Crappie being line shy ?

[pab1981]

Another interesting topic. While I know Nimrod piles up fish and respect his opinion, don’t necessarily agree on this one like I didn’t on jig color/style either. I think it probably has a lot to with what lake your on and the fish population at a given time. While it may not matter to a lot or even most fish, think there are times it matters, especially in a tournament situation where a couple of big bites can take you from zero to hero quickly. I have always felt like I get more bites on fluorocarbon or fluorocarbon leader on braid here on my lakes. Like SK I have always preferred some kind of leader with braid if for no other reason to break off a little easier instead of destroying cover when hung.

This isn’t just my observation either for my home waters of Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley either. Anyone that has watched much of Josh Jones videos knows he is a big advocate of 20lb braid straight to the jig 99 percent of the time. But when he won the Crappie USA Megabucks tournament here fishing Lake Barkley last summer he stated one of the keys to winning the tournament was recognizing that he couldn’t get the fish to bite going straight to jig with braid. He made the switch to a braid to fluorocarbon setup like some of us have used here for years and won the tournament. And for those not familiar with Lake Barkley, it’s not a clear water lake at all. While that is far from scientific, it is still food for thought for those of you on the fence. The interview is still up somewhere on Facebook, I believe on Josh’s page around June of last year, for anyone that wants to hear his account their self.


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[DrNip]

I use 20 lb braid on my dipping rods and 8 lb mono on my casting rods.

[NIMROD]

I'm so superstitious, I will not tie a yellow section of Mr Crappie Camo line to my jig............if possible I tie a red section.

I laugh about people were pushing red line said it disappeared under water . Then next ones saying red bait were the deal . Some even were saying red hooks made a difference . Use whatever you have confidence in is my mind set .

[Don Fischer]

Line weight to me is an easy thing. I like the lightest I thing I can get away with. I finally found a spool of 2# to put on my UL reels/rods and love it. Before that I was stuck with 4# and actually it worked fine. Then to where I fish for them they run about 8"-10". Biggest I've ever caught was 13" and only one that big, 2# line handled it just fine. On my cat fish rods about as heavy as I go is 14# and that's only because I have a bunch laying around. Like 10# there. Over in Germany in the AF, we'd get crystal sewing thread from the BX and use it on UL rods and reels to catch trout. Down side was setting a hook on say a 15" tout could easily break the line. Wish I could find the stuff again to use for crappie! I try to not spend a lot of time wondering is the fish can see my line.

[IkenI]

I try to not spend a lot of time wondering is the fish can see my line.

This! I always have a mix of about four rod/reels ready on my deck. I may pick up one for a crappie or one for a smallmouth. I've caught smallmouth on my crappie rods that have hi-vis on them and crappie on ones that have a flouro leader. My absolute favorite is a baitcast rig that will easily throw 1/16 oz jigs. I have caught many crappie as well as bass, 'eyes and sand bass on it and a few other species. It always has 4 or 6lb hi-vis with a short flouro leader on it. It's just what I like to use.

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[Bricks]

My question is is it actually the line or is it the action different lines give a lure. The Trout and corn post was it really the line or did the line cause the corn to fall and not look as natural? Did switching to mono after braid made the presentation fall slower or gave the bait a little different action. To many if`s come into this question to make an absolute decision on what really made the bite change from one type of line to the next. Me I like my high viz Mono lines....or braid.

[CrappiePappy]

I've said it before ... there may be many "other" circumstances at play that "spook" fish. I haven't found line color to be a major factor, as I'm catching just as many fish, and possibly more, using hi-vis lines. I say "possibly more" because having aged I'm not as able to see clear lines as easily as I did in the past, when casting was my go-to method & line watching for the telltale jump in the line indicated a fish engulfing my jig. Since transitioning to hi-vis lines, that's been mostly eliminated.
Where I fish, & especially on one lake in particular, water levels can & do rise well above Pool levels, but the lake can still be fished. Many times, once the water levels have receded back to "normal", one can easily observe multiple colors of lines dangling from the now exposed tree limbs. Noting that, one can only surmise that the limbs of trees that never show above the water (even during Winter Drawdown) are probably even more entwined with lines of all colors & sizes. YET, those same trees still do hold fish. So, with that in mind, I don't see how fish would be "line shy" when those very same colors of lines are decorating their habitat.

I Push jigs with 30# braid and 20# hi-vis mono ... both with 1oz trolling sinkers & various colors of leader lines. The fish can definitely see either main lines & the big trolling sinker well before the leader line & jig come into play. If they were "line shy" wouldn't they move away before the jig ever got close ?? And some of my leaders are hi-vis, so wouldn't that also spook those fish ?? They don't & they haven't as is evident when I bring in fish after fish using this method. And most of the time my lines are no more than 20-25ft out ... and my rods are angled out from the bow of my 16ft boat, which means that the trolling sinker & jigs are practically under the back of the boat (about 12-15ft deep) and the fish don't shy away from the boat or noise of the trolling motor or the multiple pings from my electronics, nor the highly visible braid or hi-vis mono that precedes the sinker & hi-vis leader. And I'm not fishing muddy or murky water, but lightly stained water with a couple of feet of visibility at times.
Your situations may be different ... but, for me, I'm in the "not line shy" camp.

[silverside]

Color does not matter and I can prove it. I've used every color of line for years. Still have not caught a fish. Oh wait... that "other factor" may be ME!

[Micanopy]

Years ago, I got into a spirited discussion regarding flourocarbon line being invisible. I was told that due to it’s molecular structure, it is invisible. To which I replied, so it is also invisible in 400 lb test as well then. Obviously 400lb test flourocarbon line is not invisible.

I also enjoy the red disappears discussions. I dropped a bright red bead down into a deep hole at the local springs one hot summer day. Yup, even at 30+ feet down, I could still see that bright red bead just shining away.

People who sell lures and line and such realize that it must first catch a fisherman. We should be grateful that we are able to simply use what we want to catch them stupid fish. Imagine if we were limited to just one way, or one line.

[Ketchn]

the entire red isnt visible to a fish thing at certain depths is for sure bla bla bla and to prove it just pull out an eyeball and replace it with a fresh crappie eyeball ....then you will truly see what the crappie can or cannot see ......
on a side note ....one day 3 of us dipped jigs , all 3 good at it ,,,,,fish were biting REALLY well .....
number 3 was using cajun red fire line and could NOT get a peck ......
he insisted it made no difference and cited 14 different reasons why and made 32 excuses why he couldnt get bit ......
he remained stubborn and watched us sling them , after about an hour of us saying maybe its that there red line .....
i finally talked him into using my spare rod and GUESS what .....
immediate and NON stop KABOOM for him as well .... !
we still laugh about that day and he aint never bought another spool of it since