Understanding fishing lures made with ultraviolet and or luminous materials.
Supertackle.info rates all available brands of fishing tackle with UV and Glow strength.
Intensity for each fishing lure ranges from low ¤ to high ¤¤¤¤¤.
Example:
Ultraviolet test:
• Intensities are graded using a simple observation of lures while luminated with a uv flashlight.
Glow test:
• Using a Uv lamp we charge the phosphercent lure, this takes about 15 seconds.
• There is a comparison done using samples of low to high glowing.
If a fishing lure is neither UV or glow it will have no rating as shown in the image above.
History:
Ultraviolet materials have been added to plastics, dyes and paints in the fishing tackle industry since the 1960's. In the late 1960's Jack James of Radiant Lures determined that some Tintex fabric dyes were ultraviolet and successfully uv tinted Polar Bear and Bucktail hair flies. As he moved into producing hoochie plastic baits and hard plastic lures in the early 1970's the technology of additives expanded to high glow materials. The amount of ultraviolet and glow material added to a fishing lure will determine the success or failure of the lure.
Ultraviolet
An example of salmon that will definitely target a highly ultraviolet bait is the freshwater Kokanee and the saltwater Sockeye that primarily eat plankton. Predatory salmon feed on baitfish which are also slightly ultra violet and survive in the depths of low light to become stealth. Salmon also target squid which also display strange chameleon patterns of bioluminescence. Predators are able to see ultraviolet and polarized light, their survival depends on identifying their prey in the dark. Supertackle makes uv and luminous hoochies that resemble many different types of natural bait.
Glow in the dark ie. luminous, luminescent, phosphorescence:
Some salmon will definitely target a phosphorescent bait and many standard patterns do catch fish. Somes lures glow longer and or brighter than others. The best way to charge your glow in the dark lures is with an ultraviolet light. Halibut lures can have a high intensity of glow as they don't seem to have any fear. Salmon are very particular and sensitive to a perfect bait which needs to have many qualities such as size, color, ultra violet and glow.
Combinations:
Supertackle hoochie lures are made up of a combination of color, ultraviolet and luminous properties. Our pattern production targets many fish in all the oceans on the planet. Our brighter patterns work better in locations closer to the equator.
It is the job of the tackle maker to insure that a lure will catch a fisherman. It's the job of the fisherman to choose the right lure based on what they see in a store.
Testing your lures:
The intensity of ultraviolet absorption and reflection can be visually tested with a black light or a special ultraviolet light. Be cautious using an pure ultraviolet light as it will cause damage to your eyes, you will need special uv blocker glasses. The best way to test your lures is to lay them out in a dark area and compare the intensities. The best salmon lure patterns will replicate a bait fish that they feel safe to attack. Salmon will shy away from certain lures that resemble something that they hate to eat.
Lure tips:
To change the appearance of a lure some fishermen will do many things to alter the presentation. Adding glow beads or ultra violet beads will alter the look of a lure substantially. There is also LED light cylinders that fit inside the hoochie lure and that method does work very well on may of the larger hoochie sizes. We have also seen a fishing blog where the fishermen change up the presentation of a lure with a black felt marker.
Info:
Water absorbs light and with increasing depth light decreases quickly. The different types of light in the spectrum disperse at different depths of water. Fishing lures, depending on the color hue will become less and less vibrant as it is lowered into the ocean depths. Adding ultra violet to a lure enables it to be slightly more visible in deep water. Adding both ultraviolet and phosphorescent to a lure will increase visibility at even greater depths.