Best Color Braided Fishing Line for Bass: 2 Color Types You Need

When To Use Braided Fishing Line for Bass

Unlike fluorocarbon or monofilament, braided fishing line is not translucent as it is woven from synthetic fibers like Dacron or Spectron. This means that it is the most visible line underwater. We obviously want to hide the imperfection of our presentation as much as possible, so why would we select a line that is so easily noticeable? 

The fact is braided line is by far the strongest fishing line there is. It is almost impossible to break or cut off and the only way we’ll lose tackle really is by our knot slipping by the hook. This strength is key for various techniques when it comes to bass fishing, so it’s a line that we’ll always have spooled on one of our reels. 

As we know, bass love hugging harsh forms of cover. This can form in the form of trees, brush piles, sharp rocks, manmade cover, or anything really. These types of cover are obvious places to fish for bass anglers, but they can wreak havoc on our tackle. 

Big bass will often run into the thickest cover possible once getting hooked and it can be a task to get them out of those danger zones. Braid provides us with the necessary strength to get any size fish out of the thickest of cover.

Natural Color vs. High Visibility: What is the Best Braided Fishing Line?

There are two key types of color when it comes to braided fishing line - natural and shock. There’s no better color, but rather each is suitable for different applications. Let’s talk about each type of color in detail.

Natural Color Braided Fishing Line

Natural color blends in better with the color of the water, making it less visible for bass. Generally, we’ll use a natural color braid when we’re tying it directly to our hook with no leader involved. Here are some of the best applications/times to use natural color braid: 

1. Flipping & Pitching Heavy Cover

When we’re pitching a jig or a Texas rig we’ll often look for the heaviest cover. This is often the most testing environment for our tackle, so braid may be necessary. 

A natural color braided, such as a green moss, would be a great option as it’s less visible because it blends in more with the color of the water. This way, we can present our jig or Texas rig in the most natural way possible, with having the strength to deal with any threatening forms of cover. 

I’ll also make sure I’m using braid when I’m throwing into intense cover like bushes or right into reeds. It’s denser in there so there’s less need to worry about the visibility of the braid. 

2. Murky Water 

If conditions allow us to use braid, why shouldn’t we? It’s the strongest line by far and it’s also the best for hook setting because of its zero stretch benefit. 

If we’re fishing a system with murky water, we can take the plunge and use braid because the stained water will disguise our line a bit better. This means we can have the utmost confidence in our tackle dealing with any size bass in any sort of cover. 

I personally will fish a spinnerbait with braid when the water is murky/stained. The spinnerbait gives me that necessary noise and flash to be seen, but the braid will be less visible thanks to the water color. I also use a spinnerbait around thick cover and I need a big bass for the bag. 

Examples of Natural Color Braided Lines

There are various shades of natural colors for braided lines. Here are some of my personal favorites: 

• Moss Green
• Grey
• Onyx
• Dark Green

There are even ‘Invisi Braids’ being developed now. They are generally labeled Crystal. Check our Berkley’s Crystal Braid as an example. 

'Crystal' lines for the best color braided fishing line for clear water scenarios.

High-Visibility Braided Fishing Line

High visibility braids may seem silly - why would you want to use a line that is so obviously visible? These colors are incredibly important to a certain type of bass fisherman, and I’m referring to finesse fishermen. Here’s why shock colors are so necessary for certain applications: 

High-Vis Braid and Line Tracking

One of the most important features of shock color braided fishing line is the ability to watch the line easily and track any foreign movement. Like other braids, high-vis ensures we have the necessary strength to pull bass out of tough zones.

This is especially important when fishing finesse techniques where we’re often fishing with a semi-slack line. We do this in order to present our soft plastic bait in the most natural way.

The bright color helps us detect any unusual movement of our line, which could easily be a fish eating our bait. Once we see this movement, we can strike and set the hook.

It’s important to note that will generally be using a long fluorocarbon leader when using this color braid, as it a lot more visible to bass underwater. Seaguar's Smackdown is a fantastic braided line!

Here’s a practical example of using a shock color braid with a finesse technique: 

1. You’re fishing a weightless wacky rig and throwing it into some isolated vegetation on a bank. 

2. You throw your wacky-rigged senko into your target zone and let it sink on a semi-slack line to ensure the most natural falling motion. 

3. You’re unable to feel any bites because of the slack line, so you rely on watching your line. 

4. You’re watching your high-vis braid and notice a foreign movement as it veers off to one side. You take up slack - fish on! 

Examples of High-Vis Color Braided Fishing Lines

When it comes to high-vis or shock colors, this comes down to personal preference. At the end of the day, our goal is that the fish doesn’t really see our braided line, but only the bait which is connected to a long leader of fluorocarbon. Choose a color that is the easiest for you to watch.

Here are some examples of high-visibility colors: 

• Chartreuse
• Yellow
• Flash Pink
• Lime Green
• Orange

My personal favorite color is chartreuse. This is the color I can track the best in almost any water quality.