Rainbow wrote:
UV or not UV ???????? I have never dived Rotoiti but from looking at its water it is not a clear lake and I suspect that at 30m it would be pretty dark down there. So it might be that UV is the only colour that is still visible to trout at depth and this gives these flies a clear edge, especially in low light conditions ie. overcast sky, late afternoon and early morning. Any thoughts or similar experiences out there??????? Cheers Rainbow .
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Well, that's a very good question, Rainbow.
fishos are eternally searching for the key to unlock the mystery of success. you've had days - not that long ago - where you slayed them on your chartreuse/grey smelt, so what was different between that day and this?
Salt water fishos have utter conviction about the best colour for a kabura lure, for example, fished in 50m in the Hauraki Gulf, or kingie jigs at 75m, or softbaits in 20m. Whereas we know that colours as the human eye sees them start dropping out from 5m onwards - red first, then others in a well-known spectrum.
So the red and green 'Nuclear chicken' softbait is likely to be grey and grey at 30m. Maybe it's the contrast of red and green that works well when seen as two different greys?
I don't think UV is a colour, as you mentioned, rather a type of light?
My understanding is that UV light starts dropping out too, the deeper you go. Fluorescent qualities drop out as well.
The only one that bucks the trend is lumo - which (if charged with say, a torch or camera flash) lights up more the darker it gets.
UV seems to be something that fish eyes pick up much more that a human eye, so there maybe a lot of merit in what you witnessed. Maybe in certain light conditions - where uV light is penetrating the lake more?
I think used sparingly in ties might be the key - there's so much UV-infused material available these days that a tier could commit overkill.
I think silhouette and movement (vibration?) are other potentially key considerations when it comes to a jigged fly's success. Why else would trout grab an Olive Woolly Bugger fished at 10m up from the bottom (in a spot 30m deep) when there are no koura or bullies at that depth.