Are fish line shy?

[Crappitier]

I nailed the Crappie today in a central PA lake. A very clear water lake, but I have caught lots on all kinds of mono, flouro, and super lines.

The best by far is 2 lb NanoFil (thinnest line in the world, no memory). This line is only .002 diameter!

Today, the Crappie were 5' off the bottom in 20' of water. I use a 1/64 oz Jighead with a 1" Gulp Alive Minnow. With the super thin line, the tiny Jig drops to where I want it pretty fast. If I used a thicker line, then I would have to use a bigger Jig Head and they don't work nearly as good?

Even your 4 lb flouro is probably .006 ...... wow! that's three times as thick with a horrible line twisting memory!

I've caught 15 lb Catfish and 5 lb Bass with that 2 lb NanoFil. It just won't break (probably a 10 lb break point). And the line doesn't wear out and twist like Mono / Flouro does?

[Spoonminnow]

Downsizing and slooow presentations seem to be the rule once the water temp goes below 45 degrees. Line size falls with lure size, though I've never tried using 8lb test using live bait under the ice.

[Lonnie84]

Just want to throw this out there - We've all probably caught catfish now and them while crappie fishing right? Now with that said, when cat fishing with jug or trot line the leader line is generally of a pretty large and thick size easily visible to the fish, and it doesn't seem to deter the fish from biting. My point being, if your on fish and they are feeding I don't think line size or visibility make much different to the fish. Now on the other hand if your having to beg for bites, and fish are turned off then the lighter more invisible lines may help you pick up one or two. I personally just never liked begging for bites; and even worse I hate it when I get broke off.

[Spoonminnow]

Now on the other hand if your having to beg for bites, and fish are turned off then the lighter more invisible lines may help you pick up one or two.

The lighter the jig and lure, the lighter the line - rule number 1 in my book. I stay light regardless - either 4 or 6 # mono or fc leaders attached to 6# braid (2# diam.) with a double uni knot. No twist at all! Did great today catching over 40 crappie, legal bass, sunfish and yellow perch.

[Crappie ciller]

Recently returned from a walleye trip in Ontario where everyone in camp used 10-15# fluorocarbon leaders- with some rigging the flourocarbon on the whole spool. As an experiment I used hi vis yellow 20# braid all week- leader was the same. There were 8 in our party and I'm not even close to the best fisherman in the group but for 6 days I caught the most fish among our party every day- yeah we use clickers a nd keep track. Two days ago I crappie fished low vis water with a friend who used a leader with 8# flourocarbon while I used the same 20# bright yellow braid. We caught 83 total and seemed to stay pretty even on numbers all morning. Even when the bite was really slow on both lakes the heavier line did as well as the "invisible" line. I'm gonna weigh in with the "fish are stupid" voters for now. I am a line watcher.

[prefers shiners]

Have you ever played with a cat with one of those strings on a stick and a small mouse (or whatever) on the string....the cat does not notice the string but is concentrating on the toy movement (presentation).....that is all he can see....I relate that to fishing line....I use a 50# white braid line on all my bass rods.....and I have fished beside some good bass fishermen and have either matched or bettered their catch....now, I have seen underwater videos (on CDC) of some guy trolling and I watched as fish would come up to the bait, follow it, smell it, lip it, mouth it and spit it out.....that tells me scent and feel are the greatest factors in fooling fish....I use 8# gold stren currently for crappie.....I do use a spray on scent like garlic or anise.....I find that increases bite a lot.....of course, I use shiners mostly and you don't have to do anything to them...

[Spoonminnow]

Have you ever played with a cat with one of those strings on a stick and a small mouse (or whatever) on the string....the cat does not notice the string but is concentrating on the toy movement

I sometimes waste time arguing with bass anglers on bass forums about matching the hatch or simulating a prey species bass are supposedly feeding on. Experience dictates that bass much of the time don't care about color or a lure design that simulates something but rather a color and lure design that get their attention and provokes them to attack; I count on that, other than feeding, 99% of the time. When fish are schooled and attacking minnows I can see near surface, than I still will use the same lures that may or may not simulate minnows.

Lures are detected by fish senses - number 1; whatever happens next when fish strike is anyone's guess, but the fact that they strike lures with abandon indicates lack of self restraint at that moment . The cat focuses on the object attached to a string knowing full well it isn't an animal; fish physically via it's senses know an object's vulnerability and are energized by a lure's action into attacking, regardless of what the angler thinks the lure simulates. I think fish instinctively know a live bait or prey animal but have no idea what a lure is except that it stands out unnaturally.

The fact that fish ignore hardware like snaps and heavy line attached to a jig with its hook exposed, are proof that fish focus on and are intrigued by the mystery of an object it wants to bully - because it can! Once the moment passes, it goes back to peacefully suspending with its pals.

[Crappitier]

I have to change my thoughts on Crappie line. I don't think that fish really care about the line?

I did much better today with straight light green 8 lb Nanofil! Super strong, casts a mile, and no freshwater fish could ever break it!

No need to ever use 2 lb Nanofil, even though I still love this line, 8 lb works much better?

[Yelim]

I don't know about crappie. That being said, As a child I had occasion to be on a private wooden bridge over a cut that went from the Mud River in Bayport Florida a half circle about 1/4 mile and back to the river. This bridge had say 2x6's across it but gaps between so you could see under the bridge. There were small mangrove snapper under this bridge that you could see in the clear water. My late sister and I were trying to catch these snapper with small pieces of shrimp and small hooks no weight. We dropped this offering to them over and over to no avail. If though we dropped a piece of shrimp with no line or hook it was gobbled up in a flash. If we dropped both the hookless pieces were eaten quickly and the pieces with hook and line were ignored. Just so you don't get confused this was not a scientific study. Just kids practicing being kids, but I have never forgotten it.

[trypman1]

I have tried many colors & weighs of lines on fish, in clear water, If they are in a feeding mode, they will strike without showing any indifference to line size or color. My experience is when they shut down, line size or color does not matter either. We are talking line within reason, going from 6# to say 12# for crappie, not rope. This is a good discussion!!!!