Hi Vis Mono Line & Pitch’n Jigs

I know this subject was beaten to death last year about which high visibility mono line was the best for pitching jigs, but at that time Berkley’s IronSilk Solar Mint was just coming on the market and there was not a lot of experience with it. For those of you that cast hair and plastic jigs to the shallows, what high visibility mono line do you now recommend and what pound test?

At Cabela’s it looks like there are currently just three hi vis mono lines to choose from:

Berkley IronSilk Solar Mint
Maxima Fibre Glow
Stren Hi-Vis Gold

Thanks
Dave Gulczinski

Hey Dave, I haven’t tried the Iron Silk yet as I still have some of the Berkley Solor Green left and just bought some more in fact. Hooked On Fishing Bait and Tackle in Rochester has some Berkley Solor line in stock as well as the Iron Silk. Nate and I do like the Maxima Fibre Glow for jigging, yes the pretty pink stuff as everybody calls it, as you can see it above water and it is strong line. For jigging I like 6 and 8 lb. and for casting I like 8 and 10 lb. depending on what I’m casting to. Casting to rocks and wood go no lighter than 10 lb. Even jigging in wood 10lb. is better. I ”may” switch ”some” baitcaster rods this year to a more normal line color but I do like the Berkley Solar Green even on these rods as I can see exactly where the line is entering the water when pulling a fish up to the net for netting purposes. Eyes are getting older [mine, not the fish-eyes]. Plan to experiment again this year with different lines, St. Croix rods, reels, plastics, etc. Someday I’ll put the different toys away and get serious about just concentrating on catching more fish like I use to but right now I am having tooooo much fun trying out and testing new toys. Kind of like learning to fish again as each different rod reads different, each line has good and bad points to be learned, each reel is different as to what it does best, each plastic has alittle different action, and each line brand has a different color for your eyes to see. I realize I have gotten off the topic some, ok alot, but each line is different just like each other toy is different. I like the high Vis stuff as I can see where it enters the water better and can see the line jump better when a fish takes it. The best way is to try all 3 lines to determine which one YOU like best then you will have the line that YOU want to use on your reels for many years. Good luck Dave and let us know ”which one” you find to be the best for you. Thanks, Bill

Bill,
Thanks for the input. But I was hoping that maybe one of the brands was overall “much” better than the others for casting jigs.

It is interesting that that the hi vis colors are green, pink, and gold. I wonder if one color has better visibility over the others? Or if the knot strength, diameter, memory, and abrasion resistance of one line is better than the others?

If it is a wash between the three brands, then it doesn’t really matter which one I choose. I guess I could try all three lines but I wanted to get some feedback from the FTR forum before going that route.

Dave Gulczinski

Got to use the gold line last year for a day as a coangler. I really liked the the line and it was easy to a secure a knot on your jig. It had to be at least 10 pound test, as you could bend the jig hook getting the jig out of the rocks. Very impressed with this line, plus we put some fish in the boat that day.
Planning on using both the gold and green this year. Will leave the pink stuff for the girls to test .
Good luck and happy fishing

Berkley Sensation has a new line of Hi Vis lines.

Dave G,

I have been using Berkely Iron Silk ever since it has come out and have been having pretty good luck with it so far. When I am pitching shallow sand flat areas, I am rigged with 6-8lb Silk. There are times where the iron silk gives me just the right drop speed that I am looking for where the thin diameter of the fireline is just too quick in waters as shallow as 2 foot and may be passed by shallow fish.

I have been using stren hi vis gold ever since i have been 10 and have never had a problem with it snapping on me, and i have caught some bigger fish with it as well, one thing that really helps is if you are casting in some rocks it does help to retie every once in a while just to make sure.

There are some other Brands available in 6# test that are abrasion resistant and may be worth checking out. Cabela’s has a Hi-Vis version of their store brand Flourocarbon line that looks like it would fill the bill – kind of spendy though. Ande has two Hi-Vis lines – Ande Tournament in a yellow color and Ande Premium in what they call “Envy Green.” Sufix has a Hi-Vis Yellow line and Triple-Fish has a new Hi-Vis line that has 4 differnt colors. The Ande seems to be the most reasonably priced and sure seems to be popular with the Salmon/Steelhead crowd.

I have used 6# Stren, Hi Vis Gold for about 10 years now. I love the limpness it has for pitching 1/16 and 1/8 hair jigs. I pitch them into rock piles 95% of the time. It has great knot strength and is extremely easy to see in any conditions. I actually used to use the 4# test and really liked that too. The only problem was if the wind was blowing and I had to go to 1/4 oz., it didn’t work as well. There is my 2 cents and you can go ahead and exchange that for a nickel if you want.