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Dumb question.....but I don't know the answer

4K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  khary23 
#1 ·
I've had many people tell me how Bass can see the fishing line (example steel leaders) and will stay away from the bait. Is this really true? If that's the case how can people catch Stripers using lead core line? Any thoughts? BangHead.gif
 
#2 ·
If fish are hungry, they will eat. But I will always agree with "big fish are smart fish". Fish that have been in the water a while can always outsmart a schoolie lol. But still, if they are hungry and like what they see, they will eat.....same goes for a reaction strike....if you trigger the fishes natural instinctive predatory response, its going to eat regardless because thats what its supposed to do. Its involuntary, leader or no leader.



 
#6 ·
Not so dumb a question
You will hear many fishermen tell you that stripers arent line shy. They dont appear to be when actively feeding.
Then you'll hear many tell you that they are definately line shy.
I try to use flourocarbon leaders especially in clear water.
 
#7 ·
I think we've down this road before... good topic... Depends on lots of things.... I've seen times when a winch cable would catch 'em, I've also seen times when any line that wasnt invisible would spook them....

The way i see it, if a bass slaps a bait and doesnt come back something didnt seem right, if a bass follows a plug or bait and turns and flees something made it suspicious... The way I see it, if the critter followed it in the first place it had some interest, if a fish wasted the energy to slap a bait to kill it something turned it off if it didnt return to claim it's prize.... enter line diameter..... I fish lighter than most for the size fish I chase, I hold my own, and IMHO it's because of the light line I use, #20 floro leaders and 15lb main line on the spinners if I can get away with it, 60lb braid with a 15'mono shocker and an 18" leader, deep down I think it helps...

Back in '86 we had a tremedous school of large bass on the front beach, nothing under 30 lb, many in the 40's and enough 50's to make it interesting,some guys fished all night and went fishless until dawn after catching a fish or two it was over, most guy's just gave up, the fish were there, you could see them in the fire in the water, they refused to eat, all those guys were using 20 and 30 lb mono, yours truely went light... real light, 12lb test no leader no swivel, I averaged 6-8 fish a night.... IMHO the line made the difernce... most everyone else figured I was just lucky and waited until the full moon washed the fire from the water....
 
#9 ·
"Fire in the water" is plankton that can be seen in an eddy, wave or the wake of a boat. They give off the light due to turbulance around them in the water.....looks like tons of tiny yellow specks. (Sorry, I'm a marine biology geek :lol: )

"IMHO" = In my honest opinion

thumbsup.gif



 
#10 ·
it's probably a good general rule-of-thumb if you consider that the shallower and slower the water your fishing--the more the line being seen becomes an issue..
then to thicken the plot a bit, consider how stained or cloudy it is; whether there is competion for food (a lot of fish around); and what general mood the fish are in..

there's an area I fish that holds some real cockers at a certain time.. it's kind of a prespawn staging area where the feed-bag can still be on but it's shallow and near still-water.. about everywhere else I can get away with braid colored black right to the plug/jig but this area requires a 3ft flouro leader and blackened line for 20 ft, or all you'll get are pokes and follows with the occasional rub as they give you the finger and leave ..if they're close enough to see the boat before they turn away, your all done with that one..

blind-casting with a flyrod is about the worst way to go at that area.. you line 'em with flyline and you can forget it, you have to cast to fish you can see and when you do hang one, you won't catch another for an hour or so.. they're right on red alert when they're in that area and you don't get away with many mistakes..

so I guess by going around the barn with this post, what I mean to get across is that the line debate can go from one very extreme to the other with a lot of factors involved but they can see it if'n they want to/need to
:skunk:
 
#11 ·
WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK ABOUT TREBLE HOOKS ON A PLUG ?
IF THE LINE IS AN ISSUE ,THEN WOULD YOU SAY THE HOOKS ARE AS WELL?----------SHOULD YOU CHANGE THE TREBLES TO A SINGLE HOOK AT THE END OF THE PLUG OR LURE?------WOULD THIS CHANGE THE ACTION OF THE PLUG/LURE?? badgood.gif
 
#12 ·
I like single hooks at the tail with bucktail dressing.. in still water situations they can see the hook I'm sure but whether they'd shy away as a result I'm not sure.. fishing shallow, I'm either using sliders, or free-floating rubber like a sluggo or bass assasin with a single hook in the head.. sliders are on the move and the belly treble probably isn't much of an issue the rear single is dressed with BT

another good topic for dicussion thumbsup.gif
 
#14 ·
speaking of hooks, ive seen a few companys selling red hooks becouse they supposedly get the fish to think that the bait is injured and bleeding. At the same time there are companys that sell red line becouse it is suppose to become invisable a few feet down it seems like a paradox to me. I guess one answer is the depth of the lure/line, what do you guys think?
 
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