Line Watching ?

[Big Mike]

Bob, I am a jig fisherman and a line watcher, I use 4#,6# and 8# Trilene XL. I have used the clear version my whole life, when I hit 60 the eyes started to go and I have been using the clear blue fluorescent version of the Trilene XL ever since. Since I can see the line so well I am wondering if the fish can see it also, it says it is "visible above water but disappears underwater", Bob, is there actual proof of this ? With your connections to Berkley would you be able to find this out and if there is a "side by side" test that shows the 2 lines under water I would be very interested to know the answer. Thanks for always sharing your fishing knowledge, here and on TV.

[Big Mike]

Bob, I am a jig fisherman and a line watcher, I use 4#,6# and 8# Trilene XL. I have used the clear version my whole life, when I hit 60 the eyes started to go and I have been using the clear blue fluorescent version of the Trilene XL ever since. Since I can see the line so well I am wondering if the fish can see it also, it says it is "visible above water but disappears underwater", Bob, is there actual proof of this ? With your connections to Berkley would you be able to find this out and if there is a "side by side" test that shows the 2 lines under water I would be very interested to know the answer. Thanks for always sharing your fishing knowledge, here and on TV.

[zpeters73]

I know this is addressed to Bob, but I'll tell you my own opinion about line color - it doesn't make a hill of beans worth of difference. If fish knew what fishing line was, no one would ever catch a fish. Lots of pros use the neon green XT "solar" line and others use the bright green fireline for pitching jigs. Guides use the bright green line too.

I think what you are talking about is even less obnoxious than the bright green stuff, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[zpeters73]

I know this is addressed to Bob, but I'll tell you my own opinion about line color - it doesn't make a hill of beans worth of difference. If fish knew what fishing line was, no one would ever catch a fish. Lots of pros use the neon green XT "solar" line and others use the bright green fireline for pitching jigs. Guides use the bright green line too.

I think what you are talking about is even less obnoxious than the bright green stuff, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Wally Walski]

Hello Big Mike: Ive used high visability line for the past ten years or more. I also like to see the line and I find no advantage to the clear lines. Ive used stren golden line, works great, a pink fibre glow line from Maxima works great , Berkley solar xt works great,and other hi vis lines. I know a striped bass guide from Arkansas that uses the cajun red line. If I feel I need to go invisible I tie on a fluorocarbon leader. Good Luck W. W.

[Wally Walski]

Hello Big Mike: Ive used high visability line for the past ten years or more. I also like to see the line and I find no advantage to the clear lines. Ive used stren golden line, works great, a pink fibre glow line from Maxima works great , Berkley solar xt works great,and other hi vis lines. I know a striped bass guide from Arkansas that uses the cajun red line. If I feel I need to go invisible I tie on a fluorocarbon leader. Good Luck W. W.

[Bob Jensen]

Sorry I'm so late in responding to this great question. I was gone most of the past week.

I've seen underwater comparisons of hi-vis to low-vis lines and the hi-vis is nowhere near as visible underwater as it is above water. Low-vis lines like Trilene Fluorocarbon are truly invisible underwater, hi-vis lines seem to be a little visible but not too much.

Do the fish care about the line visibility. Most of the time probably not. I've fished Solar color lots and it never adversely affected the catch.

If you're using a fairly fast presentation, like trolling crankbaits, hi-vis won't hurt your catch and some say it helps. Some anglers think the hi-vis line gets the fish's attention, then your crankbait zips through the area and they eat it.

If I was live-bait rigging walleyes, I would prefer a low-vis snell, but hi-vis line on your reel wouldn't hurt a thing.

Great question, and we probably won't know for certain if the fish get spooked by hi-vis line until the fish start talking, and I don't think that is going to happen. However, I think you can use hi-vis line with no concern about it spooking fish.

Thanks for the question, hope the thoughts provided are helpful. Also thanks to the others who provided their thoughts.

Best Fishes,

[Big Mike]

Thanks to all that responded !!! You have given me confidence to stick with the hi-vis line !!!

[Thalweg]

While most of the time the line visibility makes no difference, I have seen first had that it can. A couple of years ago I and my brother were fishing the Mississippi jigging for walleye. My brother was catching far more fish than I was. I changed to the same jig, mimmiced his jigging motion, etc. Nothing helped. I was using yellow Fireline and he had clear XL on his reel. I thought to myself that there was no way the line made a difference in the dirty waters of the "Big Muddy". Finally after a couple of hours of scratching my head, I switched to a spool of XL. I immediately started catching as many fish as he was. Since then, if I need to use high vis line while jigging, I will tie on a mono/flouro leader. Maybe it was the fact it was braided line more than the fact it was yellow but I don't take the chance any more.

[Bob Jensen]

You could be right about the braided line thing. FireLine has no stretch, XL has stretch. If you matched the motion of mono with FireLine, you may have been moving the jig more with the FireLine than with the mono, and that may have been turning the fish off.

Then again, maybe the line color was the issue.

Thanks for sharing your experience. When it comes to fishing, we just never know for sure.

Best Fishes,