Sight Line Fishing 2025
bigbill reply :
There is a sight line in fishing. Above the sight line the bass can see you. Below the sight line they can't see you.
I find some bass can be finicky to strike above the sight line sometimes. It's when I slow my spinnerbait or inline spinner down and it runs below the sight line just out of our sight is when we can have success. Ever try it?
To do this with crankbaits you need to switch from a shallow running CRANKBAIT to a 4' depth running crank.
Depending on the water clarity and light conditions the sight line can be at different depths. A spinnerbait will show us where it is.
I'm not talking about sight fishing were we can see the bass.
Scarborough817 reply :
but then what about topwater?
bigbill reply :
They won't come up to above the sight line to strike. Topwater isn't always a given.
I can see my spinnerbait above the sight line with no action. The next cast I slow it up so it's below the sight line were I can't see it but down where the bass can see it like in there face. They hit it.
Trust me on this one I've done it many times.
Catch and Grease reply :
You mean to tell me how deep you run a lure can be a factor in whether or not you get strikes? Genius...
d-camarena reply :
Ive actually had tons of fish follow and take my lure on top of the "sight line". I understand 100% what you are trying to say but i dont think it has a big effect on our fishing. Or at least i havent noticed it in my fishing.
d-camarena reply :
Like catchandgrease said, i think depth in general is what we should be worried about
the reel ess reply :
If a bass is charging a buzzbait, he's not looking at me, the boat or anything but the bait.
zachb34 reply :
I agree with the OP. As far as them striking above the "sight line" yes, it happens but most of these cases I would say they came from below, and were already locked in on the bait. In other words, the fish below the "sight line" came to the bait in the "sight line" with tunnel vision basically. I don't think I get many bites from fish that have already seen me. I've also heard fish see more of the outside world from deeper water than shallow water. At a further distance from the surface, they get more of an angle to have a wider view. So I guess the two theories conflict in this case.
bigbill reply :
Don't forget I'm shore fishing. I'm about 2'-3' above the waters surface. Above the sight line nothing is chasing my bait. But when I slow it down the bait is out of my sight but well within the basses sight I get strikes.
GetJigginWithIt reply :
What?
WRB reply :
Some bodies of water anything above the water surface that moves can turn off bass. Big birds like Blue Heron, Osprey can and do sometimes spook wary bass. If you are walking the bank, you may be considered a threat to the bass at times. Other times I have witnessed a wide open bite with with several people standing near shore, cattle in the water, boats sitting on top of the bass and nothing seems to turns the bite.
The difference active verses inactive bass, the water clarity and suns position to the horizon all affect how bass react.
Tom
Montanaro reply :
Bill isnt talking about lure depth...
He is talking about the angle of water distorting the bass's vision of the angler.
Not sure why some of you feel the need to be vitriolic to a legitimate tip.
d-camarena reply :
Montanaro-So we cant express our poing of views?
I see it slightly diffrent, i dont think the sight line is the same coming from a persons view and coming from a fish view. Not because we cant see them means they cant see us. But i may be completely wrong. Just my point of view.
Bigbill thanks for the tips and good threads, always something intresting in your posts. Keep it up. No disrespect
bigbill reply :
No problem. I just noticed sometimes when I see the spinnerbait nothing happens. Then when I slow it up so it's out of my sight I get strikes.
I wonder now if we can have two different water conditions above the sight line and below the sight line.
Montanaro reply :
Ive heard of this tip before on b.a.s.s. if im not mistaken. There is something to it but like wrb said some days it matters some days it doesnt
bigbill reply :
Ok I have another thought. It our topwater stuff isn't working tie on a spinnerbait and reel it just slow enough below the sight line where we can't see it. Try a white spinnerbait or chartruese color spinnerbait or your favorite spinnerbait. Remember when the topwater action isn't working. I hope your willing to post your results.
deep reply :
On 10/28/2015 at 11:00 AM, bigbill said:Ok I have another thought. It our topwater stuff isn't working tie on a spinnerbait and reel it just slow enough below the sight line where we can't see it. Try a white spinnerbait or chartruese color spinnerbait or your favorite spinnerbait. Remember when the topwater action isn't working. I hope your willing to post your results.
Ever hear of this dude called Buck Perry?
Bass newb reply :
I was told bass can see 6 times better than us in water ...so wouldn't that mean if the lure was just out of our sight, they could still easily see us?
Logan S reply :
Choporoz reply :
I think there's some confusion about what's affecting visibility (for us and for the bass.) If I'm not mistaken, the OP is referring to how the angle of refraction affects what the bass may or may not perceive.
Not clarity, reflection, amount of light (incident illumination), surface disturbance, etc. All those can be quite variable even in same body of water. The angle of refraction is mathematically defined and will pretty much only be affected by waves, etc. So, if its determined to have any significance, its nice to be able to remove one of the variables...especially a rather fixed one.
bigbill reply :
On 10/28/2015 at 9:25 PM, deep said:Ever hear of this dude called Buck Perry?
Who's Buck Perry?
Catt reply :
Luckly for us dumb anglers bass don't feed by sight alone!
deep reply :
On 10/29/2015 at 1:40 AM, bigbill said:Who's Buck Perry?
Elwood Perry, the father of structure fishing.
He said something about depth and speed. Buy the book; far cheaper than any decent rod or reel.
Fish (underwater) can't see out-of-water objects past a certain distance (total internal reflection of light).
So if you think the fish are spooked/ won't bite because they can see you, just back off and make longer casts.
A topwater (unless it's a buzzbait or a lipped diving bait like the original Rapala) has only one depth option, but virtually unlimited speed options.
A sinking bait like a spinner bait, can be worked at various depths, but the speed options (for a given spinnerbait) are more limited. Retrieve too fast, and you've lost depth, and viceversa.
Raul reply :
On 10/29/2015 at 2:07 AM, Catt said:Luckly for us dumb anglers bass don't feed by sight alone!
Nooooo !!! Really !!!! dang, so I missed the chance of ketchin´ me sumthin´ all them times I went back home when I saw the water was too murky for bass to see my lures ? 
bigbill reply :
As per Dr. Loren Hill's ten years of studying bass in seeing colors they don't see all the colors all the time. There limited to seeing certain colors do to light and water conditions.
bigbill reply :
On 10/29/2015 at 2:07 AM, Catt said:Luckly for us dumb anglers bass don't feed by sight alone!
What a minute here were not dumb anglers. Maybe we all don't have PHD's in bass fishing. Don't let that pea sized brain fool you. Maybe they can't think like us but that little micro processor they have is a eating machine. We need to figure out what's on there menu. Plastic or metal with garlic?
hatrix reply :
Ya I suppose this sight line thing will help get you bit. Tons of time I have killed a bait and let it fall till I could nonlonget see t and get bit. It happens all day long with flukes for example. I also do it a lot with glides. Some are easy to track in clear water to th e head is marked. I will pause and let them sink and get bit a few seconds later or as soon as I move it.
I think maybe some of it might be because they are in the shadows sorta down there. Near the surface the water is much brighter and you can see everything. It's like bass sitting on the shaded side of dock pillings or something. Looking from dark to light you can see everything. But when you look from light to dark you can't really see much.
bigbill reply :
I always cast into the shaded areas parallel to the shoreline when I can. Areas that are shaded by the trees and the sun's position. Use everything to our advantage.
WRB reply :
It's a mistake to compare a fish to human behavior. Bass evolved as cold blooded aquatic animals with very different senses and eyes. The fish eye isn't binocular , each eye is independent and has a very wide viewing angle, far greater then a human eye.
Tom
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