Visibility:One of the other nagging issues regarding FC lines is the general claim of their invisibility under water. This has proven to be a difficult claim to test - that is without scuba certification and equipment. The following are some pictures we took in a swimming pool behind the premise that if the lines are invisible, or at best, hard to see in a swimming pool, results should be even more pronounced in a natural body of water where clarity will be considerably less. We rigged up the lines in a holder and marked a small section of each line with a black marker so we could have an idea of where to look for each product.
Our attempt at an underwater visibility test
It appears, the more background there is, the more difficult it is to find each line
As you can see in the pictures above, visibility depends a great deal on the backdrop. It will also, most certainly, depend upon depth and how close you are to the line. These photos were taken at a depth of only four feet but at a distance from the subject of eighteen inches in a focal length that is slightly wider than what would be considered normal eyesight. The pictures below were taken at a different angle: straight down against the bottom of the pool to check visibility against more background noise and distraction.
So we took it to the extreme...
And just about every line, including the Trilene XL, is difficult to see with enough background distraction
Conclusions from our visibility tests? We'd say largely inconclusive. For one, it's difficult to determine if what we see is the same as what a fish can see. From our photographs, it would certainly appear that some of the lines are difficult to find, but then again, so is the Berkley Trilene XL! What's more, how important is line visibility over, say, line diameter? The larger the diameter of your line, the greater disturbance it will create in the water and the easier it will be for a fish to sense this disturbance through its lateral line. In that case, visibility is really a moot point. Once again, too many variables to consider to truly develop a viable conclusion.
