Can bass see my braided line? Does it matter?

[Riverfox]

Consider this... Zillions of bass have been taken on spinnerbaits and Alabama rigs, both which have their hooks attached to heavy wire which is VERY visible & usually bigger in diameter than the fishing line tied to them. Still the fish hammer these baits.

[Tatsu Dave]

On 3/26/2017 at 3:52 PM, WRB said:

What matters is how the line may impact some lures action and your mind set. When I use braid it's directly tied to my lure with 1 knot, same for mono and FC. I only use braid in heavy cover because it works better than mono or FC line.

Tom

This is how I fish as well, no leader's and tied direct. I don't care much about studies and tests that may not be anything like my areas. Son just switched to braid (30lb sufix camo) all he will fish with now. Does it effect his fishing compared to mine with 10# flouro in the same water and boat same diameter w/both lines? YES and he's noticing it of course..........everyday since he left the flouro he has trailed me big time on fish catching, for sure. I caught 3 smallies to every one he caught with the same plastic lure and hook, same color, only difference is line. He thinks its cause the line quickly faded to a light tan color and is very visible in the water while mine is very hard to see. Could it be effecting the action he imparts to his lure compared to me? Maybe but I'm a results driven kind of guy that believes if its working don't mess with it. Only place I feel out lined is when he horses one out of thick stuff where visibility is not much of an issue, otherwise he has fallen out of the sucess ratio he was at. Trolling-casting-deadsticking-power fishing-and top water all worse........he is the king of the heavy weeds and pads however. Don't care why just care about results.......thats my study, why does all the braid fade away on color so fast to require magic marker? See Fins claiming their's is the only braid to hold dark colors, Thats my question...........Dave

[king fisher]

I do not have the experience to any give informative information on visibility of line for bass.  When I bass fish I use all 3 types of lines for reasons not related to visibility.

       For Yellow fin tuna I do have the experience, about visibility of line and have strong opinions on the subject.  I also assume tuna have equal size brains, so I wont consider brain size a factor.

      If you are fishing for tuna that have received fishing pressure from sport anglers, and have dodged nets their entire life, they will not hit a live bait tied straight to any braided line.  Many days they will not hit a live bait tied to a mono leader, and some days I have had to drop down from 130 to 50 pound floro to get bit.

      If I go 300 miles off shore to a set of islands that are normally off limits to fishing, they will hit 130 pound floro  and mono leaders, but not braid on live baits.

     If the baits are suspended under a balloon or kite making them only visible on the surface line makes no difference as long as you pay attention and keep the baits flopping on the surface.

      If I am trolling lures at 8 kts, on the surface or under the surface I don't care what type of line I have on and neither do the tuna.   I will even use 200lbs. wire leader if Wahoo are in the area.

    Bottom line is while drifting or slow trolling live bait, the tuna have lots of time to decide if they want to eat, and take a very good look before they attack.  If a lure is moving fast they quickly strike and line makes no difference.

      It is easy to tell if the line is making the difference because I will have several rods out with the same bait and hook, making the line the only variable.  Some days are tough and going down in line size means loosing fish, it is difficult to land a 200 pound fish on 50 pound, but You have to get bit in order to catch.  Pressured fish learn quick.  I don't know how, or if they are smart or not, but I do know they adapt to pressure.  15 years ago an angler in my area would use 200 lbs mono leaders, thought kites were toys for kids, and wouldn't even know where to get a helium tank filled.  Now even the small panga commercial fisherman have kites, helium, and fish light floro carbon.  The fish have adapted some how, even if they do have small brains.  

     I can only guess that the chance of a bass being line shy in clear water with slow moving lures would be higher when compared to fast moving lures especially lures on the surface.  As others have said heavy line that would impede action or fall rate will have much greater negative effect than line visibility.  In the muddy water I bass fish, I assume line visibility is not a factor.

      One more opinion formed from actual experimentation in a swimming pool.   Braided line is highly visible no matter what color.  In clear water white braid is the hardest to see especially looking toward the surface.  Green is the most visible in a pool, but obviously may be the least visible mixed in with green vegetation or on a dark bottom ( I don't think using a black marker to mark the last few feet of line will help. Doesn't everyone say bass see black worms best?)  Floro is less visible than mono, but not by much with my human eyes.  I don't know how the fish see it, but I do know even poor Mexican commercial fisherman spend their hard earned money on very expensive  fluorocarbon and the only reason is for visibility.

[gim]

Line color is a variable I can control, whether or not the bass can see my braided line, and whether or not it matters.  So I will control that variable, especially in clear water.

[The Maestro]

Necro-bumping this thread. I know it's been beat to death but I'm still curious. Does anyone feel they've experienced anything that constitutes anything close to definitive proof that they've gotten more bites on flouro or mono vs. straight braid?

[PressuredFishing]

On 3/18/2007 at 6:57 PM, Shakes said:

I started using braided line last fall when the fishing started to die down. I love it for a few different reasons.

1) It has zero line memory.

2) Casts like a dream

3) Same diameter as fluro

4) Strong as hell

 

 

41 minutes ago, The Maestro said:

Necro-bumping this thread. I know it's been beat to death but I'm still curious. Does anyone feel they've experienced anything that constitutes anything close to definitive proof that they've gotten more bites on flouro or mono vs. straight braid?

Yes

[BassNJake]

47 minutes ago, The Maestro said:

Necro-bumping this thread. I know it's been beat to death but I'm still curious. Does anyone feel they've experienced anything that constitutes anything close to definitive proof that they've gotten more bites on flouro or mono vs. straight braid?

Yes, however like everything in fishing there are times and situations where one is better than another

 

I fished lake erie for the first time and was told to bring the smallest line I had as we would be drop shotting all day. I spooled up with 4 or 6 lb test mono. My boater was smashing them and I didn't get a bite until i picked up one of his rods with a higher lb test flourocarbon. From that moment on we both smashed them.

 

You will see many people who fish lake erie and have great success with mono

My experience was different and shaped my opinions.

Was it the fish being able to see or not see the line or was it my ability to detect bites better with flouro? I'm not sure but I've never had confidence with mono since.

 

Smallmouth VS largemouth and clear water VS dirty water is usually when I make my choices

[volzfan59]

I've stopped using floro completely, just don't like it. I, with few exceptions use only mono. One the rods that I use braid, it's high vis yellow with the last 20' or so darkened with a sharpie marker. I do just fine with those set ups.

[Largemouth Hunter]

I think YES bass can see braid and YES it does matter. I tried switching to braid for all the benefits mentioned: 0 stretch, better sensitivity, better hook sets, fewer lost baits in heavy timber/cover, and fewer backlashes with a BC rig. However I didn't just dive willy nilly into braid by swapping out all my BC combos from mono to braid. My main concern was visibility - Could the bass see the line and did it matter?

So I conducted a methodical experiment by fishing the same exact bait the same exact way in an area where I knew there were bass to be had, from my 18’ bass boat. I used 2 identical BC combos. Combo 1 had 10 lb. mono and Combo 2 had 20 lb. braid. I wanted to give the braid the best chance possible so I did not exceed 20 lb., which still has a smaller diameter than the 10 lb. mono on Combo 1.

To avoid skewed data due to changing environmental conditions, I fished each combo for exactly 10 minutes, then switched to the other combo. I did this by using a timer on my phone (extra time was allotted to the next combo if more time was needed to land and release a fish, if the timer went off when a fish was on).

Research was conducted over several weeks in varying conditions but data was gathered with one constant - water clarity was clear throughout the experiment. I fished a clear lake where visibility was 15-18 feet, to give bass the best opportunity to see the lines used.

I used the following baits in many different types of structure and cover, with varying presentation methods: Spinnerbaits, stickbaits, soft plastics, jigs and cranks.

The mono used was Trilene XL low vis green line which is all I fish with.

Results: The mono out-fished the braid more than 2 to 1. 47 bass were caught on 6 outings. 32 were taken on mono while only 15 were taken on braid. That is compelling to me and I can only conclude that yes bass can see braid and yes they do care about the matter.

 The results may have been different in off colored water but the data tells the tale in clear water.

Of course this was hardly scientific for a number of reasons, such as the fact that the data would have been more conclusive had I boated more bass on more outings. Nonetheless it did give me enough data to make a more informed decision to stick with mono over braided line, as I am convinced mono will boat more largemouth bass going forward than will braided line.

And yes I realize there are some situations some of the time where the angler is better off with braided fishing line. However with the possible exception of murky water, it appears mono will catch more bass than braid in varying conditions using various baits and various presentation methods.

[MN Fisher]

Steve Rogers did a short test of various line visibility under different conditions...results are a little surprising. 6 minutes total

 

[Bigbox99]

18 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Steve Rogers did a short test of various line visibility under different conditions...results are a little surprising. 6 minutes total

 

Interesting that his entire video shows that mono and fluorocarbon lines appear nearly visually identical yet he claims that the advertising that fluoro is less visible is true.

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, Bigbox99 said:

Interesting that his entire video shows that mono and fluorocarbon lines appear nearly visually identical yet he claims that the advertising that fluoro is less visible is true.

I ran the vid full screen on my 24" monitor - and what he says is true...the FC was a little less visible than the Mono - not extravagantly so, but enough that there is a difference.

[Bigbox99]

15 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I ran the vid full screen on my 24" monitor - and what he says is true...the FC was a little less visible than the Mono - not extravagantly so, but enough that there is a difference.

A little less visible but mostly identical does not match up to the advertising claims of invisible.  If its "nearly invisible to fish" or "the fish can't see it" then so is mono.  The fluoro looks like the mono in all frames of that video except one weird angle where it is possible that the frame of the test rig was illuminating the line.  This comes from someone who fishes fluoro almost exclusively.  I'm shocked how they appear nearly identical. Maybe it's the youtube compression but I won't be overlooking mono in the future.

[Choporoz]

On 3/18/2007 at 9:57 PM, Shakes said:

Can bass see my braided line? Does it matter?.

 

On 3/20/2007 at 10:59 AM, Shad_Master said:

This is a debate that will probably rage on for as long as this forum is up and running.

17 years of advancements in lines, bass behavior research, knowledge sharing, etc....and not even a little bit closer to answers or consensus

[bulldog1935]

@Choporoz consensus on BR is an oxymoron.  

[FishTank]

[Obi_Wan]

Trout can be line shy.  I don't know if I've ever seen bass be line shy.  I guess they could be at times, but if you can catch them on an Alabama rig with all that wire, then some braid should be no big deal.  I have used straight braid (faded pink) with no issues whatsoever.

[JackstrawIII]

The one thing nobody ever talks about in these discussions is the bass's ability to "feel" things in the water (including fishing line) with their lateral line system. I'm guessing that mono, fluoro, braid all feel somewhat similar to the bass depending on line diameter? 

[dodgeguy]

On 9/2/2021 at 9:15 AM, Tatsu Dave said:

This is how I fish as well, no leader's and tied direct. I don't care much about studies and tests that may not be anything like my areas. Son just switched to braid (30lb sufix camo) all he will fish with now. Does it effect his fishing compared to mine with 10# flouro in the same water and boat same diameter w/both lines? YES and he's noticing it of course..........everyday since he left the flouro he has trailed me big time on fish catching, for sure. I caught 3 smallies to every one he caught with the same plastic lure and hook, same color, only difference is line. He thinks its cause the line quickly faded to a light tan color and is very visible in the water while mine is very hard to see. Could it be effecting the action he imparts to his lure compared to me? Maybe but I'm a results driven kind of guy that believes if its working don't mess with it. Only place I feel out lined is when he horses one out of thick stuff where visibility is not much of an issue, otherwise he has fallen out of the sucess ratio he was at. Trolling-casting-deadsticking-power fishing-and top water all worse........he is the king of the heavy weeds and pads however. Don't care why just care about results.......thats my study, why does all the braid fade away on color so fast to require magic marker? See Fins claiming their's is the only braid to hold dark colors, Thats my question...........Dave

If he's in back and ur in front u will catch more  if your presentation is better than his u will catch more. Get him Vicious No Fade Braid then his line won't change color.

[Bazoo]

On 3/20/2007 at 9:23 AM, Stringjam said:

There was a scientific study that PROVED bass develop avoidance behaviors to seeing line....... and the line used in the study was 8 lb. test of various colors.  Bottom line - bass have to survive, and they will learn to avoid things that they experience as a threat - that includes seeing line.

I think many times we try to relate to bass by giving them "human reasoning"  - remember, they aren't humans, they are predators of a completely different medium, and they have been given the tools to survive there.        

Even without the study, I've proved to myself the theory by sitting on top of schools of fish and using braid vs. braid with a leader.  The results were obvious, especially in the clear conditions I commonly fish in - the fish had no problem seeing and avoiding the braid.

I don't suppose you have the link to that article/study? That'd be interesting.

 

I asked before reading page 2, sorry.

[fishhugger]

i haven't read this whole thread, but a lot of it is human beings (the posters) looking at videos or different types of lines --------------  how a human sees is very different from how a bass sees.  for example, how does a cat see, or a dog..............or a bat...........  the ultimate to me would be picturing how a bass sees, which happens to be underwater.........  and then taking into account the different types of fishing line - from mr lmb's perspective.

[PaulVE64]

Somehow my bass are more worried about the line than the three huge treble hooks hanging off my bait 

[N Florida Mike]

I definitely get less bites with braid. I don’t do leaders either , for a few reasons. I dont like Floro  , So its fishing mono that gives me the most bites, I use Braid  mostly for frogs and flipping, but thats it…

 

[TnRiver46]

They can see anything , sometimes they care sometimes they don’t. Not an exact science.

 

 

Bluegill strike where your line touches the water all the time 

[Bird]

The only reason I use a fluorocarbon leader is the confidence boost.

 

Moving baits can be thrown on a tow chain ⛓️ 😂