FL water color ?

[bassinbrian]

I'm sure it varies a lot.  I ask because I'm a huge fan of braid. I used to fish some knarly , swampy places in the northeast. Most places were stained , not very clear. So fish wouldn't  be spooked.

Not sure what to expect here ?

I know some of the rivers are spring feed and crystal clear. I'll most likely be hitting inland lakes, shallow, weedy etc...

Thanks again guys
BB

[West6550]

I use braid 99% of time. Almost all is stained. There are exceptions which is why I have one mono rod lol

[LgMouthGambler]

Our tannic waters make braid easy to get by with. That being said, there is a time and place for nylon lines. If you are fishing more open areas stay with 30-40# braids. Heavier vegetation, go with 50-65#.

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[FloridaFishinFool]

Stained, murky, or crystal clear... don't care! Braid all the way, no leaders ever. And I have never seen a fish run from braid. In fact, it has been quite the opposite. One time I was fishing in Lake Mizell which is a super clear spring fed lake and the baby bass around 12 inches long or less were actually chasing after the braid line and trying to eat it.

So from personal experience from fishing braid for many years now I don't see using it as a problem at all. But I do try and buy braid colors that will blend in rather than stick out like neon lights, but this season I am going to use some new Sufix braid that is neon yellow/green and see how well that works out or not, but usually I buy army green or grey and have no issues with fish running from it.

[bassinbrian]

Ahhh Perfect answers guys. Me likey my braid 


BB

[SFL BassHunter]

Braid for the majority is fine. You may find some exceptions if you find crystal clear water. Down here in my area some of our canals are very clear and some lakes are crystal clear. In one particular lake that is clear I always fish with mono or fluoro.



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[Smallie_Stalker]

Stained, murky, or crystal clear... don't care! Braid all the way, no leaders ever. And I have never seen a fish run from braid. In fact, it has been quite the opposite. One time I was fishing in Lake Mizell which is a super clear spring fed lake and the baby bass around 12 inches long or less were actually chasing after the braid line and trying to eat it.

So from personal experience from fishing braid for many years now I don't see using it as a problem at all. But I do try and buy braid colors that will blend in rather than stick out like neon lights, but this season I am going to use some new Sufix braid that is neon yellow/green and see how well that works out or not, but usually I buy army green or grey and have no issues with fish running from it.

I'm with West on this one. When I get to fish a lake versus the usual pond , the lakes I fish the most are gin-clear natural glacial lakes. Because i am getting older and my eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be I went to high-vis braid several years back and as far as I can tell it has made absolutely no difference in the amount of fish I catch. About 99% of my fishing is done using this high-vis braid regardless of water quality and at this point I don't see any reason to change.

Just my $.02

[basss]

It really depends on where you fish, we have all kinds of water.  Stay with your braid and don't worry about it.  If you do need to change your line, we have plenty of stores around where you can get the clear stuff.

[WestSlope]

Last year I made a trip to the Kissimee area and we got into 'em pretty good (75 fish between us per day easily).  On the first day I was catching probably 5 to 1 over my boat partner (I got bigger ones, too.  My avatar pic is from that trip.) and he was getting frustrated.  I was using braid with a fluoro leader and he was using straight braid.  He switched to a straight fluoro and caught several pretty quick but then broke off in vegetation. I showed him a leader knot (FG) that night and he tied on some heavy fluoro.  The next day he matched me fish for fish.  I don't know for certain that was the reason but the evidence points to the fish being line shy. 

The water wasn't super duper clear either - we were in about 3 ft and couldn't see the bottom the whole time.  For punching I stuck with braid since (I told myself anyway) the shadows likely made the line less visible.  I don't think it was action since the heavy fluoro was much stiffer than the braid.  Punching didn't really pan out but I don't think it was due to the line.

We also fished swimbaits on straight braid and didn't do very well.  We really started hammering 'em with wacky rigged stik-o's.  Maybe the slower presentation gave them time to really look the baits over and the post spawn blues made that enough to turn some away. Maybe the fluoro made the stick baits sink in a more appealing way and it was the action after all.   

Anyway, I'd say it is worth trying a leader or straight fluoro if you aren't killing 'em.  If you know they are in an area and you aren't really catching 'em its worth a shot.  Some guys that live down there swore by coloring their braid black with a Sharpie.  I never tried it because the leader was working so well but you might try that too if you prefer the braid for cutting through vegetation. And as confident as braid makes me, the big fish from our club that week (9.5 or whereabouts) came on 12 lb test fluoro.  The guy that got that one didn't break any off that whole trip and he threw a shakey head on 12lb test 90% of the time. He just pins 'em and goes to the fish if he can't get them into open water.  He is confident in his line and it got him the big bass money so he proved that lighter line is definitely do-able even around pretty thick stuff.

Good luck down there!  I will be coming down again next week to the same area to give it a shot too.