Finally

[Davy]

Am back up and tying again:thumb: Jeez, that took forever. Cameron? yours are being tyed when I quit writing this .:beer2:

[Jim Jones]

Looks good Davy! Glad to see you are back up and running. I will have to try to hook up with you sometime in your NEW neighborhood.

Jim Jones

[John Hicks]

Nice HMH Davy. I have that same vice.

[Cameron Derbyshire]

Nice setup. Looks like my fly tying area when I get around to tying. I have the same light. I like the steelhead flies and the giant bunker patterns.

[Davy]

Well, thanks all, below are the first batch as promised --like I said-FINALLY! These are in tonights mail to you Cameron.

This is a pattern I tye using UV reflective materials along the same thought as McNeese.

Just call Jim, lots of waters near here.

Not used to all the moving parts of the HMH yet John, but it seems like a good vise.

[Willie Bodger]

OK, so can you say specifically, what are the UV reflective materials or are you guarding that info for the time being?

[Davy]

OK, so can you say specifically, what are the UV reflective materials or are you guarding that info for the time being?

Hi Willie, the fly is in my gallery with recipe I believe. Perhaps not. The fly above while similar to a GB Skunk .Called a Polar Redwing. The tail is originally from Redwing BB ,I would think any (Dave??)undyed red bird feather would suffice, as here I used parrot since,,,, well nevermind,, the wing is white hair of choice, the butt true florescent green. The rest of the fly is black chenille or dubbed, black spey hackle of choice and black duck hackle. The head is larger than normal as I double the wings back on fishing flies for strength. To witness the difference take similar flys constructed of UV reflective materials and one not to the river early morning before sunrise but after dawn and put them in the water. I think you will be able to really see the UV properties of the fly, while the other will virtually disappear. This has always been the challenge; to find bright ,but natural not dyed, feathers for our flys,yes?.

[Willie Bodger]

So, is the UV reflective material the fluorescent green butt? I noticed in taking pictures of some steelhead flies I have been toying with that in the flash picture it brought out some interesting colors, like some iridescence in some of the feathers...

Willie

[Davy]

Willie, short answer is the tail and wing,,,,,,,the naural red feathers from certain birds such as the Redwing parrots,etc...are UV, the green butt is fluorescent , this is about the limit of my expertise on the subject.

Dave McNeese has an ongoing study into UV materials and the effect of them on fishing,as well as how it pertains to the life of butterflies which reflect UV when mating, and as such you might PM him any questions you have on UV. He will I am sure be happy to help.me?, I just tye em and fish em.

On the picture taking part- you can see in this photo how "bright" those tails are. They would not be if I had used ,say ,dyed red hackle fibres. Thye just glowed didn't they?

[Matt Burke]

Dave McNeese got me pretty stoked on this issue too. Found out a few of the old timers will tie with black lights at their bench. I now have UV marking pens and a pocket black light for inspecting material in the store. A lot of the stuff in shops is not really florescent like they say. The trick is designing patterns in the UV. In other words, what will it look like under UV instead of regular light? You can't just slap the brightest stuff on a hook. The pattern has to resemble the baitfish or whatever in the UV spectrum. It is one of the reasons I’m switching over from rabbit to marabou, it's reflectivity and better dyes.

[Big Tuna]

Dave McNeese got me pretty stoked on this issue too. Found out a few of the old timers will tie with black lights at their bench. I now have UV marking pens and a pocket black light for inspecting material in the store. A lot of the stuff in shops is not really florescent like they say. The trick is designing patterns in the UV. In other words, what will it look like under UV instead of regular light? You can't just slap the brightest stuff on a hook. The pattern has to resemble the baitfish or whatever in the UV spectrum. It is one of the reasons I’m switching over from rabbit to marabou, it's reflectivity and better dyes.

I think I had the same conversation w/ Dave as you did. Let me know if you find materials that are truly florescent. I tie a blue moon variation w/ marabou that is called florescent blue, but have no idea whether it truly is. I'd really like to try more flies w/ florescent materials...Dave makes a pretty convincing argument.

And Davy...you do very nice work. Your flies are always well-proportioned w/ nice heads and just look plain fishy.

[Daryle Holmstrom]

My Barbers daughter found some glow in the dark thread at their local fabric shop. Assume that is uv, used the thread base for an underbody and then covered with liquid lace. He turned the lites out and lo and behold it glows. Don't know if this would be a chemical enhanced fly or not. He figured at a zipper lip lake in BC they were taking the chiros at 30 feet it might help.

Daryle

[Willie Bodger]

Dave McNeese got me pretty stoked on this issue too. Found out a few of the old timers will tie with black lights at their bench. I now have UV marking pens and a pocket black light for inspecting material in the store. A lot of the stuff in shops is not really florescent like they say. The trick is designing patterns in the UV. In other words, what will it look like under UV instead of regular light? You can't just slap the brightest stuff on a hook. The pattern has to resemble the baitfish or whatever in the UV spectrum. It is one of the reasons I’m switching over from rabbit to marabou, it's reflectivity and better dyes.
I agree, though it does seem that you need to be sure that what you are trying to imitate has the properties you are trying to imitate. For instance, a flesh fly shouldn't have any UV reflective properties, should it? It would be very interesting to take a look at a dozen or so different baitfish under a UV light, squid and amphipods as well. Matt, perhaps a scuba trip to the Seattle aquarium is in store for you? Please report your findings. Oh, and I think you have my number if you need somebody to come pick you up at the PD after your dive...

WB

[Will Atlas]

why do we need UV materials again? last I checked the sun had alot more light in it than UV? maybe I'm missing something, whats the secret?

[Big Tuna]

Here's a little of what I retained from my conversation. In some species, UV reflection plays an important role in identifying a good mate. For instance, a mature redwing blackbird's red wing feathers are far more UV reflective than immature redwings and that's how female's choose a mate. As I understand it, this effect is theorized to occur in steelhead also. The primary ocean food source of steelhead is highly UV reflective. And finally, UV reflective materials (aka florescent) show up in the water far better in the early morning and in the evening. Dave believes those are the times of day when a fly tied w/ florescent materials offer the greatest advantage. The one small problem to pursuing this theory is that many materials that are touted as florescent actually aren't. The only way to tell is w/ a UV light.

[Will Atlas]

interesting