Line Color????

[eyehead]

Hey guy's I just went Musky fishing for the first time this weekend and man is that stuff fun, but anyways we had 3 follows and no takers. No big deal right but my bro has been fishing musky for like 3 years(only goes out maybe a week total a year) and has had tons of follows but no takers. Being a walleye guy I got to thinking that maybe because we are using white line that had something to do with them not taking it. This maybe a stupid question but just curious and if it's not the line color any of you musky guys have any other tips on getting these monster fish to bite

Thanks

[MuskieMojoTackle]

line color is about your last concern with muskies. I use white, bronze, green...

Muskies are not line shy.

[buzzsaw]

I use dark green Power Pro, it works better than braided dacron (which hold water and gets heavy) and is much easier to get birds nests out when that unfortunate moment happens. I personally don't think line color matters as much as putting the bait in the right place and consistantly and I mean consistantly changing up lures... especially if you are getting follows and no takers.

[Random guy]

This is how I look at it:

We have gone through great length to make sure our baits are perfect with fancy little eyes, hand painted scales, bucktail hair that is even, and right down to trying to hide the hooks on some baits. So why go through all of that only to have a big white stripe in front of your lure. I try to make my presentations as life like as possible, and I have yet to see minnow in nature on a leash. (or a minnow swim with its head and not its tail, thats another rant about cranks for another time).

I figure it can't hurt to hide the line and it "could" be better then using high vis-line so I choose low-vis stuff. It is a numbers game so always go for the better odds instead of pushing the limits on what you can sneak by with.

Plus the lines I like are green anyways.

[CaptainMusky]

I have used line colors ranging from white, to black, to green spotted to hi vis green and can honestly say I don't believe there is any correlation to the color of the line and spooking or turning off fish.

I would agree that if presented with my line of choice in a lower visible color and one with a higher visible color I would probably choose the lower vis one, but that is the old walleye angler in me.

There are many schools of thought on this. Some people swear by the fluoro leaders, my buddy had a 4 foot fluoro leader he used while trolling this weekend. He caught exactly as many fish as I did. ZERO. If color mattered to the muskies I think it would be more to do with the leaders than the line itself since the leader is what is in direct contact with the bait not the line.

BTW, I don't obsess about the hair on my baits or googly eyes or anything like that. I have had enough muskies hit my bait on the way back to the boat when it was covered in weeds to think that doesn't make any difference. Sure, the tackle companies will convince you there is a difference, but that is just to get $30 from you instead of $25.

[RK]

Hiya -

Fish that eat firetiger suicks don't care about line color. In fact, I've heard one of the best muskie anglers there is (Doug Johnson) say that in the dark water and heavy weeds he fishes, he thinks he'd catch more fish if he had line that was fluorescent orange.

I'm also one that could care less about perfect paint jobs or fancy finishes. That's not saying color doesn't matter - sometimes it does, although it's usually pretty low on my list of concerns. But I don't think fine details in a bait's finish - perfect scales, fins, certain kinds of eyes or even pretty paint jobs in general - mean squat. I have a few baits that are up in the 50s and 60s in the number of fish they've caught, and the origional finish is long gone. They still catch fish.

I remember a few years back when there was a new 'hot bait' on the market, and the manufacturer was selling them in male and female river sucker patterns. Still one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. They do look cool - there are some baits on the market that are artwork with hooks. But never doubt that it's for the fishermen, not the fish...

I do use fluoro leaders some, especially trolling, but to me it's less about visibility than being easy on the fish - they don't cut up fish when the roll like wire can sometimes.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Brett Erickson]

It was either Doug Johnson or Stange from In-Fish that said "I wish they made a orange line--that way the muskies would know something is coming".

To throw another little crimp in your logic--why do you throw black surface baits? They silouette better against the sky, right? So, won't a solid dark green line be more visible than an all white or black and white line?

If these things are as smart as we make them out to be, then why does a chartreuse with black dot hunk of 2x4 or a bunch of fuzz with a spinning thing in front of it far out produce some ultra realistic bait or even live bait?

Something to think about when we're in the office and not on the water enough

Brett Erickson

www.thornebros.com

[TomWehler]

I remember the male / female deal.

To funny.

But they seemed to be selling a bunch to the masses for a goodly amount.

Love the fancy pants finishes.

People come in the boat, ask me what I think of the Fancy $50 lures?

"Well, they sure is pretty"

Bout all one can say.

We add magic marker to the line sometimes up about, OH about as long as I can reach. RED, Green, Black...PURPLE!

Why?

Guide an I was fishen while I was showen them the lake once a few years back.

Good guy, Rob Manthei - he told me it SURE WAS ODD LOOKING - "Whats up with that marker dump?"

Told him I get board on island, plus helps me see where the lure is an how deep boatside in gunky water.

Clients new to netting then don't boot so many of MY BIG fish. We laughed for about 10 minutes on that one.

But mostly do it cause it makes the line look FUNKY like everything in the 60's & 70's.

But the other stuff sounds good.

Was standing next to my my fave guide Mr. Jim Murphy once as he was telling a group of folks he liked the lighter color line a lot.

They asked him why?

So the fish can find his lures easy?

Anit musky mostly killers?

Ones I know is.

Painted fins, gills, nostrils an such aint even seen in my book.

But I don't know nutten much, to many marker fumes.

Doubt they care about color of line though.

Like most of us that caught a couple, don't sweat the small stuff.

If it is strong an FREE I like it best.

I have some stuff on two reels that is sposed to be able to hold up a bridge if it was to fall!

If only for a short time.

T.

[Random guy]

I have heard Dougs deal about the orange line and I can definetly see his point. When the fish are on they will smack anything moving and colored line moving may be enough to get the fishes attention and trigger the ambush. Now put a mid morning cold front in place on one of those gin clear lakes. Granted a person should not even be on that water to start with but sometimes we have to work with the conditions at hand. I would feel much more confident in those bad conditions knowing that my complete presentation cleary puts the message in their little brain; "THAT IS FOOD, I SHOULD EAT IT", and not present something that may turn them off. It may be the a little attention disorder but I feel I should do everything possible I can to increase my odds of triggering strikes. I will stick with my green line and flouro leaders and save the high-vis stuff for the Flatheads.

[CaptainMusky]

Are you calling us all flatheads?

[RK]

Hiya -

Green line? Man, go out on one of those post front days, hold it over your head, and look up. Stuff looks like 1/4" rope... You can see lighter colored line pretty easily too though. Ever want to see (and hear) some interesting stuff jump in the lake with a mask and snorkel and have someone (preferrably a good caster) toss baits past you.

As far as the orange line goes, remember Doug J is talking about the dark water portions of Lake of the Woods, not a clear lake...

Fluoro may help, perhaps, on heavily pressured clear water. I'm still not convinced leader or line visibility matters much. I just don't think muskies are that selective. Bass or walleyes, sure. You can determine on a given day which hue of soft plastics smallmouth bass will prefer. Muskies - not so much. Look at how they feed. They have to rush and overtake or t-bone their food. They don't inhale a bait like bass can (walleyes can do either one, interestingly enough). Even hitting jigs, it's a rush, grab, and turn, or a roll on the side and clamp down deal. I don't think their behavior lends itself to being highly selective feeders. Like I said, I do use fluoro, but for other reasons - how baits behave, and how easy it is on rolling fish - beyond visibility. I just have a hard time believing they care.

That having been said, I also firmly believe nothing works better than something you do with confidence. If fluoro gives you confidence in tough conditions, that's more than reason enough to use it...

cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Random guy]

Quote:

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Are you calling us all flatheads?

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Flathead Catfish. Some of you guys do look like flatheads but I would never call anybody that.

RK, I think the confidence is the key thing. I think it is what I should do so it makes feel like all my ducks are in a row. As soon as you start to second guess yourself mistakes begin to happen. Plus that white line just freaks me out...of course I have watched the local boys in Canada use white chalk line on their tip-ups and out fish me big time.

[cjac]

I'm thinking about the various lures and how they look in the water, I have an urge to go home and get the mask and snorkel out.......

Those small grappling hooks we call trebles must look a bit odd as a fish comes up on the lure, correct? I'm sure they are not invisible by any means, and have some side to side swagger, just as the lure does. It's probably the most natural looking thing....... So, do they really care?

On Sunday I had a clump of weeds on the top of the leader, so 8 inches or so above the lure, as I looked I saw a large snout following my bait.....it sure didn't seem to bother the fish, now would she have hit if it weren't there? Who knows.....

Chris

[RK]

Hiya -

They don't care. Think about the world from their perspective. As Doug Johnson puts it: "If it moves, it's food." He's right. Weeds - they don't move much. Rocks - they pretty much stay put too. If it's moving, and they can get their mouth around it, they can eat it. They don't know what hooks are. I've also had many fish hit baits with weeds trailing off them. If they want it, they don't care. Especially with the kinds of presentations we use for muskies (fairly rapid, horizontal presentations) I think it's all instinct and no intillect on their part...

Now, they can get conditioned. I don't have any doubt about that. But that's different I think than recognizing a lure as artificial and not hitting it....

Cheers,

Rob Kimm