Is 20 pound braid really visible?

[Fisher0517]

I am going to get 20 pound braid how is the visibility? Would I need a leader?

[jbsoonerfan]

I catch them on 40lb braid with no leader. There are a lot of factors to consider on why using a leader can be beneficial. Best way to know, is trial and error.

[Fisher0517]

Also on the reel I am going to get it says for 15 pound braid you need 145 yards I found 20 pound braid 100 yards is that too little?  Or do I not fill the spool?

[Ski]

Depends on water clarity on the body of water you are fishing.

Gin clear yes, stained, tannic, vegetation not so much.

[Fisher0517]

It won’t work well in stained?

1 minute ago, Ski said:

Depends on water clarity on the body of water you are fishing.

Gin clear yes, stained, tannic, vegetation not so much.

 

[Ski]

Sure it will.

 

[MN Fisher]

10 minutes ago, BassFisher517 said:

Also on the reel I am going to get it says for 15 pound braid you need 145 yards I found 20 pound braid 100 yards is that too little?  Or do I not fill the spool?

Get a spool of 8# Berkley Big Game, half fill the reel, tie the braid to the Big Game with a double uni-knot, then fill the rest of the spool with the braid. You might not use up the entire 100yds, but it'll give you plenty of the braid on the spool. Always try to fish with a full spool.

[Mike L]

If you really believe that braided line will make a fish turn away then use it. 
At least that will increase your confidence level. 
 

Of all the diameters of braid, 20# will be seen the least because it is one of the thinnest. 
 

I don’t subscribe to that thinking at all, but that’s me. 
 

@MN Fisher Answered your other question. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[Dens228]

I use both 20 and 30 lb braid, no leader.  

I do use a leader for treble hook baits though, but it's to minimize hook fouling not line shyness. 

[J Francho]

I think visibility is the wrong concept when thinking about line.  Sometimes, ANY line of ANY diameter is noticed by the fish.  Right down to the the line hitting the water at the end of the cast, or where the line enters the water.  Some days it spooks them, some days they unfazed.  Even others, they are attracted to it.  Otherwise, I weight fishing the bait effectively in the cover present higher than any visibility factor.  I've caught fish on 80# braid in crystal clear water.

[dodgeguy]

30 years fishing switching braid to mono to flouro and back and I still find it hard to believe it matters.

[The Maestro]

I think the more important question would be 'Do the fish care if they can see the line?'  There's a lot of stuff in the water that could resemble fishing line from a fishes' perspective. Weeds, blades of grass, algae are things they see all the time that could look like line.

 

I personally haven't noticed it being an issue and now use braid exclusively and I fish in pretty clean clear water. Not crystal clear see 20 feet to the bottom clear but still pretty clear. I prefer it in every regard and feel way better about setting the hook hard and getting a positive hook up. Then there are people who swear by flourocarbon or leaders. 

 

It's funny though you never hear about people questioning if fish get spooked by Alabama rigs even though they look like you're dragging a metal coat hanger decorated like a Christmas tree through the water.

[Choporoz]

7 minutes ago, The Maestro said:

I think the more important question would be 'Do the fish care if they can see the line?' 

Agreed.

 

I've seen fish checking out 4lb fluoro....I am not agonizing over whether fish can see my line.  I have no doubt that they can....no matter what line I am using.

  The only time I consider visibility is when I want to increase MY visibility of my line.

 

A related conversation here recently had to do with SOUND of different lines.  That is an area where I suspect there could possibly be some effect on catch rates.

[Deleted account]

I have never seen evidence that line visibility is a deterrent to LMB strikes in any water vis.

[BrianMDTX]

I have 20 lb braid on a Daiwa Revros 2500 with 8 lb YZH leader. Mainly as I would prefer to lose 6’ of $ line vs many feet of $$$ line if I get snagged badly. 
 

As far as visibility and a bass’ reaction, no one know for sure. I think @J Francho likely answered that best. Some days yes, some no and some maybe. All I know is that a damselfly has no problem seeing my 6 lb Berkley XL and landing on it lol. 

[basser27]

Only reason I use lesser is ease of breaking off. With that being said line visibility would be the least of my concerns.

[GreenPig]

I made my wife some scrambled eggs and layed a 3" piece of Daiwa 6lb J - Braid Light gray on top. She immediately saw it(she has 20/20 vision above the water). 20 lb is visible. It would almost impossible to tie knots if it was invisible. I use fluorocarbon leaders.

[garroyo130]

For the type of fishing I do it likely doesn't matter but it would be interesting to see how many big fish (10+ lbs) are caught with straight braid vs flouro

[soflabasser]

20 pound braid is visible underwater and so is any other braided line. The bass still bite since what matters most is how you work a lure.

[Cigarguy]

Always find it interesting that we equate human vision and human mental processing of said vision to fish.  How do we know what or how a fish see and how they process what they see?   I don't think anybody knows.  People do know what works for them under x, y, z conditions on a certain day when the moon and stars are in alignment.  Even the best fisherman/woman have bad fishing days.  But to say that fish x can clearly see line y in certain water z is just marketing talk.

[LrgmouthShad]

I'm of the opinion that line visibility does matter for older bass. I do think line diameter matters for these fish on a bright day with little cover. I also think that 20lb braid and other braid can catch some fish just fine even in gin clear water. It is hard to know what bites you are missing when you are still catching them. It may not be many, but it could be larger fish. In stained/muddy water, it makes sense to me that line visibility shouldn't be as big an issue.

[RDB]

When in doubt, do what the pro’s do.  It’s never a bad idea to follow the lead of someone who makes a living catching fish.

[The Maestro]

4 minutes ago, RDB said:

When in doubt, do what the pro’s do.  It’s never a bad idea to follow the lead of someone who makes a living catching fish.

 

There's a lot of varied opinions among them as well. Some of the top money winning anglers around here run straight braid all the time. It obviously works for them. Other guys will have different opinions that are no less valid. It's going to depend a lot on their own personal experiences and especially on their preferred target (largemouth or smallmouth).

[RDB]

Not sure where here is but I assume you are up north because you fish smallmouth.  I personally have never seen a pro use straight braid on a light spinning reel and a drop shot.  I have also never seen a pro on any of the major bass pro tours run straight braid on all of their setups.  I run straight braid all the time...on my pitchin’ and frog rod.

[jbsoonerfan]

Don't worry so much about the line, make sure you are using invisible hooks.