North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine February 2017 | Page 35

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UV Light : everything looks different

DILLON GIVEN : PONDERAY , ID
Whether you are a believer or not , one cannot deny the curiosity factor involved with UV reflective flies and materials . Does it really attract more fish ? Currently , nobody REALLY knows . However , as a UV believer , I fish my UV flies harder , and with more confidence than my flies without UV . That to me makes tying with UV worth it . This article is mainly for the believers . If I happen to convert a few skeptics in the process , I will count that as a win in my book .
Every feather , thread and synthetic fiber reflects UV differently . Astounding isn ’ t it ?
Chasing a magic light around the fly shop , seeing it shining its purple glow on everything in sight has brought more joy and depth to fly tying than I thought possible . This new obsession has lead me to examine everything in the fly shop under a UV light from beads to fish mounts . Most materials were rather bland , while others were little gold nuggets of UV goodness . The few gold nuggets I have found have changed my outlook on favored fly tying necessities forever .
Everything looks different under UV , for example , white UNI-floss almost hurts to look at under a UV light , while white ultra-thread only delivers a light glow . This may be the subtle difference of a 20 fish day , or a 2 fish day . I now carry a UV light every time I shop for the latest and greatest fly tying material . In doing so , I have discovered that sometimes even the same product reflects UV light differently .
I stumbled across this little discrepancy after glancing over Hareline ’ s white Finn Racoon Zonker strips . Two of the three packages reflected UV light vibrantly , while the third only delivered a faint glow . Why ’ s this ? Nature . It ’ s important to understand that many animals , like most birds , are extremely UV dependent when choosing mates . Simply put , the more UV displayed from a male bird , the more desirable he is to a female ( and fly tier ). This got me thinking . If every package of hair or feathers reflects UV differently , then what about flies ? So I took it to the bins . Shortly after , I had another break through . Even flies of the same pattern , in the same bin , reflect UV differently . Watch out next time you buy flies !
Professional tiers cycle through gobs of marabou , dubbing , and beads . In doing so , they will run through patches of material that reflect UV vibrantly , and others that don ’ t .
Next time you are buying material for your favorite streamer , bring along a UV flashlight . You will be amazed at what you find .

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