Are Crappie line shy?

I was just wondering if Crappie are line shy. I've heard some people say Crappie simply aren't line shy but I don't know for sure. I see people use high vis line all the time, however the lake near me has 10+ foot of visibility(sometimes you can see 20 foot down if it hasn't rained for a while). I normally fish at this lake with 2lb test clear mono for other species like trout. Would it matter to use 6lb test high vis line in a lake as clear as this. Should I maybe be tying 2 pound test leaders or does line visibility just not matter for Crappie fishing in terms of the fish seeing it.

I've not noticed any line shyness from Crappie and like you said, many if not most people use Hi-vis line. I use 4# about 80% and 6# the other 20%. That said, I'd guess rare is the (Crappie) lake with water that clear. Only water I fish that clear is some of the WNC mountain lakes and I'm fishing there for trout anyway, not crappie, so I have no first hand experience to help you with.
One way to find out! Spool up one reel with hi-vis and use one with your regular clear mono and compare for a few trips. If strike ratio clearly proves less with the hi-vis you'll have your answer.

Sometimes yes maybe and sometimes no maybe.

Mostly always fish Hi-Vis braid but have switched to a small jig and mono or floro leader at times and started catching fish from the same school that would not bite before.

Could be the smaller jig, could be the line, could be timing, could be how my boat was positioned, could be how my hat is tilted, who knows? :dono

If pressured and agitated they probably more so. Also depends what water you are fishing. Clear water maybe. Muddy water not so much

I prefer Hi-Vis so I can see my line to tie better among other things. Garry Mason, a long-time crappie guide, swears by the use of chartreuse colored line while casting Slider grubs to crappie. He says he feels the crappie see the line coming over the stakebeds and are already focusing their attention in that area so they see the grub earlier. He used to let clients use their own rods first with clear line and it wasn't long they were asking to use one of his rods with the chart. line.

I don't think so , many these days using braid .

I remember seeing an "ad" on a TV fishing show, where they stretched 5 different brands of "clear" fishing line over a white board & filmed it in a crystal clear Fla. lake. The purpose was to show their sponsor's brand to be "invisible" under water. "I" could plainly see ALL of the lines on the board, and thus figured the fish could ... more easily than me. Didn't convince me to buy that particular brand/type of line.

I mean, come on .... how many miles of various colored fishing lines do you think are broken off & hanging in the cover of your lake ?? Fish see those lines every day. Their eyes are better underwater than ours are, so IF they were "line shy", you couldn't catch them.

Personally, I think the "line shyness" idea is less a factor than a lot of other conditions/situations that may "spook" a fish. :twocents

Love the high vis yellow. The fish sure don’t mind.

I always jig fished with the Stren Hi-Vis Yellow 8 lb.

Hi vis for me. My old eyes really like it. Seems to work for me just fine.

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I've used hi-vis lines in gin clear trout waters and caught tons of crappie.


Regards

I fish in Texas and none of our waters are clear. My dad taught me how to crappie fish and you used double minnow rigs with 17lb test line on baitcasters. Hig vis or clear line makes no difference in my neck of the woods.

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Originally Posted by keeferfish

Sometimes yes maybe and sometimes no maybe.

Mostly always fish Hi-Vis braid but have switched to a small jig and mono or floro leader at times and started catching fish from the same school that would not bite before.

Could be the smaller jig, could be the line, could be timing, could be how my boat was positioned, could be how my hat is tilted, who knows? :dono

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Who knows is probably the best answer. I use hi vis because I wouldn't be able to tie a knot or see the line. That said, the water around me is not that clear so ? As mentioned above, fish both and on more than one occasion and see if it matters. Trout can be a whole different story.
Bob

If the water is that clear I would still use the 2 lb mono or maybe a 4lb fluorocarbon. Can rig a rod or two with a high vis line and try it to see what works better. Everyone is different and there are plenty of options to try to see what works better for you.

It’s likely they can see line in some places, not sure if it could make much difference to them “ until” it moves , that might have some play , movement in their environment seems to always have play .
It worries me none most of the time , the old school in this part of the world used big giant gold hooks on the end of white cotton line tied up to a stick and managed to ketch plenty…:Rofl

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Originally Posted by keeferfish

Sometimes yes maybe and sometimes no maybe.

Mostly always fish Hi-Vis braid but have switched to a small jig and mono or floro leader at times and started catching fish from the same school that would not bite before.

Could be the smaller jig, could be the line, could be timing, could be how my boat was positioned, could be how my hat is tilted, who knows? :dono

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Me personally feel the answer above is the closest, changing lines will change how the jig is presented. I fish braid and HiVis mono for me switching up totally changes how the jig reacts, I use six lb when fishing mono the jig falls much slower then the braid, any current wind driven or otherwise the mono line reacts much more then braid that cuts the water more. Then there are braids and mono that sinks much slower by design which changes the presentation.


Does it come down too the color or type of line ( braid Mono brand of line ) or how the line affects the presentation?

I think you will miss more bites by not being able to see them using clear line than you could ever spook with hi-vis.

Now blue gill and shell cracker are a different story.

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I’ve done the hivis/clear comparison and found no difference. I’ve tied direct to the jig with hi vis power pro and deep jigged timber in 50+ FOW in the winter and absolutely slammed the fish one more than one occasion. The only reason I use a mono leader on my 2lb is for abrasion resistance and ease of retying.

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

I’ve done the hivis/clear comparison and found no difference. I’ve tied direct to the jig with hi vis power pro and deep jigged timber in 50+ FOW in the winter and absolutely slammed the fish one more than one occasion. The only reason I use a mono leader on my 2lb is for abrasion resistance and ease of retying.

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Whst about in clear shallow water? I don’t believe they’d be able to see anything at 50 feet deep. Atleast what I read yesterday said they lose the ability to see color around 20 feet because the light didn’t penetrate deep enough but I know in some lakes it would be possible for us to see that deep so I’d think a fish would too. I can see the fluorescent yellow diawa j braid pretty deep with my own eyes.

I've been fishing a highland reservoir that most people (especially Crappie anglers) would consider VERY clear. Can't say how I would have done with clear line, fluoro, etc., but I've been fishing it with 4 pound hi-vis mono (or hi-vis 8-10 pound braid) and have caught more and bigger Crappie than most of the locals would ever acknowledge live in the lake. I suppose it's hypothetically possible that I may have done better with clear line, but I doubt it. If nothing else, people use hi-vis for a reason and any fish that you'd catch because of the low-vis line would probably be offset at least to some degree by the fish you missed because you couldn't see your line.

I recently started using braided line. Around here, no one carries the hi-viz line, or it's out of stock when I'm looking for it. So it's the low-viz green for me. That being said, I have been known to tie a clear 6lb leader to the end, for ease of knot tying.

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Originally Posted by Les Young

Whst about in clear shallow water? I don’t believe they’d be able to see anything at 50 feet deep. Atleast what I read yesterday said they lose the ability to see color around 20 feet because the light didn’t penetrate deep enough but I know in some lakes it would be possible for us to see that deep so I’d think a fish would too. I can see the fluorescent yellow diawa j braid pretty deep with my own eyes.

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Les, the problem with clear shallow water is not line color as much as it is the fish's ability to see movement "above the surface" ... including but not limited to : you moving, the presence of the boat, shadows, the bait flying over their heads, the splashdown of that bait, noise created by your movement, trolling motor prop wash or noise, etc.

I've seen fish move, dive, or scatter from shallow water (clear to lightly stained) just from me drawing my rod back to make a cast.

A buddy of mine contemplated buying a 20' rod to present his bait to shallow fish, because casting to them would spook them (just from the jig flying overhead). I told him that would probably not work, seeing as how the rod would present a larger profile & probably a more threatening factor than his jig & line flying overhead. :twocents

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Originally Posted by Les Young

Whst about in clear shallow water? I don’t believe they’d be able to see anything at 50 feet deep. Atleast what I read yesterday said they lose the ability to see color around 20 feet because the light didn’t penetrate deep enough but I know in some lakes it would be possible for us to see that deep so I’d think a fish would too. I can see the fluorescent yellow diawa j braid pretty deep with my own eyes.

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I have fished these 2 lines for crappie the past 5 years with fantastic results. Many of my crappie have come out of shallow clear waters of Center Hill Lake...and from below Center Hill Dam on the Caney Fork River....which is extremely clear...great trout river. Have had many occasions where I can see the crappie come up out of 8 feet of water and inhale the jig.....and I have to tell you it is quite a thing to see. When I first tried out the Hi-Vis line I was concerned that it was not going to work out well..now it is all I use when crappie fishing.

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Regards

Les, I’ve never fished gin clear water but have done well in cold , great visibility winter waters in middle Tennessee with good success. The fish sometimes set up on ledges and stay there. I’ve seen fish hit my jig and some slow cranked crankbaits. Hard on my nerves watching them come up. That was all on hi vis.

Alpha, that’s some great looking real estate. I’ll get back there one day.

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

Les, I’ve never fished gin clear water but have done well in cold , great visibility winter waters in middle Tennessee with good success. The fish sometimes set up on ledges and stay there. I’ve seen fish hit my jig and some slow cranked crankbaits. Hard on my nerves watching them come up. That was all on hi vis.

Alpha, that’s some great looking real estate. I’ll get back there one day.

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Thanks buddy. I've wondered just how deep the hi viz braid could be seen. I use to use the trilene photochromic line that looked kind of gold above the surface although hard to see in sunlight & it showed a dull blue in the blacklight & had great luck with it as far as bass & striper went but the crappie thing is a new game for me. I've been adding a mono leader just incase it matters to crappie. I tried straight flourescent yellow braid on my jig rod for bass & feel confident that it hurt me getting bit real bad so i started adding a mono leader & the bites went way up.

Crappie are a different animal. I used gold Stren back when it first came out and switched back to clear blue original pretty quick. Crappie don’t seem to care. I got lots of reels with hi vis to back up my theory, let’s go fishin and I’ll show ya.

Once seen a fella not ketch diddly using Cajun red fire line when the fish were on fire , other bud swore it was his line , he finally grabbed another rod and began hammering with the rest of us ....no clue what it was about,but seen it myself :dono

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Originally Posted by JbeshFishing

I was just wondering if Crappie are line shy. I've heard some people say Crappie simply aren't line shy but I don't know for sure. I see people use high vis line all the time, however the lake near me has 10+ foot of visibility(sometimes you can see 20 foot down if it hasn't rained for a while). I normally fish at this lake with 2lb test clear mono for other species like trout. Would it matter to use 6lb test high vis line in a lake as clear as this. Should I maybe be tying 2 pound test leaders or does line visibility just not matter for Crappie fishing in terms of the fish seeing it.

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Like stated you are much more likely to spook them than the line

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

Les, I’ve never fished gin clear water but have done well in cold , great visibility winter waters in middle Tennessee with good success. The fish sometimes set up on ledges and stay there. I’ve seen fish hit my jig and some slow cranked crankbaits. Hard on my nerves watching them come up. That was all on hi vis.

Alpha, that’s some great looking real estate. I’ll get back there one day.

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Hope you get to fish it sometime. I am sure I will pop in every so often to visit again. My sons have been tearing up the crappie and trout in that same spot for the past 2 weeks. Not many places I know of that one can catch a limit of big black nose crappie on one side of the boat and cast in current to the other side and get trout in the 18-20 inch range. And almost forgot the place has an abundance of 3 foot sturgeons with an occasional one approaching 4 foot. Unique place for sure.


Regards

I always carry a small spool of clear line in my box. If the crappie seem to get a bit spooky of the line, I'll tie on a good length of the clear, maybe 6'-8'. Then see if they want what I have to offer them. Sometime it works, sometimes they just shut down...

I use 6lb yeller line for main then tie on either 2 or 4 lb sos trout line for leader.
Coming from trout fishing background I think it matters. Not so much on crappie but probably more so with my confidence factor.
I’ve caught 8.5lb bass and 20+lb cats on the 2lb leader.
I fish for the challenge and frying pan. Both usually fulfilled on all my trips.


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I have always been a clear line only guy . After spending an hour to restring 4 trolling poles I am going to k-9 hi-vis except on jig poles . :dono