Mono and Fluorocarbon visibility to fish

[DDog1]

Looking at braid + fluorocarbon leader (3 feet)  or strait mono, is there much difference in the fish seeing the line? Everyone talks about fluoro being the best for this but how do the less visible monos stack up? Am I gonna catch fewer fish with mono for this reason? Which mono is the best? 

[Junk Fisherman]

I go longer- more like 10'.  I think it depends on the clarity of the water.  In the ultra clear Great Lakes that I fish, I go with the lightest fluorocarbon I can get away with.  For darker water I'll go with mono without hesitation but usually I just stick with the flouro.  I don't think it matters much in stained water.

[Kenny Yi]

Line diameter is more important than line type

 

line type, for me, is decided by type of cover

 

above all that, I don't worry too much about line visibility

[GaryH]

2 hours ago, DDog1 said:

Looking at braid + fluorocarbon leader (3 feet)  or strait mono, is there much difference in the fish seeing the line? Everyone talks about fluoro being the best for this but how do the less visible monos stack up? Am I gonna catch fewer fish with mono for this reason? Which mono is the best? 

Best advice I could give is go whatever your comfortable with. You’ll get definitive answers as to what fish see and what they don’t. But until a fish can talk and give the answer it’s all speculation. JMHO. 

[Kyle S]

I've been giving good ol berkley big game monofilament line a truly fair shot on just about every presentation lately. Certainly haven't been disappointed even at the slightest. I've  used CF Sniper for the last couple of years which has also treated me well. I wanted to try something different a while back and also wanted that something to be more affordable. Big game was the solution. I've got tons of confidence in quality fluorocarbon lines, but wanted to see what monofilament had to offer and i'm glad I did. As far as one being less visible than the other, I don't know. fluorocarbon lines have always claimed to be invisible. My catch rate certainly has'nt decreased since switching to mono though.

Whatever you have confidence in, is what I think you should use! Happy fishing!

[Deleted account]

11 hours ago, Kyle S said:

fluorocarbon lines have always claimed to be invisible. My catch rate certainly has'nt decreased since switching to mono though.

That's because (despite what you read here and elsewhere on the InterWeb) LMB are not line shy in the least. 

[bulldog1935]

adding to recent reality ^^^ the main reason to choose fluoro is for abrasion resistance.  

Even on reels/spools where I cast light fluoro, I use a heavier fluoro leader for shock and abrasion.  

 

Adding further to the reality, sight-fishing trout, redfish, big bass in gin-clear water, no fish is line shy until you Touch them with the line.  All three of these fish can be particular about the size, shape and behavior of what they're eating.  

[WRB]

Trout are line shy fish because they feed on tiny large, bugs and also larger size prey like minnows. Brown trout can be the exception as they prefer larger size prey the Rainbows.

FC with low light refraction is an advantage for some predators. 

I prefer FC for deep bottom contact jigs and worms, not because of light refraction but owner coeffient of drag going though the water gives a little strike detection. The down size is using small diameter FC with poor knot strength compared to mono or Copolymer line.

Line diameter is key to lure performance, that should be your 1st choice.

Tom

 

[Choporoz]

18 hours ago, DDog1 said:

....is there much difference in the fish seeing the line? 

Is that the important question?  Or is the important question,  "Even if fish can see the line....Do they care?"

 

I believe that all but the blindest bass can see 4 lb test line in most water.  

[FryDog62]

The number 1 difference between FC and mono for me is that FC is denser and sinks.

 

Certain uses a sinking line makes a huge difference IMO like:

1) Light Ned rigs that you need to keep down on or towards the bottom. I find straight FC gets a 1/16 oz Ned down to where it should be. If I'm using mono or even braid with FC leader, I have to go to a 1/8 oz head and I get less bites.

 

2) A weightless wacky worm or T-Rigged Senko have a better sink rate with FC - where with mono keeps it from getting down into the strike zone as well, or even at all. 

[FishTank]

I have tried both mono and FC over the years.  I would generally use whatever I had left over from a filler spool.  I didn't give it much thought other than trying to match the diameter of the braid to the leader but once I used a little left over Tatsu my thoughts changed.   

 

FC is my line of choice now for leader.  I like the smaller diameter per lb test and it seems to have the correct balance of long life and sensitivity.   I hate retying a new leader as well.

 

This year though I have been using Seaguar Premier and Sunline Xplasma.   This combo has been killer for me.  I can't give a solid reason as to why but I have caught more fish on this setup.  

 

[Jig Man]

I got my butt handed to me from the back of the boat two times in a row, me mono the guy in the back fluorocarbon.  Now all of my setups except Arig are fluorocarbon.

[jimanchower]

18 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

I got my butt handed to me from the back of the boat two times in a row, me mono the guy in the back fluorocarbon.  Now all of my setups except Arig are fluorocarbon.

 

I got my butt handed to me a week or two ago by my 9 y/o neighbor fishing my own stuff in the same places. It was almost certainly down to presentation. He was chucking, winding, and popping and I was trying to do things "right." I don't plan on changing anything.

 

Even though he caught fish and I didn't, he also slipped on the bank and fell in and I didn't, so we decided to call the day a draw.

[CrankFate]

Fluoro definitely catches me more fish. I’m not going to comment on why, but it definitely does. I am no trout fisherman, but I would say they see the line better than other fish. However, they were problematically biting the fly line/leader connection, the leader/tippet knot and even the tippet itself last week. Goes back to probably the only thing my father ever had right—if you put extra things on your rig, the fish might bite it instead of your hook. This was the first time I’ve seen it in action several times throughout whole days. I’ll never understand fish, because I also saw the trout quickly dart away from my fly the second it made a little wake in the water.

[Big Rick]

Unless I am frog fishing or putting a bait in the worst cover and punching through, I fish the lightest strength line I can. Too often we overlook the most important job of our lure. And that is to impart an ACTION that elicits a strike. Using a line that is too heavy or stiff greatly reduces that action and often costs us bites. It seldom has anything to do with the fish seeing the line. It often is the fact while we have spent gobs of money buying the best gear with the latest and greatest lure we lose any advantage gained by tying the lure to some winch cable that negates the whole purpose of the lure; and that is allowing the lure to shimmy and shake making that bass engulf it. 

 

So, focus more on diameter and flexibility of your line and less on the age old argument of whether a bass is deterred by seeing it. 

[Deleted account]

On 9/8/2021 at 5:12 PM, Jig Man said:

I got my butt handed to me from the back of the boat two times in a row, me mono the guy in the back fluorocarbon.  Now all of my setups except Arig are fluorocarbon.

I don't think the butt handing has anything to do with line choice. I really enjoy doing it with mono. A fluke charter captain and a commercial striped bass pin hooker who should have known better both insisted "you had to use fluoro", well, it turn$ out you didn't. 

[Tatsu Dave]

On 9/8/2021 at 5:12 PM, Jig Man said:

I got my butt handed to me from the back of the boat two times in a row, me mono the guy in the back fluorocarbon.  Now all of my setups except Arig are fluorocarbon.

FC just works better for me than mono, more abrasion resistant, little less stretch, very low viz whether you care or not ? The diameter for spinning reel use is easy to keep down, good mono works well its just not some fisherman's choice like myself, fished mono a long time but switched and didn't look back. Trying a reel with yo zuri hybrid right now and deciding if it may be a line I want to try. You gotta' try em' for yourself and decide, compare a rig with one type line against another you'll soon start to form your own opinions with on the water day to day results. Don't care what others think, just what results you get.