can get away with it.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

3 hours ago, cgolf said:

I haven’t had loud braid in a long time. I fish 50 lb power pro and 30lb 832. I do remember that some rods, especially the cheaper ones before I upgraded made more noise. It could be a combo of certain braids with certain guide materials just make more noise?

Braid have gotten rounder and somewhat softer.  The original PP was LOUD bringing a fish in.  The newer PP lines have gotten much smoother.  I found a 300yd spool of 30lb PP and 300yd about half full with 50 lb, its over 10 years old.  Im curious to see if its as loud as I remember it.   Im not sure how much ceramic inserts have changed since then.  One thing is for sure the eyes on spinning gear especially have gotten smaller and smaller to accommodate the tighter coils that come off the spool when using braid opposed to mono or FC. 

5 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

So I did. And in cold air (below 40 degrees) it outcast mono by a great degree.

Ive found that mono matches Pline TCB and 832 distance wise in cold weather.  Braid tends to soak in water which why is why its all but useless under 30*F.  When the line is water logged its doesn't cast the same.  Some soak in more water some soak in less.

[TnRiver46]

It doesn’t even have to be on tree branches, it’s loud just slicing though the water 

[Armtx77]

Ugh...SMH.

 

Split rings, treble hooks, crankbait lips and colors so WILD they would make a Mardi Gras Indian jealous.

 

Now it is line noise. People give these critters too much credit. Mardi Gras Indian picture in case you wondering.

[Dens228]

34 minutes ago, Armtx77 said:

Ugh...SMH.

 

Split rings, treble hooks, crankbait lips and colors so WILD they would make a Mardi Gras Indian jealous.

 

Now it is line noise. People give these critters too much credit. Mardi Gras Indian picture in case you wondering.

I'm with you.........bass sees lure, or also hears lure with hooks, rattles, wobbles, but hears the braid and goes the other way........doubt it.