high vis line

[wylie catter]

New to crappie fishing. I like high vis for catfish. Is there a train of thought on this for crappie? good or bad

I know it doesn't bother bream.

[RTJ214]

A guy at the ramp saw the hi-vis on my poles the other day and ask if it bothered the fish...I used one of Wally Marshalls quotes "The 98 slabs in the live well didn't seem to mind it"! I use hi-vis for spider rigging and tight line jig fishing.

[CrappiePappy]

New to crappie fishing. I like high vis for catfish. Is there a train of thought on this for crappie? good or bad

I know it doesn't bother bream.

The "train of thought" on hi-vis lines for Crappie fishing, runs the gambit from Yes to No ... depending on water clarity & confidence.

The general consensus says that ... if you need to SEE your line, for whatever reason, hi-vs lines are less detrimental to your catch rate than clear lines that you may have trouble seeing.

In instances where hi-vis lines are perceived to "spook" the fish (ie exceptionally clear water), but seeing the line is still a priority ... use of a clear leader line may be the answer.

Personally, I'm not convinced that fish are intelligent enough to see a correlation between colored line & danger. Clear water conditions may make fish "spooky", but I believe that movement & shadows (from the angler), the presence of the boat, and other factors are more in play than the color of the line.

... cp

[High Bridge Hooker]

I have 8# hi-vis on all my trolling poles. But I have 6# clear leaders. If I hang up I brake off the leader. I have other leaders made up and just snap one on and don't lose any fishing time. I can see the Hi-vis better for light strikes. Works for me.

[wylie catter]

Hmm, so it goes either way. I had a friend who was the greatest bream fisherman I have ever known. And he used high vis orange and green and everything else. People would tell him "fish won't bite that green line". And he'd say "nope they won't, but they sure will bite that hook tide to it".

I think I'm going to try it with a clear leader on my minnow rods.
I like getting everybodies input on it.

[skeetbum]

I've never had Crappie act differently with clear or yellow. Two of us in the boat one using each and swap now and then. Clear water and other species act differently, like Smallmouth are very line shy. I use 4 and 6lb hi-vis but keep a couple of rods with clear in the boat for those times when I see other fish on the bank, or if I think line might be an issue.

[wylie catter]

I've never had Crappie act differently with clear or yellow. Two of us in the boat one using each and swap now and then. Clear water and other species act differently, like Smallmouth are very line shy. I use 4 and 6lb hi-vis but keep a couple of rods with clear in the boat for those times when I see other fish on the bank, or if I think line might be an issue.

It sounds like you've done some pretty thorough testing. Do you mostly use jigs or minnows?

[Hitek]

I do not think I have a pole without the hi-vis line. I seem to do OK most of the time and I have used it on some of the cleareast lakes around here in Bama(Gville, Little Bear, Cedar, etc.).

[popper]

i use hi-viz line to see it , but if you think about it what kind of line is on a yoyo ive caught hundreds on them and the fish sure dont mind that big thick white stuff , just a thought

[Cmj]

I have caught lots of fish using hi-vis line. One day, I couldnt get them to bite no matter what I did, so I tied a clear leader on and started catching fish immediately. I dont think it always matters, just when they are finicky and want a closer look than normal. I always use a clear leader now.


C.J.