UV materials and oppinions.

**BCBound** · December 7th, 2011, 11:08 AM

Hey everyone,

Thought I'd start a thread on UV materials and see where peoples oppinions are on these products. I've been buying more and more of them lately, and adding them into my salmon / steelhead patterns.

How are people finding fish reacting to flies tied with these products in them. Are the strikes more aggressive? Are they fewer due to maybe spooking some fish away?

I've been adding them to my latest steelhead flies, intruders, bunny strip leaches, and marabou flies, but only as an accent. I didn't want to over due it.

So what are peoples oppinions and experiences?

**canoehead** · December 7th, 2011, 12:12 PM

They seem to work for me, but it might be for a variety of reasons:

1. I have added it to previously proven patterns
2. I keep those patterns in the water a lot because they have proven to work for me in in the past

Besides that, the materials are very cool for me, and that is probably why I am buying them. It would be very interesting to have a couple of guys tie up the same patterns, one with UV materials and one without, and then fish together to see if there is a difference.

**micman** · December 7th, 2011, 01:57 PM

Hi Scott
I have put those flies in the mail today, the October Caddis has some of that UV ice dub in it, I have used it in one other fly that I learned to tie,I was catching fish with it, Don't really know if it was the fly or just my luck but it did work with the fish I was catching.

Mick

**johnk** · December 7th, 2011, 02:25 PM

UV Materials do work but here is my opinion on commercial dubbings with UV. You need to change it up a bit just because the UV protion is too overpowering. I prefer to mix 1/2 pack of regular dubbing in with the UV dubbing and that way you get a more natural colour with UV highlights. North America is always a step behind the UK when it comes to new and innovative products. For instance there has been a UV coating available for some time now for hardbodied flies like chironomids and baitfish.

Last spring I posted a photo of my first UV chironomid and the first, second, third.......neagative comment came from a guy who works at WS Langley who said he'd been trying them for a couple years with poor results and the winter before when I talked to him in the store he told me he doesn't fish or tie chironomids!!

Lesson to be learned: Don't listen to anyone on the Internet (including me) and go out and experiment. I think you'll be satsified with your results.

UV Chironomid

**BCBound** · December 7th, 2011, 06:38 PM

Hey Mick, that's great man, really appreicate it. Looking forward to seeing them.

Nice looking Chironomid. I'm trying to set up a new camera with some new lights, and if it's works out I'll post a few flies that I have been using the materials in. For the Steelhead swap that just went out, I tied a slight GP variation, and in front of each hackle stage, I put a double wrap of UV palmer chenile. Just to add that pop.

I tied up a couple of handle bars (mostly just to change things up from all the steelhead tying I've been doing), and what I did was dub a thin thin ammount of pink UV dub on the hook shank. I then cover it with clear midge flex pulled very tight to create that slender body. Looks pretty cool in the vice, but we'll have to wait and see what the salmon think of it.

**Zane** · December 7th, 2011, 08:02 PM

When I use UV stuff, I use it very sparingly. Just a little bit to give the fly that little bit of extra (invisible to us) flash. As to the effectiveness, sometimes it makes a big difference and sometimes it doesn't seem to matter.

**BCBound** · December 8th, 2011, 12:36 AM

Here's the handlebar I tied up.

I tied in the tail first, Pink Llama streamer from Canadian Llama, then secured some clear midge flex to the end of the hook. Dubbed in a fine ammount of pink UV dubbing, all the way up the hook shank to just behind the gold bead. Next I wraped the midge flex up the hook shank pulling it very tight so as to keep a very slim body. Tied in another tuft of the Llama streamer as an overwing, dubbed a tiny bit more on the thread, whip finished with it on to hide the thread.

That should sure pop. There's someone on the forums here who posted a pic of their handlebar with the tail and overwing, that's where I got the idea to add that to mine.

**typhoon** · December 8th, 2011, 07:39 AM

My wife had very good success with a uv ribbed ASB chironomid in the spring (I hate fishing statically) and we managed this 30" Roche Lake Rainbow in September on a very flashy UV bodied leech: