High Vis & Walleyes?

I’m setting up med/light xfast 6’8” spinning rod for pitching light jigs for shallow spring eyes. Using Fireline with a 3-4’ floro leader. Does anyone do this using high-vis line? Do you see any drop off in bites in ultra clear water?

I’m a firm believer in a leader for clear water. I’ve seen it make a huge difference in clear water a few times. Not as big a deal in stained but I always run them now.

I know guys like high vis to see the line but a good braid and flouro leader is the ticket in my book.

I have yet to prove any drop off in bites due to line visibility on any body of water.

I’d use fluorocarbon leader for its durability more than anything.

biggill wrote:

I have yet to prove any drop off in bites due to line visibility on any body of water.

I’d use fluorocarbon leader for its durability more than anything.

X2, I run almost nothing but hi viz anymore, 180 change from 10 years ago.

The FW had vision problems for a while, fixed now, that forced her to use hi viz just so she could see the line. Over any conditions, both open water and on ice, she caught at least as many fish as I did and lots of time she caught more.

I think some line looks like rope in the water and I’m sure it makes a difference in the fish I catch and the size of those fish, If you are fishing skinny water, line, boat movement and noise and all the stealth makes a difference, spooked fish don’t bite.

Mike

I fish a lot of super clear water. Seen a few times that I was catching fish with clear leader and my buddy wasn’t gettin a bite. Switched rods and then I wasn’t getting a bite. Hi vis yellow and blue are out of my leader choices. I think you can get away with it in dirty or stained water

biggill wrote:

I have yet to prove any drop off in bites due to line visibility on any body of water.

I’d use fluorocarbon leader for its durability more than anything.

You catch that fish in your avatar with braid straight to lure?

Clear water walleyes can definitely get line shy. I fish mostly rivers and stained lakes and used to think that using leaders off my braid was completely unnecessary. Hit mille lacs for opener two years ago and the catch rate on my braid rod was almost zero compared to the rod tied off with floro. These fish were hungry and very aggressive and wouldn’t hardly touch the rods without the floro leader.

Deuces wrote:

You catch that fish in your avatar with braid straight to lure?

biggill wrote:

I’d use fluorocarbon leader for its durability more than anything.

Yes, I’ve tied braid directly to jigs and had no issues.

I’ve used high vis mono leaders on my lindy rigs on Mille Lacs because I didn’t have any clear line with me. I used to tie jigs directly to my high vis mono mainline also. I’ve done better than others in my boat who think they have to use the smallest diameter ultra clear fluorocarbon leaders 12’ long. Until I see it first hand, I’m not a believer.

Mr.Weiland saying i will reiterate here, “there are times fish will hit a dog turd”. Lol, love it

Of course there are times when fish are aggressive and we all caught them on purple line, pink dotted rapalas that don’t run true with a good luck chicken liver on the front treble.

It’s not the times the fish are aggressive we are looking to take an advantage of, it’s the tough times. Stealth is a huge factor when it comes to those particular times. Whether that is downsizing hooks, boat shadows, motor noise, thinner and clearer line, etc it does help to catch more fish when they are in a negative to neutral mood.

Now, high vis does aid quite a bit for visually detecting bites and more imo of just knowing where your line and therefore your presentation is at all times. You will have to way the pendulum to your specific needs for each setup.

Flourocarbon is a great leader material except on the river imo. Once it stretches it stays stretched, and the strength is greatly compromised. Mono all the way, just for ease of breakoffs and it will bounce back to form when tying on new lure.

I’m not saying don’t use a leader, many types of fluoro have more stretch than mono making it a great shock absorber. Sometimes braid is too unforgiving when tied direct. I also do not like tying braid direct to lures because I don’t have as much faith in the knot. Lines like nanofil have terrible line to lure strength so I always use a monofilament type line to tie to the lure.

I use high vis for 90% of my bass fishing and seem to do as well as the people i fish with who don’t.The fish don’t seem to mind chartruse plastics,jigs,spinnerbaits and other bright colors.

In my experience line can make a significant difference when walleye fishing on deep clear lakes. 4# clear mono is my go to slip bobber line.

Bumping from the depths of IDO – but what color braids everyone running at night ? Have suffix 832 yellow but seems hard for me to see at night with the headlamp. Is white or lime green any better?

Thanks

Power pro yellow is my go to. Red power pro seems ro fade quickly.

I run braid straight to lure pretty often. I only use a leader if its on a float, or I need more abrasion protection from teeth or zebra mussels. Maybe its because I fish from shore, but why do so many people need to see their line, can’t you feel the direction it’s going?

isu22andy wrote:

Bumping from the depths of IDO – but what color braids everyone running at night ? Have suffix 832 yellow but seems hard for me to see at night with the headlamp. Is white or lime green any better?

Thanks

You should give Power Pro Super Slick V2 in moonshine a try. I can’t confirm that it’s that much more visible at night but that’s their claim.

New Moonshine Color – Is a high-vis “glowing” braid for low light/night fishing that allows anglers to see even the lightest of bites when fishing in the dark of night

I will say that this is my favorite braid by far. Suffix braids are some of the worst in my opinion.

A friend of mine used to tell me….” They follow the Hi Vis line right to the lure.”

Switched 90% of my open water and ice rods to hi-vis braid (yellow, green, orange) with fluorocarbon leader. I have a few of each (ice, open) with straight mono for particular applications. Feel, finesse, and my vision as I age are the reasons.

Riverrat wrote:

I run braid straight to lure pretty often. I only use a leader if its on a float, or I need more abrasion protection from teeth or zebra mussels. Maybe its because I fish from shore, but why do so many people need to see their line, can’t you feel the direction it’s going?

See the jig when it hits bottom and bows up the line .

biggill wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>isu22andy wrote:</div>
Bumping from the depths of IDO – but what color braids everyone running at night ? Have suffix 832 yellow but seems hard for me to see at night with the headlamp. Is white or lime green any better?

Thanks

You should give Power Pro Super Slick V2 in moonshine a try. I can’t confirm that it’s that much more visible at night but that’s their claim.

New Moonshine Color – Is a high-vis “glowing” braid for low light/night fishing that allows anglers to see even the lightest of bites when fishing in the dark of night

I will say that this is my favorite braid by far. Suffix braids are some of the worst in my opinion.

Suffix 832 is some of my favorite braid of all time . Not a fan of the performance though.

Red Eye wrote:

I’m setting up med/light xfast 6’8” spinning rod for pitching light jigs for shallow spring eyes. Using Fireline with a 3-4’ floro leader. Does anyone do this using high-vis line? Do you see any drop off in bites in ultra clear water?

I’m a big proponent of High Vis. I was when I was a walleye fisherman and I continue to do so as a saltwater guy. A good Fluro leader for walleye and High Vis shouldn’t be an issue.

isu22andy wrote:

Maybe its because I fish from shore, but why do so many people need to see their line, can’t you feel the direction it’s going?

See the jig when it hits bottom and bows up the line .

Even from shore. I use all my senses. The High Vis just makes that that much easier, especially on a soft bite.

Chasing these guys, Hugh Vis is huge!

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isu22andy wrote:

Bumping from the depths of IDO – but what color braids everyone running at night ? Have suffix 832 yellow but seems hard for me to see at night with the headlamp. Is white or lime green any better?

Thanks

Beyond Braid is the brand I’ve recently settled on. I used to run Power Pro. Beyond Braid has a vast assortment of colors (bright and dull). I need some 30# stuff in a pinch last year in Texas and ended up buying Fireline off the shelf…..yuck! I mean it works, but that stuff is stiff a wire and doesn’t cast very well.