Can bass see my braided line? Does it matter?

[bocabasser]

well said shadmaster. i too would like to read that "scientific study" to actually believe it. i use braid in both fresh and saltwater, and only in salt do i use a flouro leader.

[Stringjam]

Stringjam, can you tell where this "scientific study" was done, who did it and where we can see the results?  If there is "proof" out there, then I may change my mind -- without it I think this is just a debatable topic and each person has to make up his own mind.

I don't have the study - I read about the study in a response when the same question was posed to In-Fisherman contributor Ralph Manns.  I can pm you his email addy if you would like to inquire about the experiment.    

[SPAZ]

I will be using a fleuro leader this year for the first time.  How long should the leader be?  I was thinking 12" leader.

[Shad_Master]

Thanks stringjam I will look for it -- sounds interesting.

[RoLo]

Interesting point RoLo, but what about neutral bass. Most bass are in a neutral mode most of the time. Dont you think it pays to up the odds in your favor as much as possible, including going with as near as invisible a line as possible. That being said maybe Gerald Swindle got it right and we all over think the whole fishing thing, its still only a fish with a pea sized brain.

You make a good point, 0119

To my mind at least, bass in a neutral disposition are more inclined NOT to sieze a lure,

so the most positive influence would be a morsel that makes Slow Vulnerable progress

and spends a lot of time within easy striking distance. By itself, I can't imagine that fine-diameter fluorocarbon line

will light the fire of bass in a neutral to negative mood. In any case, the debate rages on

Roger

[Catt]

So tell me during all these studies what lake was that on?  

[Baconstrip]

Try using a 12-18" cajun line leader.  If the fish still aren't biting, it may be because you are using the wrong lure for the water temperature.  I can tell you, the water is freezing here in Indiana and the fish are barely active.  They bite on 3/16 jigs with extremely small trailers and not much else.  

[extreme1018]

well i consider myself a pro with braided line. there are some do's and some don'ts with braided line that you must adhere to if you want success. the same goes with mono but we will talk about braid. i started using briad way back when the first spiderwire came out in the 90's. it was moss green and out of the pack it had the most wonderful green color. it was also, if some of you old time braid users remember, a "flat braid". it wasn't round like the briads of today are. braided line will lose its color and turn white with use and this is your main problem with braided line. as for the part about wether the fish care, go out and buy yourself a copy of Homer Circle's BASS WISDOM. $14.95 i think. most bookstores carry it. in it you will leard tha bass can have "personality" differences and intelligence differences just as humans do and all other creatures on the planet. theirs are just not as complex as humans.look for the section where he talks about the fish that were tagged in a lake and you will learn some things you never knew. any wayhere are your keys to success with briad.

use a much lighter size 50lb is like winch cable. its just way to heavy for freshwater use. bass spook easy. do you think a bass is goin to eat your fake plastic lure after it just watched its favorite stump or tree limb get dragged away because you didnt want to lose a 5 dollar plug{less than 1 dollar for plastic worms}go with something much lighter. and dont be afraid to break or cut your line!!!!!if you cut it go back and get it later when you are done for the day

go to walmart or target and get the big pack of sharpies with all the different colors. you will need a few of them. black, a couple shades of the darker green colors, brown shades,and a carolina blue one. experiment with how the colors mix and use them to put color back in your line. its like camo for braid. ma

if you choose to use a mono leader remember to retie the joining knot frequently and especially after you land a bigone.

you might want to consider a different type of supleline such as berkley fireline. it does not fade and as available in mush lighter sizes. i prefer 8 and 10 lb myself. it also gives the same ran over a brick with a lawnmower feel like the spiderwire does. also remember that braid digs in on the spool when subjected to some hard tugging.

also remember that you dont have to set the hook as hard because the line does not stretch

using these tips should help alot. especially the fireline( the jury is still out on the new crystal though)i like the smoke color

let us know your results on the water

[heathen]

If you look in the fishes world, with the exception of some very clear non-fertile lakes. They see green grass, green lily pads, green moss, green fungus, green gorilla snot, strings of green slim floating around all the time. And they see little fishes eating it all the time. All they see is another piece of green something every time they see green braid. I use up to 65lb braid even in clear water and can honestly say it has never been a deterrent to my catching.

We put giant hooks in little worms and big treble hooks on crank baits with slit rings, and fish spinner baits with 45 gauge wire holding it all together. Then worry about if the fish can see our line.

Watch in-fishermen then they are showing under water footage of trolling crank baits. Almost all you can see is hooks flapping back and forth.

I know they can see my green braid, but its natural to them. If them big hooks and metal every thing else don't stop them from eating a bait, a piece of green slim hanging out of the mouth of what their fixing to eat won't bother then either.

That being said, I stick with green because it is natural and stay away from yellows and oranges just incase I'm a little off in my opinion. But not because I'm concerned with them seeing it. I'm concerned that the unnatural color might make a difference. Because they don't see long stringy orange and yellow things floating in their world excluding fly fishermen and a few other anglers

[lubina]

> Can bass see my braided line?

   Sure

> Does it matter?

  Nah

I feel the same way but in clear waters I use a fluoro leader....confident factor

[flyphisher #]

As far as the line breaking off at the lure.....ALWAYS wrap the line around the hookeye,etc. twice!!!!! then tie your knot. Unless you fish clear water, a leader isnt needed. When you add a leader, you add another knot that WILL fail at some point, alot of time the braid will eventually cut the mono or flourocarbon. I use an Albright knot when i do add a leader.

[TR186FLA]

Very Interesting thread... River Warior,, very good points.. On a regular basis I fish Ansin Garcia in Central FLA,, clear / light tea stained water.. u can see the bottom to 4 / 5 feet in the flats and we always use braid ( 40 to 50 pound power pro ) when fishing lippless crankbaits and the number of fish my buddie catches , who fishes this water every weekend.. is in the hundreds over the past few month, granted this is a fast moving bait,, so I do not think braid makes a differnence.. Here is Jax I live on a 3 1/2 acre lake that is pretty close to gin clear and have lcaught ots of bass on soft plastics and crank baits on braid.. however I am going to start trying a florocarbon leader and see if my catches increase when fishing soft plastics... thanks for all the tips,, great post...

[RecMar8541]

Just my 2 pennies here.  We worry about bait color, rate of fall, size of bait, presentation, etc etc.  I think to say that the fish just dont care about seeing the line is only as accurate as the aggresiveness of the fish.  I believe a very aggresive bass wouldnt care, however, I believe Bass spend a very short part of the day in the "frenzy" mode, and for the most part are oportunistic feeders in "neutral" Mode.

Having said that, I would want to stack every odd in my favor.  

I tried a bit of an test myself on old joe...who is actually old josephine lol.  She lives by a lillypad at the end of my doc.  I dropped a rubber bait to her about 15-20 times with some washed out braid I had.  She swam up, and swam away.  Then I dropped her a bait with mono, she grabbed it the first time.  I didnt set the hook, as I kinda like the old girl there, and its her home.  But it did prove to me that it makes a difference.  

I wont be giving up my braid, but I will be using a leader ALWAYS.  If it made a difference in this one strike, that I could see and control, then how many other times does it have bearing on a fish during the day, when you cant see?  

[jemstone90]

Catching 250-500 large mouth, and dozens of 5-15 Lbs northern a year on pieces of plastic with a couple of steel treble hooks dangling from it fastened to a steel leader and aqua green or moss green Power Pro Slick8 braided line, and without going into the thousands of pan fish I pick up off the dock every year, I think you are giving fish more credit than they deserve. I have converted EVERY reel I have to at least 15LB braided after loosing at least 7 BIG fish 2 years ago using mono line and mono Lindy rig worm harnesses. This year I am trying the High Vis yellow Nanofil 10Lb on a couple of my ultra Lights and High Vis yellow Slick8 30Lb another reel.

[Big Swimbait]

I've said this before. The A-rig was banned in many tournaments for being too effective, & it looks like a wad of coat hangers coming through the water. I believe lure color & presentation matter much more. If I'm fishing a moving bait with braid, I just wait until the rod loads up & do a reel set.

[WRB]

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

 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Yes and no. 

[flechero]

On 3/19/2007 at 8:32 AM, Shakes said:

 I find it just overall more valuable then fluro.

 

A reduction in catch rate should be factored into the "value" of you line....  Free braid that keeps you from losing a lure isn't worth squat if you stop catching fish.  Mono or flouro  that catches fish and costs you the occasional lure is a better value in my mind.  At a minimum you should learn to tie a short leader onto the braid- often that's all you need for shy fish. 

[S-T-R-I-K-E-R]

when I was fishing on the bank I could see a grp of suspended bass near some cover, I casted past them so I would not spook them when my t rig landed. on the retrieve of my rig, my braided main line passed between the fishes and they bolted away as soon as it crossed them. the next week, on the same spot with the same lure... I used a fluorocarbon line. and the results were better... I was able to get the lure between them. as they did not seem to react to my main line... however they did not strike my lure. but that's a different story.

Quote

 

 

[smalljaw67]

I use braid only for heavy flipping and frogs and both have no leaders. That said, the frogs are on top and in weeds and the flipping is in heavily stained water so the leader matters not. Now, I know Florida guys and other parts of the county there is np problem with line shyness in fish, but fish for smallmouth up my way with braid and any less than a 2' leader you may as well try to catch them with your hands, you'll have more success. The same thing with largemouth in some of the spring fed lakes, these aren't large lakes but the stay relatively clear and get a decent amount of fishing pressure. In these waters you can't fish straight braid, even when the fish are aggressive it matters. The most success we have with straight braid is with fast moving baits and even then, I had my buddy 7-1, I had 21 fish and he totaled 3 in 6 hours, he broke off and lost his leader on his first cast and didn't bring any leader material with him and so we decided to see what difference it made. I got bit quick and established a patter so my buddy followed and we used the same bait in the same color, and my buddy tried changing speed, tried fishing a different depth and while he managed 3 it wasn't until we found a good spot. 7-1 isn't so bad but at one point I had 14 and he didn't get a bite, it was when we found a small stump field with weeds is when he finally was able to catch. That may sound far fetched but that wasn't a fluke, it happens all the time in the waters I fish, guys will be cutting off lures and tying on different ones and when that leader gets down to about 16" or so you really see a sharp decline in bites, and when you get to 12" the bite will almost be nonexistent and when you go back to a 3' leader it is like a switch flipped on, you will begin to get bit again. The thing I'm describing happens on pressured water that is clear most of the time and on waters with smallmouth that are also clear, I hate fluorocarbon but you can usually fish heavier fluorocarbon and have no problem but if I go over 8# mono my bite drops off just as if I was using braid. So depending on your water it can really make a difference, especially if the fish are pressured, the water is clear, or both.

[Deleted account]

On 3/18/2007 at 9:57 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

After a few days of fishing, about 5 feet of the leading line tied to the lure is discolored. It looks worn but still holds up fine. I use the moss green color, and when it fades it starts to appear almost white. Its Power Pro #50 test, but Power Pro also makes the same line in a hi-vis yellow. Can they see it?

In the past MONTH, I've caught 2 bass. 2! I've thrown spinnerbaits of all shapes and colors, jigs, soft plastics, cranks, traps, buzzbaits, even jerkbaits. I've gone out to the local lake at least 4 times a week for about 3 hours per trip. What's goin on? I don't want to sound cocky but I can catch the hell out of some fish... and now I can't get a bite! Any tips would be so appreciated. Needin' some help here.

 

Yes, they can see it. No it won't affect the catching because of it. Braid can affect the catching for other reasons though. Oh, and thanks for the "I'm a great angler, but need help from the InterWeb®" and "braid has the same diameter as flouro" things, made my morning...

[adrenalnjunky]

4 hours ago, reason said:

 

Yes, they can see it. No it won't affect the catching because of it. Braid can affect the catching for other reasons though. Oh, and thanks for the "I'm a great angler, but need help from the InterWeb®" and "braid has the same diameter as flouro" things, made my morning...

Too bad OP hasn't visited the forum in 7 years. 

[RoLo]

 

By now, everyone knows that the sight of braided line scares the dung out of bass, So here's what I do:

> Tie 80-lb braided line directly to a 3/4 oz bank sinker (NO LURE)

> Now make a long cast parallel to the bank, and retrieve the sinker about 1½ ft off the shoreline.

> The sight of 80-lb braid will ignite a crazed frenzy, and bass will beach themselves all along the shore.

> Now simply stroll the shoreline and toss the stunned bass into a bag.

 

Be careful though, when using this method it's easy to exceed the daily 'BAG' limit

Remember, you heard it here first!                          (I'll be here every night this week)

 

Roger

 

 

[fishindad]

1. I assume the OP is doing everything exactly the same whether it is moss green 50lb. braid or high-vis 50lb. braid. And he has caught lots of fish on moss green. Therefore it eliminates anything he's doing differently presentation-wise.

 

2. Up on Lake St Clair, guys fish for skis with 80lb. braid and 100lb. wire leaders. They catch muskies. They also catch incidental and overly aggressive walleyes and smallies.

 

3. I doubt the average person, with 20/20 vision, snorkeling in the clear waters up in Michigan could discern braided line more than 30ft away on a fast-moving lure. You'd first see the lure moving and then if you focused on the line attached...maybe. But the lure would draw your attention first.

 

4. Ever hear of ice fishermen using tip-ups with big suckers for pike? They often use braided line straight to a multi-hook rig and the bait is suspended down the hole. They catch monster pike.

 

5. Never fished for 'em but I'll bet if you dragged half a live tuna on 1/2" cable or rope with a ginormous hook stuck in it, a great white shark would have no hesitation wanting to eat that thing. I doubt they're thinking about being hooked in the jaw.

 

So yes, we give fish may too much credit for thinking. Fishing reaction baits, I honestly don't think fish see the line (or hooks) or even care. For smaller baits and for finesse fishing, I agree the light(er) line will give more action to the bait/lure and entice more bites than with 50lb. braid. But if a fish is hungry enough they're going to eat the bait. If they aren't in a feeding mood, well then you better make them strike out of aggression or have some live bait on board. And even that's no guarantee.

[BassThumb]

More and more, I'm thinking we give bass way too much credit. Truthfully, it seems they're pretty d**n dumb, just creatures of habit and instinct.