Recently, I read SOL’s fishing report posted on Headhunters Blog on March 20th
and started thinking about what factors make the hot nymphs that he listed so
effective on the Missouri River below Holter Dam. The nymphs that were catching fish at this time (as well as most of
the winter) include: Pink Lightning Bug,
Amex, Rainbow Czech, Pink Ray Charles, Pink Scuds, Worm, Rainbow Warrior, Sows,
Zebras, Dominick’s Dam Midge, Red Flasher, Mason’s Peep Show, and Ju-ju Baetis.
Why are these particular patterns working so well this March/winter? If you
don’t care why they are working and only that they do, stop reading this now, get
some of these patterns, and go catch some fish. If you are curious, read on.
What do these flies have in common? Most of them incorporate
fluorescent pink or orange materials. When pressed, a lot of anglers will say
that these flies work because they are being taken as eggs. I think that many
times this might be the case. But, what kind of egg does a Pink Lightning Bug or
a Mason’s Peep Show imitate? In addition to the egg hypothesis, something else
is making these top winter bugs perform so well. I think the attractive quality
of these flies comes from the unique characteristics of the fluorescent
materials that they incorporate. Why are fluorescent materials particularly effective?
As sunlight penetrates the water column, the longer
wavelength light (red, orange, and yellow) is the first to get filtered out.
This means that flies that are red, orange, or yellow will appear gray at depth.
Blue and purple light penetrate the water column deeper, and flies
incorporating these colors retain their coloration to a greater depth (which
may explain why many steelhead flies incorporate these colors, but that is a
story for another time). This principle also applies in the horizontal plane,
meaning that as your nymph is drifting downstream towards a waiting trout,
objects that reflect longer wavelength light (red, orange, or yellow) will
appear gray and muted to trout until they are relatively close to the fish. Water
clarity also plays a role. As things get muddier, objects appear even more gray
and muted underwater. In other words, when a pink fly is drifting underwater
towards a trout, its coloring will appear at least somewhat muted unless it is in
shallow, clear water and relatively near the trout viewing it. So why would
putting a fluorescent orange thread head or firebead on the same pink fly turn
it into a fish catching magnet?
This is where the fluorescent materials come in. Fluorescent
materials have some unique optical qualities. When light of any wavelength hits
fluorescent materials, these materials continue to reflect light of their own
color. This means that any light hitting a fluorescent orange firebead will
still be reflected as bright orange to the eyes of the fish. The color reflected
by fluorescent materials is not altered by depth or distance. Additionally,
fluorescent materials are able to absorb ultraviolet (UV) light and continue to
reflect their original coloration.
UV light is of a smaller wavelength than even the smallest
wavelength visible light, violet, which is where its name comes from. UV light
penetrates the water column to a deeper depth than any visible light. This means
that even in very deep and dirty water, a fly with a fluorescent orange
firebead will still appear bright orange to the fish.
Firebead Ray Charles under regular light |
Firebead Ray Charles under UV light. |
Mason's Peep Show under regular light. |
Mason's Peep Show under UV light. |
Such a fly would also become visible to the fish at the
greatest horizontal distance. This means that a fish facing upstream will
notice a fluorescent fly coming downstream sooner than any other object, and if
the fish is able to quickly notice the fly, the chances of the fly getting
eaten improve dramatically. If you check out the photos accompanying this post,
you’ll see what I’m talking about. They show the fly under regular light
compared with how it looks under UV light. The fluorescent hot spots really
stand out.
Some of you might be ready to call bull at this point and
claim, “I’ve caught millions of fish with non-fluorescent flies!!!” I’m not
going to argue with you. A drab nymph will still get the job done, especially in
relatively clear and shallow water. I’m only suggesting that adding a
fluorescent firebead or hotspot to a fly will make it easier for a fish to
notice it. And isn’t that what we all want, to get our flies noticed?
Now, let’s take another look at the nymphs that SOL
mentioned in his fishing report on March 20th and try to interpret their
effectiveness in the context of fluorescent materials. I examined the
fluorescence of these flies by shining the shop’s UV light on them and noting
what parts glowed. You can check out the fluorescent qualities of your own
flies by shining a UV light into your fly box.
·
Pink Lightning Bug – The tail is somewhat
fluorescent.
·
Amex – The pink dubbing in the abdomen is
fluorescent.
·
Rainbow Czech – The pink hotspot is fluorescent.
·
Pink Ray Charles – The non-bead versions have a
fluorescent orange thread head. The bead-head versions have a fluorescent
orange firebead. Check out the photos of the firebead version that accompany
this post.
·
Pink Scuds – The Hot Spot Scud and the Hunchback
Scud both have fluorescent hot spots.
·
Worm – Some patterns are tied with fluorescent
thread. Other patterns incorporate a firebead.
·
Rainbow Warrior – The underbody and thread
collar are both tied with fluorescent orange thread.
·
Sows – Many patterns incorporate fluorescent
thread heads.
·
Zebras – Often not fished with fluorescent
materials, but why not?
·
Dominick’s Dam Midge – The purple flash is somewhat
fluorescent.
·
Red Flasher – Like the Zebra, not very
fluorescent, but flashy.
·
Mason’s Peep Show – The orange thread collar is
very fluorescent. Check out the photos accompanying this post.
·
Ju-ju Baetis – The Flouro-Fiber material that
the wing case and legs is tied out of is fluorescent.
If you’ve already been fishing these flies, hopefully this
post will help you understand why they work so well. If you haven’t been
fishing these patterns, give a few of them a shot the next time you go out. Or
maybe some of you have your own secret killer patterns with fluorescent
materials in them? If you have a UV light on your fly tying bench, I’d
recommend shining it into your fly boxes. The results are pretty interesting. If you want to read
more about fluorescent hotspots, check out this article at flytyer.com.