Fly Tying Tuesday: UV
UV materials have been increasingly popular for the past five years. Our fly shop has reacted and now reflects that. We have lots of UV reactive and UV reflective options for your fly tying creations. UV Polar Chenille, UV Krystal Flash, Spirit River UV2 Dubbing, UV2 Marabou, UV2 Rabbit, UV2 Mohair, and of course lots of UV Ice Dub. We also have natural UV reflective materials such as peacock herl and rooster feathers.
Why have UV materials become popular? From a simplified perspective, they seem to work. Why they work well or when they work best is still up for debate. What we do know is that UV light travels through water and is reflected by certain materials. Some fish see in the UV spectrum quite well. Others, not so much. Trout definitely see some level of UV. In the bug world, caddis flies have UV reflective bodies and mayflies have UV reflective wings. It’s a mating thing, so it stands to reason that incorporating UV properties into these patterns should make them appear natural to trout.
Ever wonder why peacock herl works so well for nymph and dry fly bodies?  Well it is a natural UV reflective material as are the feathers of most male birds. No wonder they work so well for tying flies. Because our eyes do not see UV reflected light, it is hard for us to know how fish perceive the same materials. Trial and error can show us what works the best even without hard core scientific knowledge. UV reflective and reactive materials are certainly worth playing with.
These Silver Salmon found flies tied with pink UV polar chenille impossible to resist.
This Missouri River Rainbow crushed a 6" streamer tied with UV body materials.
Many of our UV fly tying materials are treated with UV reactive dyes. That is how we can see these materials glow when we hit them with a UV light. What we can’t see are materials that are reflective and not reactive to UV light. We are not fish. We just need to know that fish can see UV and that UV light penetrates water at the depths we are fishing.  As complete anglers, incorporating UV materials into our flies will cover our bases.  We are keen to help you out with our great selection of UV fly tying materials. Happy fly tying.