so what is it with RED?

[itchmesir]

fishing line companies claim that RED line disappears in the water.. but lure companies claim that RED hooks imitate "bleeding".. so if RED cannot be seen underwater then how does a RED hook imitate bleeding if it can't be seen? and if RED imitates bleeding.. then why do line companies claim their line becomes invisible once its in the water?

so my real question here is.. which one is correct in their claims?

[jwmiller33]

both, neither, or one or the other

[Slowhand]

both, neither, or one or the other

Good one

[norm25]

Who is gonna pay me to say what?

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Marketing 101: catch the fisherman

[PostFrontal]

The tackle companies hooked me on this stuff before. This is what I found out when I did research.

The 2 colors that fish can see the best are red and chartruse in shallow water. Shallow meaning less than 15-17 feet. All about their rods and cones in their eyes It doesn't have anything to do with looking like bleeding fish. That is to catch fisherman as WIWF said.

Below the 15-17 feet the red shows up as grey. Saw it on video. So no real purpose to the red line except sales.

[metrojoe]

I admit the red line claims got me for awhile, and I used it for a couple years, but I have switched everything back to Fluorocarbon. I didn't notice any advantage except for the price difference.

On the other hand I have seen a big difference while using red hooks especially while walleye fishing. Most times a red hook tipped with a leech out fished other colored or plain hooks.

[itchmesir]

I admit the red line claims got me for awhile, and I used it for a couple years, but I have switched everything back to Fluorocarbon. I didn't notice any advantage except for the price difference.

On the other hand I have seen a big difference while using red hooks especially while walleye fishing. Most times a red hook tipped with a leech out fished other colored or plain hooks.

i agree... i always produce better with red hooks... the red line.. i've bought it.. used it one year... didn't really have an opinion on it..

i agree overall with WIWF.. its all about marketing.. i've never bought any bleeding hook baits before.. unless it automatically came with it.. but it was never for the hooks.. it was more for the overall look of the bait itself.. on the other hand.. the only bait hooks i buy are red hooks

[Muddog]

If you were in Alabama with all the red clay suspended in the water, red would disappear. Just like some people around here swear by green tented line.

[PostFrontal]

I'm all about red hooks as well. I wonder if it is because they give better contrast to a minnow/leech...don't know.

[Lotwfisher]

Light can penetrate line so the theory is the color red will disappear but light wont penetrate through metal hooks so it reflects the color, so it should be more visable as the color its painted. Thats the theory I have been told. I don't know if it is true or holds any science behind it but it got us talking about it so the marketing of it worked!

[itchmesir]

If you were in Alabama with all the red clay suspended in the water, red would disappear. Just like some people around here swear by green tented line.

green is definitely not gonna be noticeable in some of those lime stone stained waters after a good rain

[Muddog]

Light is color! Red is one of the first colors filtered out by water. It doesn't disappear. It just looks darker gray.

[caseymcq]

fishing line companies claim that RED line disappears in the water..

I am going to take a SWAG on why the line supposedly dissapears in the water. It is probably less to do with the color red and more with the material used to make the line. The polymer used to make the line probably has a refractive index (RI) that is the same or very close to water. RI is essentially how the speed of light is changed(how light is bent - the way a straw looks broken in a glass of water from the portion submerged in the water to the portion in open air) in a medium. Having a RI close to or the same as water will essentially make the line "blend in" with the water.

[john.wells]

I would theorize that if red becomes less visible, then a red hook would make sense in outproducing other hooks. If that leech just looks like a leech cruising along without some weird object ahead of it, I would think a walleye would be less hesitant. That said, I am also in the camp that red is the only color hook I will use. I also use red line, as well as green. Doesn't seem to matter much.

[fish-a-man]

I like the idea of light being able to pass through the line we use and it reflecting of of a painted hook it makes sense to me, as said by Lotwfisher. also i have plenty of lures with red hooks and has success with them. never used red line though.

[mrklean]

maybe its magic?

[Sandmannd]

I know that red hooks on vanish work awesome for me so that's what I'm stickin with.