Do you think bass can see your line?

[Needemp]

Do you think bass can see your line:

1. In clear water

2. In stained water

3. Mono

4. Braided (superlines)

5. Florocarbon

[CJ]

If you can see it in the water,they can see it.That is what I have been told.

[Lightninrod]

I know they can Let me explain; I use a 100% fluro line 90% of the time and I have watched fingerling Bass nip at my line............................where it comes out of the water! Underwater..................well, since fluro has almost the same light index as water, it's almost invisable................underwater.

Dan

[Valascus]

Depending on how well you match you line color to the water clarity, I would imagine they could see it. They could probably still see even the best matched line to water clarity...maybe not as well, but they probably still could. I don't really ever worry about it too much. I have heard that MOST largemouths are not line shy anyway. There are exceptions of course. Clear water could possibly be one. I try to use as small diameter line as I can get away with using depending on the size of fish in the area and types of cover or structure I'll be fishing just in case though.

I am not sure, but I have heard smallmouths can be a whole different animal when it comes to line shyness. I might be wrong though. Just though I remembered hearing that somewhere. RW, can you clarify please?  :-?

[Captain Cali]

I know they can  Let me explain;  I use a 100% fluro line 90% of the time and I have watched fingerling Bass nip at my line............................where it comes out of the water!  Underwater..................well, since fluro has almost the same light index as water, it's almost invisable................underwater.

Dan

I don't use fluorocarbon but I have noticed the same thing. Little bass will hit the line where it enters the water. This happens all the time.

[Marty]

There's little doubt in my mind that line is visible, some more so than others, and some more so in different water clarities. The real question, to my way of thinking, is how line visibility affects the fishing, if indeed, it affects it at all.

[VekolBass]

I know they can Let me explain; I use a 100% fluro line 90% of the time and I have watched fingerling Bass nip at my line............................where it comes out of the water! Underwater..................well, since fluro has almost the same light index as water, it's almost invisable................underwater.

Dan

I don't use fluorocarbon but I have noticed the same thing. Little bass will hit the line where it enters the water. This happens all the time.

Probably what the fish see is the dimple created by the line breaking/interrupting the surface tension of the water. Likely has a similar look to them as the dimple created by the weight of a surface insect. I'm sure bass can see the line, probably even flouorocarbon, but I'm not sure on that one. Just because they see it doesn't mean they understand what it is and what the consequences will be if they get their mouths around that thing the line is attached to.

[liquidsoap]

Well I have heard that the bass can see your line but they are just not line shy.  I fish for steelhead trout up here and you are not using fluorocarbon then you are usually not going to catch one.  I think fluoro has a time and a place for bass but its really not necessary.

[Guest whittler]

Bass see all sorts of things in the water and I beleive they see line but do they see it as a threat?

[Guest avid]

I'm certain they can see the line in most situations.   Night time and highlt stained or chopped water may conceal it.   I think that even though they see the line, they don't necessarily have the smarts to realize that it represents danger to them.  

Still, fishing can be challenging enough so I like to get all the advantage I can.  I don't like flourocarbon line for spooling on a reel, but I will use it as a leader.   I can honestly tell you that I never noticed any difference at all, but it's a confidence thing, and that is a major factor to catching fish.

[5bass]

I agree with Vekol.....maybe older bass relate to what the line actually is but I have my doubts about that also.

[George Welcome]

Of course they can see it: how do you think they catch you?

[Daniel My Brother]

Of course they can see it: how do you think they catch you?

Ha! Good one ;D

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I agree with Avid. A bass will see any line, but not relate that to danger until fooled many times. Bass can be trained. I passed on a link where they were taught to respond to certain color lines using rewards. They can be very stupid about a line. I've watched bass come to my drop-shot fluorocarbon line, look at it, then follow it down. Walleyes will follow it down and take the bait while they're at it, nearly every time.

When I began bassing I used my grandad's equipment, a steel rod, beat up baitcaster, and old braid line. I caught plenty of bass on that setup, in clear water, knowing bass could see that thick, almost yarn-like fuzzy sun-bleached line. I fished lures quickly then, mostly using Heddon River Runts, never hearing about slowing down until the 80s, so maybe all I was getting was reaction bites  :

Jim

[roadwarrior]

I can only go with my own experience and observations, I don't think I have ever seen the "science" behind either schools of thought. It seems to me that largemouth bass are not line shy. I don't fish braid anymore, but when I did I never used a leader and caught largemouth bass and striper alongside guys using monofilament without any noticable differences.

Smallmouth and trout are a different story. I have had three very specific situations where line diameter has had a huge impact on catch ratios, once fishing Gitzits in gin clear water at Bull Shoals, another time fishing live bait for trout on the White River and a third time fishing live bait for smallmouth on the stained waters of the Tennessee River. Three samples does not provide a very scientific basis on which to form a theory, but the results were overwhelming. I use #4 Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft and my partner fishes #6 original Hybrid. We think it makes a difference.

[gatrboy53]

im on the side that bass can see your line and if they do it can affect your percentage of getting bit.im talking about situations where a bass can distinguish the line tied to your lure.in weedy or grassy areas seeing your line isnt as much a factor,but even in stained water bass can see your line if its the wrong line for the application.it doesnt always translate into that fish not biting ,but it can.on reaction baits i feel the fish is not concerned w/ the line as much as the noise or action of the bait,but on finess baits where the bass get to look at your presentation as long as it wants,if its not committed to biting seeing your line could cause it not to bite.i believe most would agree liter line will usually get more bites,i know the action of the liter line is the main contributor but in some instances,if they see it they wont bite whats on the end of it.i know in fishing the rainbow river which is crystal clear i use to try and fish 10# test flouro,my friend fished 6# test,he consitently got more bites than me in the daylite.at nite he would move up to 10# test and continued to get bit, nad my percentages went up as well.

[Shad_Master]

There is so much "stuff" in the water, I can't understand how bass or other fish have time or are inclined to pay much attention to it.  I know they can see it, but they also see line in the water that someone broke off, weeds, moss, etc., etc., etc.  In my humble opinion, too much time is spent worrying about this.  I have caught small mouth bass in 3-4' of crystal clear water on 30# power pro line and watched them track down the lure and eat it.  Probably the reason fish hit line where it enters the water is because of the displacement being created.  If I understand the problem, it is fish can see your line and won't hit the lure -- if so, how to you explain translucent or clear cranks/top waters?

[BLUESKY]

When fishing Lake Geneva in southeastern Wi., an extreemely clear and deep lake, the bass especially the SM are very line shy. when dropshotting it is almost impossable to get bit on anything over 6lb test. Usually I will either use flourocarbon or downsize to 4lb test. the 4lb isnt too much of a problem if the drag is set properly, the only time I have lost fish on the lite line is if it gets wrapped around a bouy line.

[dodgeguy]

There's little doubt in my mind that line is visible, some more so than others, and some more so in different water clarities. The real question, to my way of thinking, is how line visibility affects the fishing, if indeed, it affects it at all.

i gotta agree with marty on this.they can see it but i don't think it matters.i have seen flouro outfish braid and i've seen braid outfish flouro in clear water with both guys using the same lure.it's all a matter of presentation and has nothing to do with line visibility.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Imagine the maze of lines around submerged weeds. Floating strands make lines. Lily pad stems make lines. Like said above there are probably hundreds of miles of fishing line there wherever anglers fish, whether mono, braid, fluorocarbon, or trot lines. Lines are simply a major part of what fish see all day every day. Scuba divers face those lines as a major hazard, something that can entangle them a little too long. Dam inspectors often must slice their way through a wall of line washed down from above and  inhabited by fish.  It's especially hazardous when seen only with a strong lantern beam. Fish see everything down there, so adding one more line isn't going to disrupt it. If the water is clean and clear there's a strong case for fluorocarbon, but beyond that I save my money and use long-lived tough braid and as strong a mono line as I figure it will take to pull a bass out.

There is advantage to matching line color to water or cover color. So, we have available smoke, moss green, red, blue, clear, yellow, gold, brown, fluorescent, etc, some designed simply to let you see the line better under certain light conditions, others to simply be more invisible to fish. There's even a light-emitting line being designed to alert you the line has suffered excess stress. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6984

At least experiment with colored lines. A simple change from clear to brown in murky water, or from clear blue fluorescent to moss green mono or braid in thick hydrilla waters could make a huge difference to you. I don't listen to the always pessimistic folks who laugh at every idea they don't understand yet. But I do pay attention to successful people and am quick to adopt better ways.

If I knew my next pleasure trip or a tournament destination would take me from clear water to algae-bloomed stained hydrilla filled water I'd respool using all moss green mono and braid in several diameters to be better prepared, leaving lines better suited for other conditions on the supply spools stored in the truck. I wouldn't carry fluorocarbon in the boat unless I plannned to drop shot in deep cleaner water there, and would leave the night fishing UV flourescent line home. If I saw a weather report of heavy rain and rising pool, I'd be sure to carry some smoke and brown colored line.

Jim

[flechero]

I think LM bass are just less line shy than say smallmouth or trout.  I have no credible research to back this up but I can say without hesitation there have been many times I had no fish and used the same bait in the same place with lighter line and started catching fish... this is the reason I carry a couple spinning rods in the box with lighter line.  And to those that say the action is better with light line and that is the difference, I'll give you that it helps when a bait is moving but I'm talking about slow t-rig- dragging a worm on the bottom.

I'm also a green line in green water and clear line in clear water guy.  No research on that one either... it just seems to make sense and works for me.  ...lol

[jomatty]

i think the answer, as it usually is, is it depends.  on some bodies of water it seems to make no difference at all and im convinced you could tie on with thick yellow rope and catch fish but on others the fish seem very line shy.  it often seems to be related to water clarity, but not always.  if the water is very clear i will always use a leader on my braid and sometimes it seems to make a difference.  it dosent seem to affect topwater or night fishing at all.  it dosent seem to affect bedfishing.  it dosent seem to have much affect on fast moving baits.  on more finess type presentation, like drop shot and weightless plastics it seems to often have an affect.  any sample size is too small to really form any conclusions as a fisherman though.  we just have to be observant and make our best guesses.  i would think that some scientist would look into this for one of the line companies and let us know what they find, or perhaps they did and did not like the results and thats why we didnt hear about it.

matt

[Matt Fly]

I think in clear waters, size and color are very important.    Until I learned the finesse split shot in Cali, i was hurting for bites in Gin Clear water, thus down sizing the line.

Best time to get away with larger lines is in low light conditions, when light doesn't penatrate as much.

We have seen too many pros going light line in clear waters to think other.  

You will see the same guys beating banks throwing the larger stuff because of vegitation and presentation, I mean, who throws jigs on 6-8lb test when fishing grass mats.

I think, sieze the opportuninty, when muddy or stained, use line that will not brake as easy, and when clear in open water, down size to optimize ever bite.

Play to the strengths of conditions.    Match the conditions to equipment.

Matt.