Has anyone tried the red fishing line in fresh water? I see it used all the time on fishing shows on the ocean and a friend uses it for his ocean fishing, but not when inland. He says it disappears underwater so why hasn't it been used in fresh?

Sorry if this seems like a hijack. I've converted completely to spectra braid; PowerPro's my preferred brand. I will use a heavy fluorocarbon leader if I'm worried about clarity, but I typically tie bait straight to the braid. There's zero stretch, no line memory and you get the choice of either incredible strength or very thin line. I prefer 12 diameter/50 lb since it doesn't bury the line in the spool like the much thinner line.

Before I made the switch I was using hybrid fluoro washed resin line from Yo-Zuri. It has the most similar refractory properties as water that I've seen.

I'm not sure how red line could be any more invisible, unless red is a more difficult spectral color for fish to see and easier for us to watch. I use red worm hooks to imitate gill red and give fish a bright color to key in on for attack.

As you get deeper in water, the colors are no longer colors and they drop away in the order of the Spectrum, ROYGBIV. Blues retain color at deepest depths.

The red line does not disappear it just does not appear red....a red snapper fish does not appear red when 20' under the boat but the red hues are obvious as he gets to the surface.

As P8 says, go with flourocarbon for those days when fish are picky.

You have to go very deep for red to disappear. Blue actually disappears very quickly. In stained water, red isnt too bad, but in clear water its a different story. Red hooks are a gimmick. Red hooks are supposed to be visible, but red line isn't?

I've had this conversation hundreds of times with Lake Erie walleye, and they assure me that red hooks are not a 'gimmick'.

i agree but my walleye fishing is normally in water 30 feet or less which might make the difference....most of my fishing is in 12-25 feet and sometimes only in a couple feet of water early in the spring when they move up into the shallows where the sun warms the water faster....down deep though the others are right, red should sorta disappear or atleast blend in better which is why alot of deep sea fish are red.......

Thanks all. From what has been said it seems red has to used deep to get any benefit. Maybe the reason it is used mainly in the ocean.

Rattler

Being in NE MT you must fish FT Peck. How is the lake level? A friend went up in early may and caught several 10-11 lb walleye, but the weather was bad. He said they had snowball fights in the boat. Crooked Creek may actually be usable this year.

its up to the spillway for the first time since the 90's......2 years ago it was a half mile from my father in laws cabin at the Pines to the water, in October it was 1/4 mile, now yah can hit it with a rock from his back deck.....the fishing down the Dry Arm has been fantastic but its interesting fishing im told due to all the vegetation that had grown on dry land for a decade is now 5-20 feet under water....should make for great spawning for bait fish and such but gonna be alot of snags while fishing....

I've never tried red line. Never wanted to. In most fishing situations I want a line that is as invisible as posible. For leaders that means Maxima green or flourocarbon. I've only fished in one situation where a high visiblity line could be an advantage. That was on the Kenai River fishing for Kings from a boat. The guys that used high visibility line made it far easier for other boaters to be able to see where a hooked fish was in combat/bumper car boat fishing.

I'm also reluctant to try new mono line of whatever brand or style. I prefer Berklely Trilene. Whether it's Big Game line for heavy stuff or xl or xt for lighter stuff, it works for me. I quit experimenting with different lines trying to find the best. I've settled on Trilene and called it good enough.


fish head

Rattler

My Uncle & Aunt lived in FT Peck for over 30 years. He worked for the F&G and she was the Postmaster. He would tell stories of all the water they had back when. Also of raising fish in many of the now dry little resevours. I remember fishing below the spillway as a kid. It is nice that the water id finally coming back up.

I pretty much just stick with Trilene too, but was curious about red line.

i was just about to post a new thread till i came across this one ,just bought a new zebco 33 and it comes fom the package spooled with cagin red mono ,guiess i will put clear on it, will go back home to W.VA. to trout fish with dad, only get to go once a year, they claim it fads in deeper water but most of the trout stream runs from a foot to 3 feet deep,if the red fads out fast ,why did i catch alot of trout on red and white spoons? ,iam quessing the fish saw the red ,but what do i know

My godfather gave me some and I tried it up here. Never have caught a fish with red line. I have used red line and not caught anything and switched to another pole with clear line, and caught fish. I wont use it anymore up here.

I use both red and clear. Catch just as many bass on the red as I do the clear, in murky water or clear water. Doesn't seem to matter much.

Dan