Does line opacity matter when fishing?

Discuss rods, reels, lures, terminal tackle, line and fishing related accessories or apparel.
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diitrii
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Does line opacity matter when fishing?

Post by diitrii »

Hello, I'm new to fishing, and I currently have two green rods with neon yellow line that's good for visibility. I've been told by some other people in the community that the fish can actually pay attention to my line when I cast it out and that they won't go for my rod, but then I've also read on forums that the opacity of the fishing line doesn't matter and that fish mainly pay attention to the vibrations of the line + bait itself over anything else. I was just wondering if I should invest in a darker colored line or not. My line currently is some braided neon yellow line that can hold a significant amount of weight and is hard to break.
Gotfish?
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Re: Does line opacity matter when fishing?

Post by Gotfish? »

Depends. You don't say what you are fishing for. Still fishing for catfish or carp with bait, probably not. Fishing crankbaits or other reaction baits for bass, probably not. Fishing drop shot in clear water for bass: definitely. Dry fly fishing for trout: definitely.

Braided bright colored line with a fluorocarbon leader has advantages. Easy to watch the line for subtle bites but has low visibility line to the lure. And low pound test line has less visibility than stronger line, other things equal. Some people use long leaders but I rarely use anything longer than 3'. Best knot from braid to fluorocarbon is the FG knot. Seems complicated but not hard once you get used to it.
MaxZmus
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Re: Does line opacity matter when fishing?

Post by MaxZmus »

Only one way to find out. Go fishing and give us a report.
Threeis420
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Re: Does line opacity matter when fishing?

Post by Threeis420 »

I learned in a fly fishing seminar the differences between mono and flouro. Momo stays visible under water they try to give you fancy colors that match water colors or like Cajun red line, supposed to be the first color to become indistinguishable at depth but you can always see mono under water.
Some fish are indeed line shy.
Flourocarbon becomes nearly invisible underwater. Here’s a secret, flouro still leaves a shadow underwater, but regardless of line size, the shadow stays the same. So #2 test flouro makes the same shadow as #17 test flouro. So they taught me to use the heaviest flouro I can get away with.
Flouro also sinks compared to mono and helps gets your bait down quicker.
But flouro never degrades, mono will age and biodegrade after a long time but lost gobs of flouro will be around forever. Perpetually tripping fishermen in streams and generally polluting the water and its surroundings. So I use it sparingly.
crawdadguy
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Re: Does line opacity matter when fishing?

Post by crawdadguy »

I think it does matter. The clearer the water the clearer your line color should be.
I'll use green in greenish water lakes like perris,,,switching to clear lines when i fish clear water like skinner lake. I fish floro clear leaders on spectra in the ocean.
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