New Fishing Line

I am not one to get too excited about new products. It could be that I have been in this line of business for so long that I have seen many so-called great products come and go and have become skeptical. It could also be that I have so much confidence in what I am currently using that I simply don’t want to try new products at all. But recently I tried a new fishing line and it worked better than I could have hoped.

Texas has more than 600 public reservoirs available for us to fish. Many of these bodies of water provide consistent action. My only problem is that the lake closest to my home is not one of them. Typically a long drive is needed to put me on a lake where the odds are best at catching my favorite freshwater fish, the Black Bass.

The problem with the lake close to my home (Canyon Lake) is that it is what is classified as a highland lake. Highland lakes typically have deep water with little cover for bass. Fishing in lakes like this can be a challenge even for the experienced angler. Due to the extreme light penetration on sunny days, bass tend to go deep or hang close to whatever cover they can find. All I know is that when fishing a highland lake, fish get lockjaw.

On a recent outing at Canyon Lake I tried a new fishing line called Vanish Transition made by Berkley. With tough conditions (clear skies and no wind) I was able to catch the best stringer of bass I had ever boated on this lake. It could have been due to the time of year when big fish are most vulnerable. But I don’t think so. I tried this new line out and noticed an obvious difference as I caught a limit of keepers that would average nearly 3 pounds each. It occurred to me that it might be the line. So I changed and went back to the line I have been using for years on this late. Bites became scarce, so I switched back to the new line. The fish started to cooperate once again. Could it just be coincidence?

This line looks different and it fishes different than other lines I have tried before. When exposed to sunlight, clear Transition line physically turns to a hi-vis color, for better line tracking and detection of bites. But once Transition hits the water it returns to is clear color, just like original Vanish, making the line virtually invisible below the surface to both angler and fish.

Vanish Transition has a clear appearance in the package on the store shelf and will keep that appearance as long as it is kept out of sunlight. The optical additive engineered into the fluorocarbon changes to the gold color when exposed to sunlight or UV light. The optical systems molecules change their molecular structure undergoing a temporary chemical change. Once the light source is removed (such as going under water) the chemical process is reversed and the line returns to the clear state.

I found many of the characteristics of Vanish Transition are strength, smooth casting, low memory formulation and few backlashes.

Fluorocarbon line does not absorb water and maintains 100 percent of its knot and line strength when wet. Vanish is more flexible and has a higher knot strength than before. It is more abrasion-resistant, and has higher sensitivity compared to most nylon monofilament lines. Because the line is denser, it sinks allowing for deeper running baits with less bow in the line.

By the end of the day I was beginning to change my mind about this old stubborn lake. The action was consistent and my confidence was high. I couldn’t help but think about how this new line will come in handy as I travel to other lakes where stubborn bass await impatient anglers.