clear vs green line-Cumberland Stripers

Anybody have any experience with or opinions on clear mono vs green(big game green-not the bright stuff) as working better or making any difference for catching stripers at Cumberland. With the lower levels the water does not seem to be as clear as normal with the waves hitting the exposed clay and mud banks--maybe that is irrelevant.

I just bought and respooled 8 reels with the clear/blue mono that I purchased by mistake and didn't notice bacause it was night and want to make sure have confidence in what I put on there next. Maybe this stuff is OK but for some reason I just don't like it although it did catch two fish sunday. The excel that I put on does not have the stretch (shock absorbing) ability that like so I must re-spool.

Any help appreciated.

[QUOTE=peter;391429]Anybody have any experience with or opinions on clear mono vs green(big game green-not the bright stuff) as working better or making any difference for catching stripers at Cumberland. With the lower levels the water does not seem to be as clear as normal with the waves hitting the exposed clay and mud banks--maybe that is irrelevant.

I just bought and respooled 8 reels with the clear/blue mono that I purchased by mistake and didn't notice bacause it was night and want to make sure have confidence in what I put on there next. Maybe this stuff is OK but for some reason I just don't like it although it did catch two fish sunday. The excel that I put on does not have the stretch (shock absorbing) ability that like so I must re-spool.

Any help appreciated.[/QUOTE]
Peter,
I used to spool with 20 pound green big game on the reals and 20 pound camo for leaders. The 20 pound camo isn't quite as strong as the big game so it made for great leaders. This year I went to 17 pound camo on the spools and 17 pound florocarbon for leaders hoping the more stealthness would pay off. I can't really say that going to the thinner less visible line put any more fish in the boat than the heavier green big game did, but as you said, things haven't been the same since the water dropped. As of right now, there is a lot of color to the water so I doubt the white clear would matter this winter.

As a side note, I didn't have any break offs with fish using the lighter line, so I'm going to stick with the 17 pound line but will probably go back to green big game. I've got twenty something rigs to respool before January so I best get cracking..

Added note. I cast with 12 pound Bass Pro clear and do very well with it.

Im no striper fisherman, but the green line seems far less visible in any kind of water... to me anyway. Only problem I have is seeing the line that is above the water.

20 reels is quite a job. I saw this reel spooler at Berkley when I was looking around and will probably give it a try.
About $34 at Berkely and $29 at Amazon.

[URL]http://www.berkley-fishing.com/prod.php?k=266261&sk=266261&u=PLSS[/URL]

Anything has to be easier than the way I have been doing it.

I've been using 20 and 17 too and may try 15 at some time. If you have enough shock absort-tion in the line and rod can't see where it would be a problem and the thinner line would help a lot with line drift back when your sinkers are deep and you are going too fast due to wind or whatever.

That 17 lb clear/blue Excel didn't have much stretch at all. I could feel every "head shake" on 29 inch fish using my standard flimsy ugly sticks. It was a lot of fun but I think that greatly increased my odds of loosing a fish..which I did and had not done all summer using big game. This brought me to the personal conclusion that I would prefer not to hook a fish at all if I was going to loose it near the end. Don't know if you can control that totally but you an increase your odds. What a let down! Maybe I am backwards but I tend to remember the ones I fight for a while and loose much more vividly than the ones I catch. Maybe that is because the ones you loose always seem like monsters or could have been monsters and you never will know..but probably not the case.

Anyhow that's my story until I learn differently.

Thanks for the input.

[QUOTE=peter;391448]Man that spooling is grueling if you have a bunch of rods. I came across this portable re-spooler from berkely that I may give a try. $34 at Berlley and about $29maybe at Amazon.
[URL]http://www.berkley-fishing.com/prod.php?k=266261&sk=266261&u=PLSS[/URL]

Anything has to be easier than the way I have been doing it.
Thanks for the input.[/QUOTE]

I've been using this same spooler for several years. I have no problems with it, it works great.

Been a while since I pulled boards or ran the down riggers. When I did, I used 20# stren, clear. No issues there. Casting, I've been using Pline either moss green or clear in 15#. Can't say I've seen any difference in catch rates between the two. I also use 14# fireline with a fluro leader on my jig stick. Catch just fine with that too. Those are almost all night fishing. I did use the jig stick some last year throwing at jumps and they hit the jig just fine. A number of years ago I did use 20# fireline for planers during the day. That did make a difference. Couple of trips running half the rods with the stren and the other half with fireline. Never even got a hit on the fireline rods.

Andrew

Any color of mono is more visible under water than flouro......flouro has almost identical light refraction as water!

Fluro is definitely more invisible in the water than mono, although pricey. I used 12 lb clear mono the last trip casting in the jumps. Handled the fish with no problem. I like the 12lb, it really helps ya cast alot further to reach those jumps. My friend had 17 lb mono on and I was outcasting him by 10-15yds. Makes all the difference. If you come up short when the stripers are busting you might as well forget about it! :D

-Rich

Peter, you have a PM

i have that spooler and i must say best investment for re-lining my reels there is. I personally use 20lb BPS clear Excel. I have thought about using flouro for my leader line but way to expensive for stripers to fill the whole reel. I used 14 lb BPS flouro for casting my jigs last year for stripers and did very well on it but i usually use the same 20lb clear and do pretty good too.

Tom