Most of my fly fishing is warm water fishing, and I have never been concerned about my chartreuse and bright orange fly lines spooking fish. I light the bright colored lines because they are easier to see in low light fishing. I’m getting prepared to do some trout fishing. Should I be concerned about bright colored lines spooking trout?
You’ll get a variety of views in response to your question. My own is that the line color doesn’t matter much --what does matter, IMHO, is that you aren’t casting the line, especially multiple false casts, over the water where you suspect a trout may lie.
What I would think more of, is the tippet size. I really like to start with smallest tippet for where I’m fishing. Small streams, brooks, I like to start with 7x, or 6x. For streams I fish, I normally use 4’ of tippet on the end of 5’ furled leader. Your mileage may vary. Good Luck. Hope I helped
Yep, if you don’t put the line over the fish, they generally won’t spook.
Then again, I know that on some rivers with spooky fish, the fly fishers go so far as to dye their fly line. However, I would say that HCR is generally correct, for almost all moving water fishing it does not matter as much as false casting over or actually lining the fish.
There is one area where more folks line color does seem to matter more than on stream fishing and that is still water fishing. In this case, the fish has a better view of the line in the water and some very knowledgeable still water fishers prefer a clear “camo” line like the Cortland Camo.
“For many anglers, a trout that weighs over four pounds is the stuff of dreams. But for Denny (Rickards), it’s an everyday experience. He averages over 700 trout a year that weigh more than four pounds. He has poured his experience into the best book on lake fishing, Fly Fishing Stillwaters for Trophy Trout.” Denny Rickards says, “Clear lines are a real advantage. They’re less likely to spook fish when you cast, and it’s like extending your leader all the way to the rod.”
http://www.west-fly-fishing.com/feature-article/oldfeatures/feature_41.php
Depends where you are fishing, here in NZ bright lines are used by many on the big rivers like the Tongariro, this is a fairly big, deep river requiring long casts and lots of mending so the bright fly line helps to see what needs mending even at distance. The trout are not easily spooked as they are more interested in Spawning than anything else.
However in my view on anything smaller than a big, fast flowing river a bright line is liable to spook fish. We do have some very spooky fish here and you will struggle to find a guide who uses bright lines. These guys make a living helping “average” fishermen catch fish so will not risk spooking a fish before you even finish the cast!
I have seen fish spook and flee at the first sign of light flashing off the varnish on a rod, so imagine how easily a bright orange line might spook them.
All the best.
Mike
I too don’t believe the fly line color is going to matter much to the trouts. From their perspective I don’t believe they
can distinquish line color.
It can be helpful to the fisherman, as stated above.
Personally, and this is just me, I prefer the white or more muted colors for trout.
Having watched steelhead swim up to the end of a neon yellow fly line and eat a fluorescent pink indicator, I believe that the line doesn’t really bother them that much. That being said, I much prefer to use drab lines, just in case. I don’t watch my casts, so I don’t need to see the line in the air.
My bright yellow has never cost me a fish unless I overcast and spooked the fish with the shadow of the line passing over its nose.
I think if your cast and presentation are good and only the fly , tippet and leader pass near the fish as it should then color
really doesn’t matter. Just my 2 cents.
My 2 cents is that drag spooks far more fish than line color. And it’s easier to control drag if you can see your line. I think we are talking about floating lines here. For sinking lines used in still-water, where you are basically dragging the line through the water, something less obtrusive makes sense.
That amazing lady, Joan Wulff, wrote that a bright line is much more of a help than a hindrance. That said, I believe a bright line flying overhead within the area of vision of a trout might spook it. Most trout predators come from above, and the quick movement of a bright line, especially with false casting, could make a trout nervous. So, I usually use a muted color line if I will be casting mostly overhead, and a bright one on more open waters where I can use a lot of sidearm casts.
Chuck
Does it hurt to have bright colored fly line? In a word…No. That’s my opinion. If it’s daylight and you are lying on the bottom of a body of water looking up toward the sky, any line cast upon the surface of the water regardless of color is going to appear black. Remember this is just my opinion and I for one know that I’ve been dead wrong before. I’m just glad that dead wrong doesn’t always mean DEAD wrong. 
Over the years the manufacturers have produced a wide variety of colored floating lines, from dull green to some of the most vivid colors you can imagine. I suspect they do this to catch the eye of the buyer, “this is what’s new so I have to have it” type hype. Can’t blame them, they stay in business by selling items so why not produce a new line or color? I agree with most of the posts so far, no, the color of the line will not disturb the fish, usually. There are those spooky fish in low clear water that you have to be concerned about, but then any color of line will make them take flight. That is when you start casting upstream and have your line off to the side, think reach cast, and only let the leader and tippet go down the stream in the path of the trout. I use lines of all colors and for me it does not make a difference.
Larry —sagefisher—