Red Line

[Maverley]

Hi, can anyone tell me why red fishing line disappers from the spectrum of colour under water? And if so why dont many people use red line when trolling or game fishing?

[PanamaJack]

From memory I think it was Jim Hirt, in one of his posts regarding fishing the Great Lakes (American forum), who addressed the subject of red line. It might be worth doing a SEARCH to find it.

Essentially though the spectrum of light changes as it penetrates water. And the first colour that disappears as light penetrates water is red. Red evidentially disappears at, based on conditions, between 15 to 30 feet. So the theory is it doesn’t spook fish. Is it a theory though or, like wide arbor reels, just marketing?

Um.....I personally, when trolling, use high vis lines - something like Suffix 'Key Lime'. Certainly, when backing, it gives the skipper good visibility. They need to follow the curve of the line rather that just aim at the fish! I've never found this deters fish, especially as the leaders I use tend to be flurocarbon.

(But the only time I've found fish, Yellowfin Tuna, leader shy is when I've been chunking. And then, and I can't be certain, I suspect it might have more to do with subtly different drift rates.)
Dave

[Captain Spike]

Hi, can anyone tell me why red fishing line disappers from the spectrum of colour under water? And if so why dont many people use red line when trolling or game fishing?

I dive as well as fish and can confirm that red doesn't disappear under water, it changes colour to green and then dark grey.

[Maverley]

Thanks guys that was a big help and now something that I understand. Cheers.

[Ravelling Tangler]

so there's no advantage in using red line rather than green in shallow water, and no advatage over grey (or black ?) in deeper water ?

Unless you like to see the red on the surface (?)