Does UV Make A Difference?

[GrumpyLoomis]

Good question Gill. I can't see me coating feathers at home as I do not have a clue what that process is. Might save money or just add to the cost. Hope someone who knows chimes in.

[skiptomylu]

Can I tie a jig with regular materials like New Age Chenille and strung hackle and then coat the entire jig with UV? Would the us mat things up, stick together, make a mess, etc. I’ve never used UV so I don’t know why it’s like once it cures. I thought it was like glue. So how do people like Spirit River apply it to marabou?

Well that would be Hareline now since they bought Spirit River year before last I think it was. I will ask them next time I call, maybe I will just call them to ask about that Monday unless I forget, lol!

I will say this and it's just my opinion and thinking on this subject, I try to use FL colors as much as possible and of course our most used color Chartreuse is FL so are FL Yellow, FL White, etc. etc. and for my I just as soon just use FL colors as they pop plenty under a black light or a UV light. Also remember most White hair and feathers are naturally Florescent. One thing that make Polar Bear so good and wanted is it's FL! Again just running around inside my thinking a little here.

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[Micanopy]

David Attenboro did a special on animals and colors. In it they used a specialized camera to be able to film UV light sources, then set about to see how this light is being used by animals.

Birds are very visual creatures and they use UV light to see food, and they use it to attract mates. Butterflies are especially keen to UV light. Insects, some mammals, many plants, and some fish all use it to feed and attract mates. Ghost Crabs use polarized light. We humans have good color vision but cannot see either of those two sources. Our visual system is designed to shield us from harsh forms of light that could damage our retina. Colors that we see are simply reflections. If a substance reflects blue light we see it as being blue. If it absorbs blue, but reflects red, we say it is red. The substance can appear to be a completely different color if the viewer’s eyes are able to see the different colors that may be being reflected. Just like there are sounds we cannot hear, but other creatures can hear, there are colors we cannot see.

I have found that many of our everyday household items are UV reflective. Manufacturers put it in all sorts of things. Tide laundry detergent has UV brighteners to make our bright colors seem brighter. Your white shirt might not be all that white, but washed in Tide it will come out appearing to be very white. The brighteners reflect light and overwhelm our eyes and fool us into thinking it is cleaner, and that is why they put that stuff in their detergent.

I have done some research into UV light and how it affects the world we live in, and have posted in this section what I had learned. I feel that using UV reflective lures is definitely a help to the way I fish- trolling shallow grassy bottom lakes. It should be beneficial to your style and at your depths. I think that it would, but it might not.

I would not purchase a UV additive to spray/squirt on anything. Instead get some materials that have had it applied already. Get a cheap UV flashlight so you can see what things look like, so you will know what is what. Take a look and see how the items you already have appear in UV light. Keep in mind that most of the florescent colors are also UV reflective already even without it being mentioned in the product description. The flashlight shows you and removes any guessing.

We are not able to ask the fish, and even if we could they would likely lie to us, but don’t expect the fish to be jumping into the boat. It will be very difficult to determine if UV additives are making a difference for you. The best way to measure is to use a highly UV reflective lure against a completely UV dark lure and see through experimentation. Again the flashlight will ensure the differences can be seen.

or…… just don’t conduct any studies and start using it and see if there is a noticeable difference.

We are able to see UV light reflections very early in the morning, and on dark cloudy days. The visible light overwhelms the UV to our eyes, but before the Sun rises UV can be seen. Your fishing line will glow. After Sundown there is a diminishing of visible light and as that occurs we are able to see UV light reflections better and better. There will be a minute where everything will seem to glow. Your fishing line will appear to be like fiber optics, and your lures will glow. Then it will be gone.

Crappie have learned that as the day transitions into darkness that their eyes adapt faster than their prey’s eyes. This allows them to get a little bit closer and this offers a better rate of success for captures. Then from darkness to light, again their eyes adapt faster. There is a clue in all of this and that is that crappie hide under docks. Staying in the darkness conceals their presence from their prey. The minnows remain calm as there is no sign of danger. Calm minnows are easier to nab that alert and frightened minnows. The trick being to be able to see the minnows in the darkened water.

We all know that bass and crappie bite best early and late. Well guess why ?

Their eyes are able to see minnows even in darkened waters, but minnows have difficulty seeing equally well. The crappie simply rises up from below, leaving his body in as much darkness as possible, and then once close enough he makes the grab. Think of them as submarines that patrol the depths, then rise to launch their torpedoes. Depth is darkness and if they can see in darkened waters, they can find the advantages, and they have.

UV light plays a huge role in all of this because UV light is better at penetrating water than visible light. Being able to see visible light AND also UV light is a definite advantage when you need to be able to get close in for the strike.

Using UV enhanced lures simply allows the fish to better see your lure. Turning what they see into something they want to bite is still entirely up to you.

[Gill Fisher]

Thanks, Micanopy, for your reply. Is it more important to have the entire jig UV, or is it enough to just try to include one material that is UV? For instance, I found in my materials yesterday some Krystal Flash that is UV. Would adding just a few strands of UV Krystal Flash to the jig be enough to make it more effective, or does the entire jig need to be UV. What if just the tail is UV marabou and the rest of the jig is not UV?

[BuckeyeCrappie]

[skiptomylu]

Okay guys they have an agent they use after the feathers are dyed, so it's a two step process to get them with UV. I do not know the agent they use, lol!

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[DockShootinJack]

Blue goes pretty deep on that chart. Interesting to say the least

[skiptomylu]

Blue goes pretty deep on that chart. Interesting to say the least

Honest thing is that is why my favorite combo in spring here is Chart/Blue/Chart and I started using the FL Blue more because of that study and in my clear water fishing favorite Silver/Silver/FL Blue. That was something like 17 years ago.

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[DockShootinJack]

The color that works the best for me is Blue Ice

[JUNGLEJIMJIGS]

I've had success dyeing feathers, chenille and hair using Rit dyes whitener and brightener. Colors are already dyed but some colors don't have the UV glow under uv flashlight. With the Rit I can get even Black to have a uv glow to it. Was doing this before Spirit River came out with their lines of UV products.