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After 50+years of fishing I have caught fish on nylon braid paracord and piano wire in the seventies. Now we use braid to see the lure and for bait fishing.
this is so freakin dope! the way you adapted the experiment with the “new information” was a brilliant pivot and i hadnt given that a thought before its so important
Steve I have been chasing River Smallmouth for 55 years and I have learned something’s from you that are really hard to learn on the water, the video on what colors bass see and now the line contrast in the water at different angles! Who knew? Awesome education! Thanks for sharing your experience!
I think using the lightest line possible is always best. I’ve watched salmon swim up to and around heavy lines including braid and Kevlar. I’m a firm believer that fish can use the lateral lines to feel the line too. Sure you lose some fish from the lighter line, but you get many more hook ups too. Fishing for salmon in the river I use nothing heavier than 10 pound clear Kmart monofilament. Works as well as stren which is what I only used before that. My friends and other anglers would be lucky to get one hook up fishing the same water, and the same way.
Would like to see the classic green braid laid on the bottom as well. I have a feeling that lightweight braid for dragging a ned rig would actually do quite well.
Another fantastic video Steve! I appreciate your dedication and commitment. Sometimes the little things make a huge difference in the fishing world and you’ve always got your thumb on exactly what we, as anglers want or need to see, thank you. That said, have you had a chance to watch some of those cold water speed cranking videos from Tactical Bassin yet? Mind blowing stuff! Again, thank you. FYI, I’m a copolymer guy, specifically Izorline xxx. Get a spool from Tackle Warehouse, I know that you’ll be pleasantly surprised… this line has been under the radar for decades! It’s all I use in both fresh and saltwater. Don’t tell anyone 😂👍🏻
I haven’t had a chance to yet. Been a crazy busy weekend. I do plan on it for sure though! Especially with the temps dropping and winter around the corner. Thank you!
interesting about blue mono. Out here in CA in Sacramento area it's found everywhere and other non-florescent colors can be a challenge to find. Like you mentioned it must be a regional thing. Heck maybe the shops there sell it faster than they can get it in? Who knows but your video was really interesting so thanks!
I add a leader to absorb shock not for invisibility While I have no doubt some fish are leader shy, bass generally are not, they strike out of instinct and don't seem to be a fish that sits back and assesses the situation and checks for a leader first. They react to lures on first sight. I've often caught the same fish two and three times in a row in the same spot, or had my buddy catch the fish I just tossed back, often on the same lure. I think sound, and smell are more important than sight as well. I've got several old wooden lures that have no paint left on them, they're basically just sticks of wood with hooks and they still catch fish. Most of the time on very light tackle I tie braid right to the lure, but on heavier tackle Ill ad enough mono line as a leader to give it a bit of stretch on a hard strike as well as to give it a bit of abrasion resistance when fishing around rough obstacles like pilings, rocks, or gravel bottoms.
I must pay you several compliments as this was a superlative video: 1. Concise - Not a single wasted second was spent; all time was dedicated to conveying information. Great editing! 2. Narration - Unlike many otherRUclips-Angler Enthusiasts, you speak clearly, great elocution, and with just the right cadence. 3. Information Presented - Test was well executed against realistic condition variances and the information presented was not skewed or exaggerated. You explained the test, narrated clearly, and took pains to not to draw conclusions beyond what the data illustrated. This was a true mastercraft-level “info vid.” I know this is total Urkel, geek-tastic appreciation but this gem deserved it. Well done, sir 🤜🤛
Great video Steve and I've been using more leaders with mono and copolymer line. I always use one to my braided line with topwater but have also been using on plastics. Thanks sir
Well done, Cpt. America. LOL, Stever Rogers. This definitely gives fisherman a better insight to the "visibility" issue of different fishing lines. I like fluorocarbon line, but in the smaller diameter and strength, I find it breaks much easier than I expected. I used some on an ultralight set-up for crappie fishing and was disappointed in it breaking easily when snagged. I think that I will stick with mono for its stretch. Even though the braid was much easier to see in your test, I use it almost exclusively for trolling. I never have a problem with it. It catches everything from walleye to bass to crappie, even the occasional catfish or bluegill. So, I guess it really has to do with distance and water clarity when trolling. One more thing I always tell people, whether it's about the tackle they use or anything else, "use what works for YOU!" Don't get caught up in the hype about the BEST rods and reels or lures. It doesn't matter! What matters is you are comfortable using the equipment and you had FUN and caught some fish. 👍👍
Hey Steve, super fan of seeing under the water. I had a thought for ya. I just watched some deer hunter vids where hunters got the info on how deer see VS us. I was thinking it would be a great segment for you to do the same with common freshwater game fish. All the stuff we...um ...you have been doing is how we would see it under water. For instance deer have way more Blue receptors so blue shows super well to them giving them super dusk/dawn vision. So blue sticks out to them in full light. So, It would be great to hear what you find out about how fish see. There was a big push a while back with claims they could see UV colors way better than us so I do know there is stuff out there on it.
This is such a cool experiment. All anglerkind thanks you for such valuable info! Where I live however, braid and steel leaders are mandatory because pike and walleye will chew through all forms of line, regardless of how visible it is. 🤣
Your channel is awesome for doing all these tests. Honestly, I think these companies should be doing this on their channels to prove their products to the buyers but that would probably result in smaller sales 😜.
I have tried all types of line from the Yorkshire UK beach and my issues is with wind and waves effecting the line. Last weekend we caught on yellow braid 60lb line, but as the wind and waves gets up the tip of the rod moves significantly due to the thickness of the braid. With 25lb braid the effect is much less and we can still catch if yellow or green, thickness is around 0.23 mm. But the fluorocarbon and mono is much thicker/ poundage and the wind/ waves effect badly and the stretch in the line ridiculous. We catch bass, smooth hound, spotted dog fish, rays, dabs, plaice, turbot and many other species in the summer months and have no issue with colour.
Great test. I've caught many cautious non-predatory fish while using monofilament as well as braid only, and now i prefer to have fluorocarbon leader when using braid because it's more invisible and is best against predators' teeth and scratchy rocks.
This is awesome and why I only use braid to leader for everything even in dirty water I feel like I get more bites. I use a long leader for stretch and to take the pressure off of my knot (Palomar) if tied correctly It won’t break on hook set
So what line was best/ most invisible laying against the bottom? You should try it again with the camo fishing lines. I'm curious if they blend in like we think or may stand out like a sore thumb!?
finally, the comparison done right (even if still not absolutely exhaustively). this confirms my educated guess combined with brief testing that fluoro and nylon would have similar visibility, except for the cases when reflections become important. btw, remember: fluorocarbon is STILL a monofilament line, so saying "fluoro vs mono" is incorrect.
@@nunliski that's the point. being pedantic is exactly appropriate in the given subject, that is, in an experiment that's conducted in a scientific(ish) fashion.
@@s_s-g4d LOL this is nowhere near scientific, and it doesn't matter in this context whatsoever if you distinguish between nylon and fluoro by calling nylon mono
I know on my lakes that I get considerably more bites when using a fluorocarbon leader with my braid main line. Granted, personal experience is a poor source of evidence as no two people ever see the same thing the same way, but it really makes it hard for me to use straight braid.
Agree. I only use straight braid in a few situations now. Just have so much confidence in the braid to leader - especially on my spinning gear with a long leader because I can see that hi-vis braid for those subtle bites.
I fish a lot of live bait under slip bobbers, from perch crappie minnows, bass & walleye shiners, to ten inch pike chubs. I’ve found nobody is overly line shy when cheating with live bait, but I do think the suppleness of super small diameter braids (tied directly to the hook) facilitate a presentation to panfish minnows not achievable with thicker diameter lines. I’m routinely catching more and larger crappies than my best friend who uses strictly mono. And not by a small margin! I’m routinely catching master angler size crappies, while he struggles to hook 12”s.
hmm interesting stuff. I recall one day on the lake when I ran out of leader and just wound up fishing my green braided line. actually didn't do too bad lol.
A very intriguing situation Steve. The way all of the lines showed so easily when you laid the rig on the bottom, and it's dark contrast makes me wonder the effect it has on bottom fishing set ups like jigs, and slow, or no moving presentations such as jigs, shakey heads, Ned's, etc..I wonder how many targets are coming up close to investigate as you have shown over and over that they do and are swimming away.. maybe the lure requires more movement than we think as an actual distraction to the Bass creating a reaction bite...also makes me wonder if those newer "Camo" lines which until now I considered more of a gimmick might actually have some value in those situations.. might be worth some underwater testing and footage...Thanks for the great insight..again!!
Thanks for the informative video! I would love to see the difference between different colors of braid, like bright red vs bright green vs dark green etc 😊
I caught 4 bass 16-18.5 inches (Adirondack Mountains in NY) yesterday near sundown (7/1/24) on the surface using fireline, no leader. One actually flew out of the water to attack the lure from the side. So are bass line shy? Not from where I'm sitting.
I don’t get to fish super clear water down here in mid-Ga but if a bass is color blind, then it probably want see the line very well to start with. And look at it this way, if you see a 100$ bill crawling across the ground you’ll run over and try to pick it up whether out you see a 15lb floro line tied to it or not. But I will say this. I’ve experienced this the other day fishing. I was dragging a worm on the edge of a pond where it was super clear and a small bass swam over to it looked at the lure and I hopped it one time and it took the bait. I had 15lb floro p-line and the bass never once looked at my line because it was looking dead at the bait. I honestly believe bass doesn’t look at the line. I can’t speak for other parts of the country but me personally if i fish super clear waters a lot I would reduce my line size to be more invisible. Awesome video!
now I have to test how feasible it'll be to make the 1 mm mono leader that I'm using for pike fishing with heavy lures longer, so that the knot will have to slide through the guides. Even though I use FG knot exclusively for this setup, the guides aren't that big in a relative sense. This needs trying. I guess I may need something to make the braid (PE #5-#6) to leader transition smoother.
Most importantly, thanks for an actual test, providing actual data amidst an ocean of conjecture and claim, you are a hero! Also, I’m wondering about that very interesting test with the test rig on the bottom, another factor might be involved. I’m wondering if the viewing angle may play a role. The bottom test you ran was the lowest angle view, closer to parallel to the lines instead of perpendicular.
It would interesting to do an entire video just with bottom angles and then like another viewer commented, on the top with the camera looking up at it too. Would be a great follow up video. Thank you!
nice video. few test that you could do. how visible lines are if they are resting on surface (flu fishing style) and viewed from below. also does it affect visibility if there are knot on those lines lines, also it would be nice to see if line is visible when lines are horisontal, here they were vertical always.
I use and am very happy with my current setup on my bait casters. Braid to a fluorocarbon leader. I usually use about a 24 foot leader on my bait casters. Yes, 24 feet. Four "fingertip to fingertip" from my FG knot to the end. Never monofilament. I don't trust monofilament with any "fish of a lifetime" possibilities. The hyper long leader is so I don't have to add any leaders while fishing. Tie as many knots as I want and if some of the leader becomes compromised, I cut it off and keep fishing. A properly tied FG knot passes through the rod guides just like line itself. Very rarely do I spool up a whole reel of fluorocarbon unless it's a finesse type of situation or if I'm in gin clear water (20 foot visibility or more). Don't laugh, Steve, Ouachita is my home lake. Lower end is clearer than ought to be legal most of the year. I call it "obscenely clear" and it's annoying at times. 👍🇺🇸
I have fished Ouachita! Had a great time there. I really have become a fan of the longer leaders for all the reasons you said. Thanks for sharing this!
I’m curious if you laid the braided line on the bottom? With the floro and mono being so visible while on the bottom, maybe dragging baits would be better with braided line almost camouflaged instead of transparent. Great video
Great video. I have seen a few (Roland Martin sometimes) that don’t run leaders on braided line but instead will use a black sharpie to mark the line by the bait saying this helps make it invisible, based on your tests here I’m not sure if that is true. Any thoughts on that ?
I gave up on the whole floro thing last year...tired of spending money on it... I use blue mono on 90% of my setups... Braid on the others...no leader. I'm catching just as many fish without the headaches.
Great underwater video but i would like to see the different line(diameters) under different angles (90-75-60-45-30-10-0 degrees) under water. Carp angles are very conscious about the line hitting the deck (bottom). Lead-core, Tungsten beads, Tungsten putty, Flying back lead, Sinking mainline and (sliding) Top lead (in that order) are used to be Certain its on the ground. So i think you did a great job so far but i feel it needs some wider view. Thanks anyway for todays upload 😊😊😎🌞👍
After years of watching leader shy trout attack bright orange stick on strike indicators on bright orange or lime green PVC fly line I decided to try straight 40# braid for bass for one season. I experienced no difference in my catch rate no matter the lure. The next season I used a 18 # leader with mono and fluoro both and my catch rate remained the same. Most of my fishing was done on three different lakes each with different levels of turbidity. My personal conclusion was that I had more confidence with a clear leader but the bass didn’t care, color and presentation mattered more than visibility. My average catch rate was 30 per day.
I would like to see the line on the top of the water and the camera on the bottom looking up to see what visibility the different lines have when using a top water bait.
As an outdoor fisherman in Hawai'i, I refuse to use any type of braided or non-deteriorating line. Many times I've gone fishing to only find other fishermen have gotten stuck on the rocks or coral, and KNOWING that this line will take MUCH LONGER to disintegrate threatens many of the native plants, sea life that they are stuck on. People just break them because they can't retrieve the line, causing others to get stuck in them also!
Here is the other side of that. If you are using braid you will lose much less line because you can use the same diameter line and it is 3 times as strong. Instead of losing line, I frequently bend hooks dislodging a snag that I would have otherwise lost if I had been fishing lighter line. Plus, I have never had a fish break off while using braid.
@PGAprodan I don't care about losing a fish, it's more important to me to save the Hawaii we came to love, not the trash that litters our ocean and kills our things in it. We have the most flora and fauna on the endangered species list, have already seen many go extinct, why do we want to add to that list?
@@marcuslinton310 Some monofilament does dissolve over less time than a braided line would take years to do so. Hooks that rust will dissolve over time than none rusting hooks. A lead weight will never dissolve, compared to a metal weight that would.
Are there indoor fisherman in Hawaii lol why even say outdoor fisherman instead of fisherman? What do you mean by that? Do you only fish outdoors and not inside lol like really man tell me
I fish using 15-20 pound braided line, tied to a 20 pound monofilament leader with an FG knot. I then tie my hooks/lures on with a nonslip loop. 99% of the time if I get snagged, the loop knot will break off leaving only the lure behind and no line whatsoever. The only time I have lost any line is when it has gotten wrapped around oysters or something like that Which of course will break the line in that area.
Something to think on why do gill nets work if fish are line shy?? Clear water line can be seen but do they care?? Still think depth and speed most important
In the Tennessee River my brother , using blue tinted line while I was using clear line, he was catching 0 fish and I was catching many fish. This was in morning. At lunch he changed to clear line. In afternoon he out fished me.,🎣🥴
Braided line is way more visible but brown or green thick braided line looks more like a branch or a root so the fish might mistake it for something natural instead of a fishingline
Great question. They are both single strand lines, but mono is less dense and refracts light whereas fluoro is more dense and tends to let light pass through. The increased density of fluoro does make it more sensitive than mono, but mono is still the most price point line. Fluoro can get really expensive for sure.
I’ve been doing the same thing. I run braid to a small swivel and then have the fluoro from there down. Also helps to eliminate that crazy line twist a drop shot can sometimes cause.
Now let’s have the bass do a take on this because it’s their eye and vision that really matter. 😂 I’m just kidding.. Thanks for take the time to do this because I’m more of a braid person and I will definitely use a mono or floro and a leader line..
Always tie fluoro leaders to braid mainline no matter what or when I'm fishing. Fluoro has that extra abrasion resistance and lighter lb-test fluoro cuts through the water better than braid does. Then there's the bite factor...I've fished with guys who tie direct to braid...we'll fish the same lures and plastics...in almost every circumstance I've netted more fish when the only difference was that fluoro leader tied on. I'll generally tie on 20 ft+ of fluoro leader...that way when hooks break off, I have plenty of leader line left before having to tie a new line on.
@@enderst81 I'm not Bill Dance, I just like being out on the lake! I went down the rabbit hole before and spooked all fluro, all braid, all mono and still can't say I caught more or less. Prob cause I suck at fishing. I think more importantly it proves its learning bass behavior before line really matters. Are you a weekend warrior or fishing for $100k. Line might batter then. What are the variables involved. Again, that might just be coming from ignorance
I probably should have been clearer in my explanation, I couldn’t even find places in the stores where there were pegs for it. They didn’t carry it in the inventory at all. Not sure when that happened around here because it used to be everywhere.
When I started bass fishing I tied a brown football jig to 80 pound white braid, it was like an anchor rope I could see it for several feet easily. I didn’t kill them but I caught several smallmouth and some of them in less then 5 feet of water. All fish are different some are really dumb thankfully.
Wasnt all that surprised until I saw the lines on the bottom and everything was visible. That shocked me a little. Should have tossed on a Cajun line for those 'red line is invisible' folks.
I looked high and low around the stores near me for the Cajun line. Not one of them had it. If I would plan things out a little farther in advance I would have ordered it online.
walleye can tell the difference in 20 feet of moving water at night. trout can be worse. im sure bass see more than we do as well. the co world record was caught on 25 lb toray superhard fluoro if it helps anyone.
Check out my Bass Behavior Bundle: Behavior Videos, Newsletters, and Livestreams. Thank you for your support of the channel! www.steverogersoutdoors.com/bass-behavior-bundle-info
The side by side comparison was very informative. Thanks for doing all the hard grunt work for us Steve.
Glad you enjoyed it
I mean, this has to be the best fishing channel on RUclips. Short, to the point, real tests and great advice. Thanks Steve!
I agree completely!
After 50+years of fishing I have caught fish on nylon braid paracord and piano wire in the seventies. Now we use braid to see the lure and for bait fishing.
Very good job at presenting this test! I would love to see how hi vis mono looks under the same conditions. Thanks!
this is so freakin dope! the way you adapted the experiment with the “new information” was a brilliant pivot and i hadnt given that a thought before its so important
Love these experiments you do Steve, keep up the great work!!!
Thanks, will do!
Steve I have been chasing River Smallmouth for 55 years and I have learned something’s from you that are really hard to learn on the water, the video on what colors bass see and now the line contrast in the water at different angles! Who knew? Awesome education! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Great to hear!
Thumbs Up ! 👍👍 I'm sticking with straight Trilene mono. Time is money. 💵💵
Thanks for this information Steve! Good to see how it shows up under water, I always wondered!
I think using the lightest line possible is always best. I’ve watched salmon swim up to and around heavy lines including braid and Kevlar. I’m a firm believer that fish can use the lateral lines to feel the line too. Sure you lose some fish from the lighter line, but you get many more hook ups too. Fishing for salmon in the river I use nothing heavier than 10 pound clear Kmart monofilament. Works as well as stren which is what I only used before that. My friends and other anglers would be lucky to get one hook up fishing the same water, and the same way.
Like I've said many times before, your underwater vids are awesome & teach me a lot!
Would like to see the classic green braid laid on the bottom as well. I have a feeling that lightweight braid for dragging a ned rig would actually do quite well.
Another fantastic video Steve! I appreciate your dedication and commitment. Sometimes the little things make a huge difference in the fishing world and you’ve always got your thumb on exactly what we, as anglers want or need to see, thank you. That said, have you had a chance to watch some of those cold water speed cranking videos from Tactical Bassin yet? Mind blowing stuff! Again, thank you. FYI, I’m a copolymer guy, specifically Izorline xxx. Get a spool from Tackle Warehouse, I know that you’ll be pleasantly surprised… this line has been under the radar for decades! It’s all I use in both fresh and saltwater. Don’t tell anyone 😂👍🏻
I haven’t had a chance to yet. Been a crazy busy weekend. I do plan on it for sure though! Especially with the temps dropping and winter around the corner. Thank you!
Thanks great information. I fish a highland reservoir clear water
interesting about blue mono. Out here in CA in Sacramento area it's found everywhere and other non-florescent colors can be a challenge to find. Like you mentioned it must be a regional thing. Heck maybe the shops there sell it faster than they can get it in? Who knows but your video was really interesting so thanks!
I add a leader to absorb shock not for invisibility While I have no doubt some fish are leader shy, bass generally are not, they strike out of instinct and don't seem to be a fish that sits back and assesses the situation and checks for a leader first.
They react to lures on first sight.
I've often caught the same fish two and three times in a row in the same spot, or had my buddy catch the fish I just tossed back, often on the same lure.
I think sound, and smell are more important than sight as well. I've got several old wooden lures that have no paint left on them, they're basically just sticks of wood with hooks and they still catch fish.
Most of the time on very light tackle I tie braid right to the lure, but on heavier tackle Ill ad enough mono line as a leader to give it a bit of stretch on a hard strike as well as to give it a bit of abrasion resistance when fishing around rough obstacles like pilings, rocks, or gravel bottoms.
I must pay you several compliments as this was a superlative video:
1. Concise - Not a single wasted second was spent; all time was dedicated to conveying information. Great editing!
2. Narration - Unlike many otherRUclips-Angler Enthusiasts, you speak clearly, great elocution, and with just the right cadence.
3. Information Presented - Test was well executed against realistic condition variances and the information presented was not skewed or exaggerated. You explained the test, narrated clearly, and took pains to not to draw conclusions beyond what the data illustrated.
This was a true mastercraft-level “info vid.” I know this is total Urkel, geek-tastic appreciation but this gem deserved it. Well done, sir 🤜🤛
Thank you! That means a lot to me and thanks so much for watching!
Great video Steve and I've been using more leaders with mono and copolymer line. I always use one to my braided line with topwater but have also been using on plastics. Thanks sir
Thanks for sharing
Well done, Cpt. America. LOL, Stever Rogers. This definitely gives fisherman a better insight to the "visibility" issue of different fishing lines. I like fluorocarbon line, but in the smaller diameter and strength, I find it breaks much easier than I expected. I used some on an ultralight set-up for crappie fishing and was disappointed in it breaking easily when snagged. I think that I will stick with mono for its stretch. Even though the braid was much easier to see in your test, I use it almost exclusively for trolling. I never have a problem with it. It catches everything from walleye to bass to crappie, even the occasional catfish or bluegill. So, I guess it really has to do with distance and water clarity when trolling. One more thing I always tell people, whether it's about the tackle they use or anything else, "use what works for YOU!" Don't get caught up in the hype about the BEST rods and reels or lures. It doesn't matter! What matters is you are comfortable using the equipment and you had FUN and caught some fish. 👍👍
Definitely the most important thing is to have fun - love how you said all this. Thanks so much!
Hey Steve, super fan of seeing under the water. I had a thought for ya. I just watched some deer hunter vids where hunters got the info on how deer see VS us. I was thinking it would be a great segment for you to do the same with common freshwater game fish. All the stuff we...um ...you have been doing is how we would see it under water. For instance deer have way more Blue receptors so blue shows super well to them giving them super dusk/dawn vision. So blue sticks out to them in full light. So, It would be great to hear what you find out about how fish see. There was a big push a while back with claims they could see UV colors way better than us so I do know there is stuff out there on it.
This is such a cool experiment. All anglerkind thanks you for such valuable info!
Where I live however, braid and steel leaders are mandatory because pike and walleye will chew through all forms of line, regardless of how visible it is. 🤣
Your channel is awesome for doing all these tests. Honestly, I think these companies should be doing this on their channels to prove their products to the buyers but that would probably result in smaller sales 😜.
If life was truth based America wouldn't even exist...
As always, very well done tests. Thanks.
Thanks again!
I have tried all types of line from the Yorkshire UK beach and my issues is with wind and waves effecting the line. Last weekend we caught on yellow braid 60lb line, but as the wind and waves gets up the tip of the rod moves significantly due to the thickness of the braid. With 25lb braid the effect is much less and we can still catch if yellow or green, thickness is around 0.23 mm. But the fluorocarbon and mono is much thicker/ poundage and the wind/ waves effect badly and the stretch in the line ridiculous. We catch bass, smooth hound, spotted dog fish, rays, dabs, plaice, turbot and many other species in the summer months and have no issue with colour.
SCIENCE! I can't get enough of these experiments, thank you so much.
Glad you like them!
appreciate these video steve! best informative channel out there. ill always recommend your channel to new fisherman.
Thank you! I appreciate it.
Thanks, I’ll stop worrying about line anymore.👍
Great test. I've caught many cautious non-predatory fish while using monofilament as well as braid only, and now i prefer to have fluorocarbon leader when using braid because it's more invisible and is best against predators' teeth and scratchy rocks.
Some of that fluoro is really strong!
Great information thanks
How did anglers ever catch any fish back when all we had was Stren and Berkley Trilene?
This is awesome and why I only use braid to leader for everything even in dirty water I feel like I get more bites. I use a long leader for stretch and to take the pressure off of my knot (Palomar) if tied correctly It won’t break on hook set
So what line was best/ most invisible laying against the bottom? You should try it again with the camo fishing lines. I'm curious if they blend in like we think or may stand out like a sore thumb!?
Yes, I definitely need to do that. It would be really interesting to see. Thank you for the great question!
Awesome video. Thank you. Always coming up with great ideas for topics!
Thank you sir, helps us make smarter choices.
finally, the comparison done right (even if still not absolutely exhaustively).
this confirms my educated guess combined with brief testing that fluoro and nylon would have similar visibility, except for the cases when reflections become important.
btw, remember: fluorocarbon is STILL a monofilament line, so saying "fluoro vs mono" is incorrect.
It's only incorrect if you enjoy being pedantic. Everyone knows that "mono" means nylon.
@@nunliski that's the point. being pedantic is exactly appropriate in the given subject, that is, in an experiment that's conducted in a scientific(ish) fashion.
@@s_s-g4d LOL this is nowhere near scientific, and it doesn't matter in this context whatsoever if you distinguish between nylon and fluoro by calling nylon mono
Wow...really informative episode. You really add a useful dimension to fishing. Thanks for all your hard work.
Thanks! And thank you for watching.
Thanks Steve great video
Thanks!
Always learn so much from your videos Steve! Thank you!
My pleasure!
I know on my lakes that I get considerably more bites when using a fluorocarbon leader with my braid main line. Granted, personal experience is a poor source of evidence as no two people ever see the same thing the same way, but it really makes it hard for me to use straight braid.
Agree. I only use straight braid in a few situations now. Just have so much confidence in the braid to leader - especially on my spinning gear with a long leader because I can see that hi-vis braid for those subtle bites.
I seem have better luck with fluoro too.
Very informative and educational thanks steve... I tend to use braid to floor leader but only about 5 ft of leader, been working good so far 👌
I really like how it saves the cost of the fluoro just using a leader. Braid is pricey too but it sure lasts a long time.
@SteveRogersOutdoors I agree completely and I've not noticed any fewer bites in clear water with this set up...
I fish a lot of live bait under slip bobbers, from perch crappie minnows, bass & walleye shiners, to ten inch pike chubs.
I’ve found nobody is overly line shy when cheating with live bait, but I do think the suppleness of super small diameter braids (tied directly to the hook) facilitate a presentation to panfish minnows not achievable with thicker diameter lines.
I’m routinely catching more and larger crappies than my best friend who uses strictly mono. And not by a small margin! I’m routinely catching master angler size crappies, while he struggles to hook 12”s.
hmm interesting stuff. I recall one day on the lake when I ran out of leader and just wound up fishing my green braided line. actually didn't do too bad lol.
A very intriguing situation Steve. The way all of the lines showed so easily when you laid the rig on the bottom, and it's dark contrast makes me wonder the effect it has on bottom fishing set ups like jigs, and slow, or no moving presentations such as jigs, shakey heads, Ned's, etc..I wonder how many targets are coming up close to investigate as you have shown over and over that they do and are swimming away.. maybe the lure requires more movement than we think as an actual distraction to the Bass creating a reaction bite...also makes me wonder if those newer "Camo" lines which until now I considered more of a gimmick might actually have some value in those situations.. might be worth some underwater testing and footage...Thanks for the great insight..again!!
That’s a great thought and something I’ll try to test out!
Thanks for the informative video! I would love to see the difference between different colors of braid, like bright red vs bright green vs dark green etc 😊
I will have to do a follow-up. Thank you!
Another great video Steve! Thank you
I caught 4 bass 16-18.5 inches (Adirondack Mountains in NY) yesterday near sundown (7/1/24) on the surface using fireline, no leader. One actually flew out of the water to attack the lure from the side. So are bass line shy? Not from where I'm sitting.
I don’t get to fish super clear water down here in mid-Ga but if a bass is color blind, then it probably want see the line very well to start with. And look at it this way, if you see a 100$ bill crawling across the ground you’ll run over and try to pick it up whether out you see a 15lb floro line tied to it or not. But I will say this. I’ve experienced this the other day fishing. I was dragging a worm on the edge of a pond where it was super clear and a small bass swam over to it looked at the lure and I hopped it one time and it took the bait. I had 15lb floro p-line and the bass never once looked at my line because it was looking dead at the bait. I honestly believe bass doesn’t look at the line. I can’t speak for other parts of the country but me personally if i fish super clear waters a lot I would reduce my line size to be more invisible. Awesome video!
Great video Steve. Would you ever test some of the Copolymer fishing lines like the McCoy brand which I love as a cost effective alternative?
Excellent idea! Thank you. I will have to do some follow up videos for sure.
Mono actually is better abrasion resistant than fluorocarbon is. It’s all I use, I constantly run my fingers over the leader while fishing.
Hey, Steve, great to see ya and this is a great video. Be safe
Thanks Shannon! Hope you are getting a chance to get out once in awhile this summer. Can't believe June is cruising by already.
now I have to test how feasible it'll be to make the 1 mm mono leader that I'm using for pike fishing with heavy lures longer, so that the knot will have to slide through the guides. Even though I use FG knot exclusively for this setup, the guides aren't that big in a relative sense. This needs trying. I guess I may need something to make the braid (PE #5-#6) to leader transition smoother.
Your video about bass not seeing blue leaves me wanting you to make a new video on line visibility.
Most importantly, thanks for an actual test, providing actual data amidst an ocean of conjecture and claim, you are a hero! Also, I’m wondering about that very interesting test with the test rig on the bottom, another factor might be involved. I’m wondering if the viewing angle may play a role. The bottom test you ran was the lowest angle view, closer to parallel to the lines instead of perpendicular.
It would interesting to do an entire video just with bottom angles and then like another viewer commented, on the top with the camera looking up at it too. Would be a great follow up video. Thank you!
Great Video.. I wish u tested something lime the Suffix Ghost Braid.. it's a white braid.. and I swear by it in my neck of the woods
Great suggestion!
nice video.
few test that you could do. how visible lines are if they are resting on surface (flu fishing style) and viewed from below. also does it affect visibility if there are knot on those lines lines, also it would be nice to see if line is visible when lines are horisontal, here they were vertical always.
Those are all excellent suggestions. Thank you!
I use and am very happy with my current setup on my bait casters. Braid to a fluorocarbon leader. I usually use about a 24 foot leader on my bait casters. Yes, 24 feet. Four "fingertip to fingertip" from my FG knot to the end. Never monofilament. I don't trust monofilament with any "fish of a lifetime" possibilities. The hyper long leader is so I don't have to add any leaders while fishing. Tie as many knots as I want and if some of the leader becomes compromised, I cut it off and keep fishing. A properly tied FG knot passes through the rod guides just like line itself. Very rarely do I spool up a whole reel of fluorocarbon unless it's a finesse type of situation or if I'm in gin clear water (20 foot visibility or more). Don't laugh, Steve, Ouachita is my home lake. Lower end is clearer than ought to be legal most of the year. I call it "obscenely clear" and it's annoying at times. 👍🇺🇸
I have fished Ouachita! Had a great time there. I really have become a fan of the longer leaders for all the reasons you said. Thanks for sharing this!
Awesome video. My favorite of yours so far!
Wow… thanks for putting in the effort brother
You bet!
I’m curious if you laid the braided line on the bottom? With the floro and mono being so visible while on the bottom, maybe dragging baits would be better with braided line almost camouflaged instead of transparent.
Great video
Excellent question. I definitely need to do a follow up.
Steve you never miss brother 🙌🏾💯
Thanks!
Great video. I have seen a few (Roland Martin sometimes) that don’t run leaders on braided line but instead will use a black sharpie to mark the line by the bait saying this helps make it invisible, based on your tests here I’m not sure if that is true. Any thoughts on that ?
I have not tried that with a marker. I would sure think that it would still be quite visible. I will have to do some investigation with that one.
Greetings from the BIG SKY of Montana. Thanks.
Greetings to you as well! Gorgeous country out there!
@@SteveRogersOutdoors Hound Creek and the Smith river have big trout.
When I first put on flouro, it has a goldfish tint that doesn’t last more than a day then the color changes to slightly more opaque
Interesting. Which brand is that one and thank your for sharing.
I gave up on the whole floro thing last year...tired of spending money on it...
I use blue mono on 90% of my setups...
Braid on the others...no leader.
I'm catching just as many fish without the headaches.
The blue mono looked really good!
Steve, we got all the clear/blue Trilene you’d ever want just up 355 at Johnny World! 🤷♂️😅
Great underwater video but i would like to see the different line(diameters) under different angles (90-75-60-45-30-10-0 degrees) under water.
Carp angles are very conscious about the line hitting the deck (bottom). Lead-core, Tungsten beads, Tungsten putty, Flying back lead, Sinking mainline and (sliding) Top lead (in that order) are used to be Certain its on the ground. So i think you did a great job so far but i feel it needs some wider view.
Thanks anyway for todays upload 😊😊😎🌞👍
That is a great idea! Thank you. I will have to do that in a follow up video sometime.
Awesome job Steve!
Thanks!
Brilliant 👏 👏
What pound braid you use ? And what know to leader you use ?
On my spinning gear I use 20lb hi-vis yellow. On my baitcast equipment most often it is 50lb green. Most of my leaders are in that 10-12lb range.
Great video Steve!
I looked & almost all my blue line was zebco. Except for 1 spool. Bionic ice line.
After years of watching leader shy trout attack bright orange stick on strike indicators on bright orange or lime green PVC fly line I decided to try straight 40# braid for bass for one season. I experienced no difference in my catch rate no matter the lure. The next season I used a 18 # leader with mono and fluoro both and my catch rate remained the same. Most of my fishing was done on three different lakes each with different levels of turbidity. My personal conclusion was that I had more confidence with a clear leader but the bass didn’t care, color and presentation mattered more than visibility. My average catch rate was 30 per day.
This is all excellent info! Thank you for sharing. I definitely agree that a lot of it is a confidence thing. I know it is for me.
Very informative and Excellent video!
Glad it was helpful!
Great video. Luv your channel. Keep up the good work.
Thank you! Will do!
I would like to see the line on the top of the water and the camera on the bottom looking up to see what visibility the different lines have when using a top water bait.
That is a terrific idea. I wish I would have thought of that! I will have to do a follow up sometime.
I was using all, but now I'm moving back to mono only. Neither lines showed an improvement on getting bit.
Mono has definitely caught a lot of fish over the years. That's all I used for a long time.
Good test, thanks
As an outdoor fisherman in Hawai'i, I refuse to use any type of braided or non-deteriorating line. Many times I've gone fishing to only find other fishermen have gotten stuck on the rocks or coral, and KNOWING that this line will take MUCH LONGER to disintegrate threatens many of the native plants, sea life that they are stuck on. People just break them because they can't retrieve the line, causing others to get stuck in them also!
Here is the other side of that. If you are using braid you will lose much less line because you can use the same diameter line and it is 3 times as strong. Instead of losing line, I frequently bend hooks dislodging a snag that I would have otherwise lost if I had been fishing lighter line. Plus, I have never had a fish break off while using braid.
@PGAprodan I don't care about losing a fish, it's more important to me to save the Hawaii we came to love, not the trash that litters our ocean and kills our things in it.
We have the most flora and fauna on the endangered species list, have already seen many go extinct, why do we want to add to that list?
@@marcuslinton310 Some monofilament does dissolve over less time than a braided line would take years to do so. Hooks that rust will dissolve over time than none rusting hooks. A lead weight will never dissolve, compared to a metal weight that would.
Are there indoor fisherman in Hawaii lol why even say outdoor fisherman instead of fisherman? What do you mean by that? Do you only fish outdoors and not inside lol like really man tell me
I fish using 15-20 pound braided line, tied to a 20 pound monofilament leader with an FG knot. I then tie my hooks/lures on with a nonslip loop. 99% of the time if I get snagged, the loop knot will break off leaving only the lure behind and no line whatsoever. The only time I have lost any line is when it has gotten wrapped around oysters or something like that Which of course will break the line in that area.
Very good video
Something to think on why do gill nets work if fish are line shy??
Clear water line can be seen but do they care??
Still think depth and speed most important
In the Tennessee River my brother , using blue tinted line while I was using clear line, he was catching 0 fish and I was catching many fish. This was in morning. At lunch he changed to clear line. In afternoon he out fished me.,🎣🥴
Braided line is way more visible but brown or green thick braided line looks more like a branch or a root so the fish might mistake it for something natural instead of a fishingline
I use clear blue fluorescent for worms and jigs. Was hoping it was tested.
Thanks Steve, 👍👍👍
My pleasure!!
might be a silly question but what is the difference between mono/floro lines?
Great question. They are both single strand lines, but mono is less dense and refracts light whereas fluoro is more dense and tends to let light pass through. The increased density of fluoro does make it more sensitive than mono, but mono is still the most price point line. Fluoro can get really expensive for sure.
I think I'm gonna be saving a lot of money because of this video!
Glad it was helpful
Dang. I somewhat recently converted everything to fluoro lol. However, I will be doing a braid to fluoro leader for my designated drop shot rig.
I’ve been doing the same thing. I run braid to a small swivel and then have the fluoro from there down. Also helps to eliminate that crazy line twist a drop shot can sometimes cause.
@@SteveRogersOutdoors great idea about the swivel! I hadn’t thought of that, and was going to FG knot it haha. Thanks for that tip.
Good stuff! Thanks for the great video!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Now let’s have the bass do a take on this because it’s their eye and vision that really matter. 😂 I’m just kidding.. Thanks for take the time to do this because I’m more of a braid person and I will definitely use a mono or floro and a leader line..
Always tie fluoro leaders to braid mainline no matter what or when I'm fishing. Fluoro has that extra abrasion resistance and lighter lb-test fluoro cuts through the water better than braid does. Then there's the bite factor...I've fished with guys who tie direct to braid...we'll fish the same lures and plastics...in almost every circumstance I've netted more fish when the only difference was that fluoro leader tied on. I'll generally tie on 20 ft+ of fluoro leader...that way when hooks break off, I have plenty of leader line left before having to tie a new line on.
I’ve been really happy with putting a really long leader on as well. Lots of benefits!
Im a simple guy, maybe uneducated but i still fish 12lb mono... It worked for years and still works to this day
@@dvvass true
If it works, don't fix it!
@@enderst81 I'm not Bill Dance, I just like being out on the lake! I went down the rabbit hole before and spooked all fluro, all braid, all mono and still can't say I caught more or less. Prob cause I suck at fishing. I think more importantly it proves its learning bass behavior before line really matters. Are you a weekend warrior or fishing for $100k. Line might batter then. What are the variables involved. Again, that might just be coming from ignorance
Let's all remember fish eyes see differently than human eyes... so interesting test, but it is for human eyes. Good video, thanks!
If you do another one of these I believe original P-Line is a clear blue line
Thank you! I will have to check that out.
The clear blue mono must not be selling well because it’s sold out everywhere?
I probably should have been clearer in my explanation, I couldn’t even find places in the stores where there were pegs for it. They didn’t carry it in the inventory at all. Not sure when that happened around here because it used to be everywhere.
When I started bass fishing I tied a brown football jig to 80 pound white braid, it was like an anchor rope I could see it for several feet easily. I didn’t kill them but I caught several smallmouth and some of them in less then 5 feet of water. All fish are different some are really dumb thankfully.
They don't know what line is. If it's just sitting there and they're staring at it, it might look odd. That's about it.
I totally forgot about the white braid. I remember seeing it quite a bit in the past.
Anchor Rope 😂🤣😅
You still find stren and trilene xl here decently
In other words,back in the days of Dacron it was a wonder anyone caught any bass or any fish at all!
Wasnt all that surprised until I saw the lines on the bottom and everything was visible. That shocked me a little. Should have tossed on a Cajun line for those 'red line is invisible' folks.
I looked high and low around the stores near me for the Cajun line. Not one of them had it. If I would plan things out a little farther in advance I would have ordered it online.
@@SteveRogersOutdoorsthere’s definitely a lot less colors available these days at the stores i’ve noticed as well
walleye can tell the difference in 20 feet of moving water at night. trout can be worse. im sure bass see more than we do as well. the co world record was caught on 25 lb toray superhard fluoro if it helps anyone.