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fdavis

UV in your flies - fact or fallacy.

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Every time I try to click the "Like" button I get an error dialog. LAMP web servers are touchy beasts. Anyway I tried to like the above post ("I know they are all wrong"). That one made me grin from ear to ear.

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Ooookkkaaayyyy ... now I am confused.

 

Based on the pictures above ... in UV, it looks to me like all the prey in the field of view do NOT reflect UV. They are silhouetted against the background glare of UV light.

 

So, if you tie a fly with UV reflecting components ... won't it blend in with the background?

 

Yep, you nailed it.

 

Maybe that's why a dark fly works towards dusk or at night. Dark flies show their outline in contrast with all background light, not just UV.

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Mike,

 

That is why I wrote this about the images:

 

 

Underwater flies even in shallow water on an overcast day or at night, seem to benefit from the scattering of UV which provides a bright background. The old adage, "Dark Day, Dark Fly" makes some sense, IMO. The photos below (by Professor Thomas Cronin) show the contrast.

 

Using a streamer that reflects little UV makes sense if you want it to stand out against the UV background at night. And, black streamers do perform well at night, as do UV-dark wet flies like a dark Montreal.

OTOH, a chartreuse fly sometimes works well at night, and most chartreuse pigments are highly UV reflective. Go figure.

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A type of fly that isn't used much any more is the Bivisible. The Bivisible in all its color combinations is still an effective dry fly for trout. Does it imitate anything specific? I don't know. However, the highly UV reflective white hackle (must be natural white or cream) seems to get the trout's attention.

Alas, it is hard to get the proper materials for Bivisibles. When properly tied, the hackle tip is tied in at the tail - or as the tail - and the hackle gets gradually longer as it spirals up the the hook, causing the finished fly to sit high at the head and low at the tail. However, modern genetic hackles don't have the spade shape of the old gamecock hackles; the lengths of the barbs are consistent throughout the length of the feather. So, to get a Bivisible to sit properly on the water, you now must trim the finished fly to shape.

 

By the way, we don't need to buy special materials to add high-UV reflective highlights to our flies. We just need to use the existing natural materials knowledgeably. There are several caveats:

  • Don't use unnaturally white feathers, they have probably been treated with TiO2 as a whitener. Titanium dioxide absorbs UV and fluoresces blue, making the feather look whiter in visible light, but dark in UV. (TiO2 was added to skim milk to make it look richer as well.)
  • Don't use real silver plated tinsel. Silver absorbs most UV light. Aluminum reflects most UV.

There are more caveats, of course.

 

Best regards,

Reed

 

http://www.overmywaders.com

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Just in case you haven't seen or read enough about UV materials, here is a video that explains things pretty well.

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