Can they see the lines?

[baitstealer]

Is it true that bass stay away from bait sometimes because they can see the lines? If this is true then why are steel leaders used? I always figured that if fish are hungry they will eat bait no matter what.

[DarkSkies]

I always figured that if fish are hungry they will eat bait no matter what.


This is my experience baitstealer, I'm not necessarily saying it happens all the time, just my experience:

When hunger or an adult bunker frenzy is the factor, I've seen that steel leaders are mostly ok, fish will hit even with the leader.

However, the other day in Jamaica Bay, even the bluefish were picky under the sunlight. I had less hits with the leader, so I took it off, and it seems like I had better action, more hits.

For the night, except for a full moon where you are fishing a lighted area, for me it makes sense to use steel when there are a lotta blues around or you are retying rigs every 3 minutes.

Try to use that as your guidelines. I would say if youre targeting bass, try to stay away from steel. Use 100# mono instead. Some guys also swear by flourocarbon leaders, but that's a whole nother thread by itself. Hope this helps. :thumbsup:

[paumanok]

baitstealer--

If my daughter finds a hair on her plate, she won't eat for three days.

I don't think morone saxatilis are at all finicky in that way.

I mean, look at what we throw at them. Chunks of wood or plastic with humongous treble hooks dangling from them. Umbrella rigs--that's all wire! And we still catch fish.

Then again, if blues are around when I'm targeting stripers, my striper hook-ups go way down if I'm forced to use wire. Even though I keep it real short: 4" tops.

The hook-ups improve noticeably, though, if I use a coffee colored wire, instead of black or silver.

The color seems to matter to the stripers. Blues don't seem to care one way or the other.

[Rip-Plugger]

I have seen bass caught on hooks for choppers,the black wire type and it didn't seem to matte.I fish in darkness and I use 50 pound mono leaders,if choppers show up.I may go up to 100 pond.my spread is 50-100.
I don't even own a wire leader.

R-P

[Monty]

Great subject.
My evoloution to the surf included lots of years fly fishing for trout. Had to use 6X and 7X leader (very light) to not scare the trout. Since a lot of striper fishing is around current, I believe the bass strikes as soon as he IDs food. No time to even consider line. But I want to stack as many odds in my favor, so I use a 50 lb 40" to 48" leader (flouro). Also carry 80 lb when blues are around. Like R-P, I don't carry wire leaders.
Great points in this thread, consider what umbrella rigs look like, the full moons effect on what fish see. How about when the "fire" is in the water (the illuminecent stuff), that supposedly makes fishing very tough.
I tend to over think things and try to stack the odds in my favor (hence the leader choice).





Is it true that bass stay away from bait sometimes because they can see the lines? If this is true then why are steel leaders used? I always figured that if fish are hungry they will eat bait no matter what.

[finchaser]

I have seen bass caught on hooks for choppers,the black wire type and it didn't seem to matte.I fish in darkness and I use 50 pound mono leaders,if choppers show up.I may go up to 100 pond.my spread is 50-100.
I don't even own a wire leader.

R-P
What he said, plus they are usually in a churned up surf but always use a leader never tie direct to braid

[fishinmission78]

What he said, plus they are usually in a churned up surf but always use a leader never tie direct to braid

I use flouro or heavy mono depending on my mood. Never use wire, but that's just me. Finchaser's comments reminded me of the guys during the spring blitzes, throwing their 30 dollar plugs tied directly to braid, no shock leader, and they wonder why they're losing plugs? :huh::ROFLMAO:

[paumanok]

There's a thought, gentlemen. Thank you. I'm going to try that: using really heavy mono or fluoro instead of wire.

Right now I use a 27# 7 strand nylon-coated tie-able wire. It knots great, it's flexible, and it doesn't kink up like single-strand wire does.

I've used it to fish any number of chopper blitzes, with blues running 6-8 lbs.

I still have the fly I used once when they were glutting themselves on sand eels.: a 3" bucktail deceiver. The fly's shredded down to a mere whisp of chartreuse hairs and the wire is stripped down to the last three strands.
I caught nearly 30 fish on that fly, before I had to tie on a fresh one.

I just wonder if mono (what lb. test?) would hold up as long.

[baitstealer]

Wow, thanks for the great responses. I like to idea of using heavy mono. One thing I will remember is not to set the hook.