Coloured mono use?

[sashkello]

I've got a couple of 30lb mono line spools. Got them on a whim because they were $2 each and now I'm kind of not sure how to use them. I've mostly been using hi-vis braid before and clear mono leader, but these two acre coloured, so I'm not sure they'd be useable as leader material. One is pinkish-red and another is violet/purple. I initially thought to use them as mainline for med-heavy livie setup I've got (then I wouldn't need a leader, just mono all the way), but I have doubts about the colour - would it be too inconspicuous? Is it some kind of special line I don't know the use of or is it simply supposed to be for visibility and I'd need to attach clear leader to the end of it? 

Cheers! 

[DerekD]

Some manufacturers went into reds or similar as it is one of the first colours which you can't tell what it is as you go deeper. Probably not explaining it well but say you go down 25m and cut yourself and start bleeding into the water. Now you know it is red but you can't see that it is red. From memory it will look kind of black or dark brown.

Most of the impacts on the fishes response seem to be anecdotal. It sounds good but do the fish really care. Most fish probably won't make the connection with the coloured line coming off the bait or lure and a potential threat. Having said that years ago I heard about long liners putting their bait out for tuna and they alternated the dropper lines between monofilament and fluorocarbon. About 90% of the tuna they caught were hooked on the fluorocarbon droppers. This is an article I'd like to find again as it is a great example of when line choice can make a real difference.

 

Edited September 27 by DerekD

[sashkello]

Thanks, Derek.

Yes, I'm aware of the colour absorption, as I've done quite a bit of underwater photography. I understand that red goes away quite early depth-wise. But why would you have a specifically red line, when transparent line is less visible, even if it's not by much? If the line has colour, it reflects in that part of spectrum and so will appear slightly darker than the background underwater, and become more visible. That's my understanding anyway. Maybe in certain circumstances it helps to get blended with surroundings? 

And violet makes even less sense then, right? It's hard to see for me above water, so it's not for my visibility, and it's supposedly quite obvious underwater... So not sure what's the point of it then...

[savit]

I have been using 15lb multicolor red/blue/purple leader spools  (NZ store clearance) for  leaders for a few years -  no issues.

I like the leader material and generous 100m spool size.

Most of my fishing in the morning or at night though.

[BaitDropper]

I have orange line on a couple of my set ups with clear mono leader, catches on the bottom same as all clear, good for live baiting too, seeing the line, also excellent towing a lure when chasing salmon or bigger, you can see the line easier.

It was a cheap option for a couple of my old senator reels,  while not my go to rod and reels, but plenty of bottom dwellers been caught with no apparent difference when also fishing with all clear side by side...

Edited September 27 by BaitDropper

[XD351]

also need to remember that fish may not see a colour like we see it , some  may not even see colour at all and some can see UV and polarised light . So your so called invisible fluoro leader might be reflecting UV light and your braid may not be . 
I have used all sorts of mono over the years , some green , some blue , some white ,some pink and i even used the multicoloured stuff at one point - can’t really say i have ever noticed one colour to be better or worse than the others . There is one way to find out and that is use some as trace material and see if affects the catch or bite rate , shouldn’t be a problem as a main line as you can always run a fluoro leader .

I personally would be more concerned with the quality of the stuff- at $2 each it would probably be garbage - you can always use it as backing line under your braid .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_in_fish#:~:text=The retina of a fish,are sensitive to polarized light.
 

[savit]

33 minutes ago, XD351 said:

also need to remember that fish may not see a colour like we see it , some  may not even see colour at all and some can see UV and polarised light . So your so called invisible fluoro leader might be reflecting UV light and your braid may not be . 
I have used all sorts of mono over the years , some green , some blue , some white ,some pink and i even used the multicoloured stuff at one point - can’t really say i have ever noticed one colour to be better or worse than the others . There is one way to find out and that is use some as trace material and see if affects the catch or bite rate , shouldn’t be a problem as a main line as you can always run a fluoro leader .

I personally would be more concerned with the quality of the stuff- at $2 each it would probably be garbage - you can always use it as backing line under your braid .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_in_fish#:~:text=The retina of a fish,are sensitive to polarized light.
 

Have not seen yet fish wearing glasses, so doubt that they are seeing the world we are.

Big chunk of information comes to fish from lateral line. If they can feel leader movement (particularly when working the lure) - it does not matter what colour the leader is. I think - it is more about leader thickness.

https://activeanglingnz.com/2017/01/03/the-lateral-line-a-fishs-sixth-sense/

[noelm]

I have posted this lots of times….I have actually done a test with all sorts of coloured and types of line, including flurocarbon, at depth (to the human eye) all lines are just a greyish stripe in the water, none are “invisible” what a fish sees is anyone’s guess (though lots of scientific work has been done) fishing can be a confidence thing, for gamefishing, I always liked/used blue line, why? Superstition? Beach fishing I use blue or clear……it’s more about the thickness (in my opinion) that’s why I don’t like quick loops for hooks with a paternoster rig, the line is twice as thick for no strength benefit.

[Steve0]

1 hour ago, noelm said:

 what a fish sees is anyone’s guess.

Almost sums up the fisho's problem neatly. Part of the rest is, if fish do see line, how does their brain interpret what they see.  Fish are used to taking a feed off a natural surface, weed, thin branch, etc, so why would they worry about line? We don't know the answer. Advertisers extract profit from our insecurities.

You start to question things when using 6lb brown mono and tiny sinker not getting a bite in a brown, tannin stained estuary while your mate catches 'wiley' Black Bream after Black Bream using 25lb blue mono and a heavy sinker. Same bait. Same bait container.  Far enough away from the ocean, not to be the result of the stained water floating on incoming ocean water. What seemed logical on the day was he was fishing further upstream and found the sweet spot, while my only option was to fish downstream. His boat.

 

[XD351]

On 9/27/2024 at 6:35 PM, savit said:

Have not seen yet fish wearing glasses, so doubt that they are seeing the world we are.

Big chunk of information comes to fish from lateral line. If they can feel leader movement (particularly when working the lure) - it does not matter what colour the leader is. I think - it is more about leader thickness.

https://activeanglingnz.com/2017/01/03/the-lateral-line-a-fishs-sixth-sense/

Interesting read !