Does Hi-Vis Line Spook Crappie Or Deter Their Bite?

When it comes to line for your fishing reels people always have differing opinions on what is best. With options like, braided, monofilament, fluorocarbon among others people don’t always know which is best. Well in addition to those choices you also have weights and colors of line, with a more recent addition being Hi-Vis line. 

Today we are going to discuss the Hi-Vis line and crappie fishing. While some might argue that the fish will be spooked by that it isn’t the case. With that being said let’s look more into “Does Hi-Vis Line Spook Crappie or deter them from biting?”

In all but the rarest of cases Hi-Vis Line should improve your catch rate and does not deter crappie in the slightest, in some ways it may encourage a better bite as you can fish with slack in the line. This prevents them from being deterred from a bite by the feel of the bobber or float you may be using.

With that out of the way let’s look into the reason why Hi Vis Line may be a good option for you as well as some excellent options. 

Benefits of Hi-Vis Line

1. Nearly every type of line comes in a high visibility variant this includes monofilament, braided and fluorocarbon lines. Fly line has been highly visible for as long as I can remember. This makes it very easy to find a high-vis option in your preferred line type.
2. The high visibility of the line makes it easy for you to spot movement in the line before you feel the bite on your hook, allowing you a better reaction time in setting your hook.
3. With the higher visibility you can use a light weight jig and small or no float watching the line instead of the bobber. This also allows the fish to get a more solid bite and hopefully a better hook set as they are less likely to be startled by the pull of the bobber. 
4. For those with older eyes or some vision issues, the hi-vis line makes it easier to tie knots, bait your hooks and even see how your line is behaving in the water.
5. One of the key points is you can use different colors on each rod so that you know exactly which 1 the line belongs to. This is an awesome benefit when you have multiple people, especially children, fishing in the same area.
6. When fishing in low light conditions such as sunrise,sunset and the midnight hours when crappie bite the most a Hi-Vis line will aid in both, casting and detecting a bite on your line. 

Is the Hi-Vis Line Noticed by Crappie

Many people have tested high visibility line and drawn their own conclusions as to whether or not crappie can see the line and if it affects the fishing. However, none of these have been done in a perfectly controlled environment, weather, cast location, bait, time of day all affect the outcome of your fishing trip.

With that being said, many many people catch fish on high visibility lines every day. 

Without taking my word for it there are numerous Youtube channels dedicated to crappie fishing in which the anglers are using hi-vis line with excellent results.

This video is from Richard Gene the Fishing machine with over 240,000 subscribers

Here is another example from Flopping Crappie with over 45,000 subscribers.

Those are just two examples of using Hi-Vis line for crappie and how it doesn’t seem that the color of the line is deterring the crappie bites. 

I know in my case I much prefer the colored lines and I normally choose a fluorescent orange color myself. My son uses neon green and my two daughters like the neon yellow. 

Either version works about the same with the main difference in catch rate being their patience level more than the line. 

Recommended Hi Vis Line Options

When selecting a line your first choice is to determine what your preferred line type is. Once you have that down then you can select a color of line that suits you best. 

Braided Hi-Visibility Options For Crappie Fishing

For braided line varieties I prefer the Kastking Superpower, in a 10 lb weight. This line features four braided strands and a special coating to allow it to slide through the guides with ease. The only color I buy in his though is the fluorescent yellow. 

My go to for orange in a braided line is produced by Reaction Tackle. They tend to be slightly more expensive but enough to matter and feature a variety of 17 different colors depending on your preference. 

Keep in mind if you do not normally use braided line to fish for crappie, its characteristics are slightly different than monofilament and fluorocarbon line. Make sure to check out our discussion on using Braided Line for Crappie Fishing.

Hi-Vis Monofilament Options for Crappie Fishing

Monofilament presents its own characteristics and tends to be far more forgiving when setting the hook. This makes it ideal in crappie fishing and you can find plenty of options for a high visibility line. 

For monofilament lines I almost always go with Kastking. It’s reasonably priced, well reviewed and comes in numerous colors. Options include, sunrise yellow, rebel red, and chrome blue among others. 

Fluorocarbon Lines for Crappie Fishing with a Hi-Vis Color to Them

The majority of fluorocarbon lines come primarily in clear, however some makers such as K9 Fishing do carry hi visibility fluorocarbon such as this 1.

However, I have never not tried it. I only use fluorocarbon lines as a leader attached to either braided or mono lines. 

Conclusion

After covering the bases, I believe it is safe to say that;

The benefits of using a high visibility line or hi-vis far outweigh any downsides. Crappie bite most at times of low light, sunset, sunrise and during the midnight hours. The visibility of a fluorescent hi-vis line is a boon during these times in spotting a bite on your line and is sure to result in more landed fish.

Every Angler that I know will try any trick in the book in order to catch more fish, simply changing to a highly visible line could result in a greater catch rate for you and is definitely worth the few extra dollars a new spool of line will run you. 

If you are still worried that the fish can see the line and it will deter them, then attach a 2 to 4 foot leader of nearly invisible fluorocarbon line and give it a whirl, the benefits are well worth the time. A last thought, one of crappies favorite colors for lures is bright pink or chartreuse, if that doesn’t deter them the line isn’t likely to either.