UV materials - effectiveness?

[Fly-Swatter]

Open Question: How do you all feel about the various UV and UV2 "enhanced" materials (Dubbing, feathers, fur, synthetics, etc.)?

I use some UV dubbing and found it to be really bright and very effective in certain lighting and certain fishing situations.

I just curious to learn about opinions regarding whether or not flies tied with UV enhanced materials catch more fish, esp. bass, trout & musky.

 

[Dave_W]

I'm agnostic on this stuff.

Haven't tried any of it so don't have an opinion based on personal experience.

I think fly tying has become, in recent years, more prone to fads and self-promotion and thus more susceptible to gimmickry. Perhaps these new materials are indicative of this and are just another effort to part FFers from their money(?). On the other hand, maybe it's just my increasing curmudgeonlyness. I think there has been some research on fish vision and the efficacy of UV paints and surfaces on conventional lures.

Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing more of your experiences with these materials.

 

[PennKev]

I think that it's very likely that fish react to UV light reflected off our flies depending on conditions.

However, I'm not so sure we have a good understanding of how fish see UV and if our materials do a good job of matching the naturals or if our flies are, at the very least, are enhanced by UV materials.

I'm open to incorporating UV materials into a wide variety of patterns, but like a lot if new fads, it's easy to over-do.

 

[chromid]

Dave W word of the day - Curmudgeonlyness!!!

Been tying for 40 years and never knew the name of my progressive affliction. Very dangerous disease as you can get quite comfortable with it in its later stages

 

[Dave_W]

chromid wrote:
Dave W word of the day - Curmudgeonlyness!!!

Been tying for 40 years and never knew the name of my progressive affliction. Very dangerous disease as you can get quite comfortable with it in its later stages

Yep, we old timers resemble that remark.
int:

 

[Fly-Swatter]

+1

Curmudgeonlyness, it's part of the process.

Curmudgeon, an asymptote (the perfect, unattainable ideal)?

 

[nomad_archer]

I generally find the UV ice dub to be a bit too flashy. I like to cut it smaller and mix it with a bit of wool or fur dubbing. I find the mixed dubbing to be very effective.

 

[JerryCoviello]

Check this link out.
http://www.ginkandgasoline.com/trout-fishing/what-does-the-trout-see/

The biology of a trout’s eye

The biology of a trout’s eye is similar to ours in some ways and very different in others. Their eye has an iris, a lens and a retina with both cone cells and rod cells, much like our eyes, but each functions in a different manner. The human iris or pupil dilates and constricts to regulate the amount of light reaching the retina. The trout’s iris is fixed and the retina itself adapts to changing light levels. Human eyes focus by changing the shape of the lens. A trout’s eye focuses by moving the lens closer to, or further from, the retina. The trout’s vision is very sharp in its focus but its depth of field, to use a photographic term, is limited.

The function of the trout’s eye which is of most interest to anglers is the adaptation of the retina to changing light conditions. To understand how it works we must first understand the cone and rod cells themselves. Cone cells see color and require bright light. The trout has four different types of cone cells. Humans only have three. Each type of cone cell is sensitive to a different wavelength of light. The trout’s extra cone cells see the UV spectrum and in some species dwindle with age. The trout’s eye is also more sensitive to the red spectrum than the human’s. The color it has the least ability to discern is green and the color it sees best is blue. Rod cells are very sensitive in low light and give the trout excellent night vision. These cells do not see color. To the rod cell the world is black and white.

During times of bright light the trout’s retina is dominated by the cone cells giving it very precise color vision. Still, the fish’s ability to discern color and its visual acuity are governed by the physics of its watery environment. As the light becomes lower the retina adapts. The cone cells recede and the sensitive rod cells are exposed, engaging the trout’s night vision and turning the world slowly to black and white. This is a physical change and takes time. The trout, like almost all fish, experiences a brief period of diminished vision as conditions change.

 

[nfrechet]

http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/06/fly-tying-with-uv-introduction.html

 

[PennKev]

nfrechet wrote:
http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/06/fly-tying-with-uv-introduction.html

This article points out something very important. Fluorescence isn't necessarily indicative of a material that imitates natural UV reflection.
I suspect fluorescent materials work for the same reason as flash and other bright colors, they attract curious or aggressive fish. But again, fluorescence isn't the same thing as UV reflection and selecting materials based off fluorescence may not doing what we think it is.

Disclaimer: Fluorescent materials work well in sometimes.

 

[lestrout]

Yo Penn

You make a very useful and perceptive (no pun) observation (no pun).

hp
les

 

[mcneishm]

Fly-Swatter wrote:
+1

Curmudgeonlyness, it's part of the process.

Curmudgeon, an asymptote (the perfect, unattainable ideal)?

Presumably, then, there's a function that describes "curmudgeonlyness" where one approaches curmudgeon asymptotically as a limit.

 

[cms829]

I personally feel like Uv ice dub and similar materials do make a big difference. Or it could be dumb luck. I tie a lot of nymphs with uv materials starting last year and maybe I just had a good year, but I caught more trout on the fly last year than any other in my life. We’ll see if it continues this year, but so far I am sold. With that said- I don’t load each fly with uv stuff. Just a touch, kinda like a hot spot.

 

[Dave_W]

cms829 wrote:
I personally feel like Uv ice dub and similar materials do make a big difference. Or it could be dumb luck. I tie a lot of nymphs with uv materials starting last year and maybe I just had a good year, but I caught more trout on the fly last year than any other in my life. We’ll see if it continues this year, but so far I am sold. With that said- I don’t load each fly with uv stuff. Just a touch, kinda like a hot spot.

Interesting!
If you keep up your experiment with UV nymphs, keep us posted.