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I have not used the UV/UV2 stuff and wanted to know what people thought of these materials. Do you think they work and actually attract more fish or just fishermen? Please enlighten me. Thanks.
Nate
Nate
UV dyed materials, killer stuff or gimic?
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I anxious to see what others think on this topic, but for me it’s the real deal for adding hot spots or focal points on the fly. I have no way of knowing if it ups my grabs, but helps my confidence in questionable winter water conditions.
Just my 2 cents, 😉
Tony
Just my 2 cents, 😉
Tony
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I owned a salmon tackle company for 13-years and did a tremendous amount of R&D and comparisons between Glow and "enhancers." Added UV is nothing more than bluing agent, an optical enhancer (or whitener), i.e., Mrs Stewart's in the laundry soap aisle. (Makes your t-shirts very white.) It is not a true UV (you and I cannot see UV). Instead it optically brightens your fly, tackle, etc... It is nowhere near the same as "true" UV; which to date, we haven't been able to manufacture for fishing.
Is it more effective than non-enhancing chemicals (note I did not say UV)? Perhaps. It probably has a lot to do with the agent turning materials/paints a purple color/hue under light refraction at depths outside normal light penetration. And purple is the last color to fade to gray/black at depth. In rivers? It just brightens the materials.
If these enhancers give you confidence half the battle is already won!
Now that you know what it is and where to find Mrs. Stewart's have fun and experiment! Be sure to dilute you mixtures. I couldn't give you the slightest idea on ratios for materials as I only added it to paints. But I imagine it will "burn" most natural materials.
Hope this helps.
Is it more effective than non-enhancing chemicals (note I did not say UV)? Perhaps. It probably has a lot to do with the agent turning materials/paints a purple color/hue under light refraction at depths outside normal light penetration. And purple is the last color to fade to gray/black at depth. In rivers? It just brightens the materials.
If these enhancers give you confidence half the battle is already won!
Now that you know what it is and where to find Mrs. Stewart's have fun and experiment! Be sure to dilute you mixtures. I couldn't give you the slightest idea on ratios for materials as I only added it to paints. But I imagine it will "burn" most natural materials.
Hope this helps.
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Nate, I use it quite a bit, and have no idea if it makes a difference or not. It doesn’t appear to decrease my catch rate any (which would be hard to do anyway). You know that word that Stephen Colbert created a few years ago, “truthiness”? It means “I believe it because it sounds about right to me”. That’s why.
Fascinating. I just tested it.
I compared some Hareline UV tying materials to Mrs. Stewarts, in the dark, under a UV light. The UV materials absolutely glowed. Mrs. Stewarts was black, no glow.
I’m not arguing with what you figured out when you did your research, nor arguing that UV materials catch more fish. However, the difference that I just observed between UV materials and Mrs. Stewarts was incredible.
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Here's the odd man out...………. as usual.
Almost every steelhead and rainbow trout I have touched here over the past 15 seasons and that takes in all times of year that I can possibly fish, the flies have been predominately brown - gray - or black. Some like my big fat bunny fur sculpins are a blend of those colors.
While I understand the value of attractor colors (I use them for silver & king salmon) I stick to food colored flies for the trout species.
While the UV materials do appear more vivid to my eye I have no idea what they look like to fish. I've added the UV marabou to my AK. Assassin tubes and to the Pinky Purple silver salmon flies and catch salmon on them. Truth is the same patterns worked with the non UV stuff too
Almost every steelhead and rainbow trout I have touched here over the past 15 seasons and that takes in all times of year that I can possibly fish, the flies have been predominately brown - gray - or black. Some like my big fat bunny fur sculpins are a blend of those colors.
While I understand the value of attractor colors (I use them for silver & king salmon) I stick to food colored flies for the trout species.
While the UV materials do appear more vivid to my eye I have no idea what they look like to fish. I've added the UV marabou to my AK. Assassin tubes and to the Pinky Purple silver salmon flies and catch salmon on them. Truth is the same patterns worked with the non UV stuff too
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I believe the UV2 spirate river is just a brand. I have test their marobou with a UV light, they did not glow
Any of the "UV" "torch pens/lights" are nothing more than high powered black lights. Remember... you and I cannot see in the UV spectrum! Therefore, the term "UV" automatically becomes a gimmick! You can also think of it this way... Humans can get severe sunburns from UV light 91.5M-miles away (the sun). What do you think a true UV light would do 2 to 6 inches away from your hand would do?
When dealing with optical enhancers I imagine soft/natural materials will absorb the effect and some will make the effect pop. It will truly depend on the material.. Again, hard surface materials benefit the best (paints or plastics) due penetration and light refraction. A good example would be the ol' 1970's black light poster. These posters where painted in the brightest fluorescent colors on a semi-hard surface surrounded by soft, felt-like black material. Once the black light was turned on the fluorescence popped and the soft black material absorbed the light.
I hate to call out manufacturers, but the use of the word "UV" is the gimmick yet the effect is not scientifically proven- especially for steelhead. (We know that some species of fish use UV to hunt.) A definite thumbs up from me on salmon from me, but under the right conditions in the salt. You see we cannot, at this time, replicate true UV on lures/flies/boats. We can only artificially simulate a "like" effect based upon what humans see- not fish.
As mentioned above if you have confidence in the fly half the battle is won. If you have no confidence in a fly, why tie it on?
Typical UV lights produce invisible UV light and visible wavelengths.
Few light sources emit a single wavelength. Rather, they emit a band. UV wavelengths start just at the edge of the visible spectrum. We only see the visible violet wavelengths - the UV occurs just beyond, is emitted by UV lights, and many animals see it.
How do black (UV) lights work?| Explore | physics.org
https://scied.ucar.edu/ultraviolet-uv-radiation
https://www.waveformlighting.com/tech/everything-you-need-to-know-about-uv-flashlights
If UV lights don’t emit UV, then how do they cure UV glues sensitive only to UV spectra? I understand that both UV and non-UV light sensitive resins exist. Most commonly they are UV.
Intensity and wavelength are two different things. The sun is way more intense than a flashlight. Tanning beds are more similar. The sun also has a wider range of wavelengths. UV A and especially B cause skin damage. Some animals see near-UV and UV A wavelengths (and others see Infrared) that humans don’t see, and a very few animals (bees notably) are known to just barely see into the beginning of UV B. UV A is more visible to a much wider range of animals, and that’s the wavelength of typical commercial UV dyes and lights ... immediately adjacent to the human visible spectrum
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Again, not arguing if UV works for fishing, this is just physics / biophysics. It is fascinating to read about all the crazy stuff that animals see that we humans do not. The interwebs are full of the information on this, including from reputable scientific sources (not commercial entities) to connect the dots.
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Sun emits a very broad spectrum of UV light : hight energy 100-250 nm , is fully absorbed by atmosphere,( mostly ozone which is broken into O2 and O, which further recombinsd into O2) . Mid range UV 280-320 nm is mostly absorbed as it passes via atmosphere, but some hits the earth. And finally longer range UV 320-400 nm, low energy called black UV, which mostly passed via atmosphere.
As for fishing, having fluorescence dye in a material may be far more important.
A fluorescence material absorbs long wave UV which hits the earth ( 300-400 nm ) and also blue light430-480 nm) ( part of visible spectrum ) and emits various colors ( depending on fluorescent material ) orange, pink, green etc.
In low visibility water 12-24", even a small amount ( specially in sunny days) of visible light conaining long wave UV and blue, will simply enhances orange, pink, or green colors.
This is why certain materials looks much brighter.
Look at fluorescent pink and non-fluorescence , material ( fly tube, cone head or hair) at daybreak. The difference is very noticeable. !!!!!!!!!
It is very important that material absorbs not only long UV , but also blue which is a much larger component of the visible spectrum.
As for fishing, having fluorescence dye in a material may be far more important.
A fluorescence material absorbs long wave UV which hits the earth ( 300-400 nm ) and also blue light430-480 nm) ( part of visible spectrum ) and emits various colors ( depending on fluorescent material ) orange, pink, green etc.
In low visibility water 12-24", even a small amount ( specially in sunny days) of visible light conaining long wave UV and blue, will simply enhances orange, pink, or green colors.
This is why certain materials looks much brighter.
Look at fluorescent pink and non-fluorescence , material ( fly tube, cone head or hair) at daybreak. The difference is very noticeable. !!!!!!!!!
It is very important that material absorbs not only long UV , but also blue which is a much larger component of the visible spectrum.
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"For trout and a number of other species we target, ultraviolet-sensitive vision does not seem to be a component of the adult fish’s behavior, and it is especially unlikely to be an important part of the way they locate and identify their food."
When long wave UV hits an object, which then emits blue, red etc. then UV acts vicarously "helping to emit" other color which are recognizable to fish.
There fluorescence material absorbs UV spectrum form 250 to 400 nm and and emits Green for example :
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