Fishing Line

sharkman · December 16, 2016, 05:04:38 PM

Does the color of monofilament line matter when using a fluorocarbon leader? I have read many articles on the subject and testing some on my on. The only have only been a couple of times that I have seen a difference. In shallow water my wife was using clear mono with fluoro leader and I was using braid with fluoro leader. I caught more fish but the fish she caught tending to be larger. Deep sea (150 feet) I was using clear line and clear leader and caught more than guy using blue line and clear leader. The only time that this didn't hold true was in brackish water. I used braid and pink leader and friend used mono and clear leader. I caught more and larger fish. Was these times truly the line or other factors?

MarkT · December 16, 2016, 05:30:08 PM

I personally don't think it makes a difference. I go from spectra to a leader of mono or fluoro of 3-4'. I tend to catch more than most.

Bryan Young · December 16, 2016, 05:47:08 PM

I think it's more of the presentation than anything else, but what do I know...

We have a friend, Dr. Colin Kageyama, that says otherwise. His book can be purchased on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/What-Fish-See-Colin-Kageyama/dp/1571881409). I believe he was also a consultant of Mepps. He is the one that also developed the lure color chart that those big companies illegally copied for lure color selection. Anyway, Dr. Kageyama may say otherwise.

He is an avid fisherman and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area as well.

alantani · December 16, 2016, 06:15:39 PM

i used pink segaur fluoro on this last trip. we had five big tuna, one on the troll, one at 3:30am on smoke colored 130 pound p-line, and the last three under early morning light with pink fluoro. you never know if it will make a difference, but i have no problem spending the extra money. hey, i was willing to toss a bunch of bananas overboard!!!!!

MarkT · December 16, 2016, 06:33:45 PM

Don't toss the bananas overboard on the SoA trip. I like them and need the potassium!

Gfish · December 16, 2016, 06:54:56 PM

There's gotta be a alotta variables, as to what might influence the "EAT"/"DON'T EAT" response of fish. Many fisherpeople believe line visibility's one a the deciding factors. Fluro. vs mono, thick or thin, colors n' light... In clear warm waters, I believe it is. With "educated" fish in "catch & release" waters, it's just gotta be.
Need some kinda scientific test to be sure. Can't even imagine how to set up somethin like that up. Probably been done before. Never herd of it, though...
Gfish

sharkman · December 16, 2016, 07:36:00 PM

One of my fishing buddies told me it was all a gimmick that if the fisherman or woman believed it was going to work they were more confident and caught more fish. His reference was people caught world record fish on linen and Dacron line and both were very visible.

Bryan Young · December 16, 2016, 07:57:26 PM

Quote from: MarkT on December 16, 2016, 06:33:45 PM
Don't toss the bananas overboard on the SoA trip. I like them and need the potassium!

Me too.

oc1 · December 16, 2016, 08:43:59 PM

Different fish species in different habitats have different vision and see color differently. Some fish can see ultraviolet while others cannot. Some are very sensitive to light polarization while others are not. Some bounce light back through the retina (use the light wave twice) to see in low light and others have double cones. Some can see blue and others cannot. We humans cannot really imagine what fish vision is all about so it is difficult to study.
-steve

MarkT · December 16, 2016, 09:04:50 PM

I find that YT don't care but that Tuna sometimes do and that Fluoro can make a big difference. On my 10 day I never used Fluoro but on my 1.5 - 5 day trips I do. I caught 3 BFT Tuna this year all on a short mono leader tied to spectra. Go figure.

Reinaard van der Vossen · December 17, 2016, 12:30:58 AM

I would say that it depends very much on the situation, where you fish, what species, weather (clouded or sunny) how deep etc etc.

In one part of the Med I can catch BFT with 130 lb fluoro leader of 8-10 m length with spliced into a 130 LB white hollow spectra of 10 ft into a clear 100m 100lb topshot. In another part I have no chance withthis setup and need to go more stealth with 80 lb or lower blue smoke topshot and a much shorter but thinner (80 lb max) clear fluorcarbon with a tiny swivel.

In other parts it just doesn't seem to matter, they eat anything

bill19803 · December 17, 2016, 01:27:28 AM

Back in the day when we had some serious tuna fishing here in the east i did a test mono leader vs floro leader all else the same. was using 8 ft leaders to swivel to 80 jinkai mainline. it was sight fishing on a school 25 feet from boat. fish seemed to shy away from mono took old seaguar readily. seem to remember score was 4 or 5 for seaguar 1 for mono (jinkai 80) since then i ALWAYS use flouro, preferably no stretch variety for everything i fish for. works for me fine. in fact for big fish i use most of a spool of flouro as a top shot with egg sinkers to swivel to 8 ft flouro. might be overkill but if fish runs under the boat the flouro will save the day with its abrasive resistance.
just passing on personal experience, not an expert by any means, but i gotta have flouro on the end and for under the boat.

sharkman · December 17, 2016, 04:47:57 AM

Thanks guys for the personal experiences. I think they are more reliable than speculated science. I just thought of something can you imagine being a fish under a party boat. All of a sudden 30 balls of lead fall from the sky and food is everywhere. Fish are dodging a spiderweb of line except for the ones the can't see.

mley1 · December 29, 2016, 05:51:45 AM

Where I fish the water is usually not as clear as it is where you guy's fish for Tuna. The sharks, rays, bull reds and such that I catch usually don't care what color line you have, how thick it is, or whether it's mono or braid. What they DO care about is the bait. They care whether it's fresh, live, or whether it's a pin fish or sand trout. The fish care about the bait. I can't count the number of times I'd be fishing for drum with mullet, and catch nothing, NADA, not a bite. Pull up the line, and put on half a blue crab, it gets hit within minutes of hitting the bottom. That's why I'll generally have a variety of baits. Sometimes they want live bait. Sometimes a specific type of live bait. The fish will tell you what they're hungry for. Usually, it'll be something local. So, I'm always looking to MATCH the HATCH so to speak, just like the fly fishermen.

mley1 · December 29, 2016, 05:56:13 AM

I'll add that you have to put the bait where the fish are, and want it. If they're on the bottom in a hole, you can't catch them at mid depth, or on top with a cork. If they're cruising the top of the water column, you can't catch them with your bait sitting on the bottom, or drifting at mid depth in the current. You gotta put it where the fish are, and want it.

I have had folks in the same boat complain they're not catching fish, yet I am. They'll be fishing with live shrimp on the surface with a cork. And, I'll be on bottom with a live croaker. I'll be nailing the trout and reds. Yet, they won't switch. They'll swear that the shrimp should be catching them. Then, since it's their boat, they'll move to a different location to try their shrimp. LOL, I get a chuckle out of it sometimes. Shucks, I've even fished with some guys who moved because they didn't want to catch bull reds, and weren't catching trout. They were after trout, and didn't want to fool with bull reds cause you can't eat them. Luckily, I caught six bull reds before we moved. LOL.