UV Wutzit

[DobynsTriton]

The UV comes out pretty good even with 15 drops of colorant in it

[jmatheny9]

I like it. Good post and good looking baits


                   -Jeremiah

[Blackhawk19]

Nice!!

[DobynsTriton]

Thanks guys. a little goes along way with it it seems but it doesnt stiffen a bait up or make a color look pale

[Botanophilia]

It's strong stuff, 1/16th teaspoon in 4 oz plastic of a transparent or light color seems like it will be plenty.  I keep my supplies in the basement.  I have some orange scrap that gives off some UV glow just from the basement lights in the dim lighting.  When I first noticed it I thought my orange had discolored overnight!  This makes me realize the stuff is going to work great!  Wish it was June so I could actually go fishing.   

[DobynsTriton]

i used little over 1/8th for 8oz. I can probably back it down some im not sure on the dark colors like black yet

[BigFoot_158]

The question I would like to ask is how much uv light penetrates the depths of the water?

[Jerry V]

One study in salt water that i read about, they found that white light tends to deplete around the 250 foot mark but they had detected UV light as deep as 750 feet.

[efishnc]

One of the fishing mags in the last few years talked about the difference of light penetrations as well; their numbers were much smaller, but proportionately similar.  They stated that in even the clearest fresh water, a white jig will turn brown by 40 feet, but the UV will still glow past 300 feet...and this is the clearest of fresh waters, bear in mind stained or turbid waters will cut these numbers significantly.

I gained much of my knowledge and belief in the UV factor when I was testing UV paints on decoys for waterfowl  about ten years back, and I told these developers directly that they needed to use this paint on crank baits, but they seemed to just be interested in ducks.  Some of the best research they had came out of Oxford University, but it was primarily directed at birds and how the UV light helps them in so many ways. 

Basically, think of UV light as a flash light and the sun's natural light as a spot light - if the spot light is fully on an object, you will never see what the flashlight contributes.  If the spot light is turned off or gets obscured to a larger degree, the flash light's effect can then be seen - similarly, as sunlight is diminished (either from cloud cover or night), the UV factor becomes stronger.

My personal experience shows UV is king for night time walleyes!  I also readily employ UV baits on cloudy days for muskies (or bass or walleyes depending on what I'm chasing), but under a clear blue sky white is the brightest of the colors.  The bottom line to consider with light penetration is where will the bait be in relation to the fish.  Based only on sight - not disturbance - a light bait disappears against a bright sky, but really stands out when against weeds or the bottom.  (Although a dark bait can have a great silhouette against the sky, it may disappear against weeds or a dark bottom.)  Again, I'm only considering the SIGHT factor, not disturbance or vibration; working them all together is what ultimately gets the most attention from the fish... and sometimes they want obnoxious and other times subtle.  I'm just trying to give some understanding to help others maximize the effect and hopefully use it to catch more fish.

[ctom]

From what I have read on the stuff, UV products' performances are based on a couple of things: water depth, water clarity and having natural light available. More than anything the "having natural light available" is more of a key to uv enhancers. From natural light [sunlight and to some extent moonlight], the uv that fish see and we cannot penetrates to great depths in even murky water and it is also pronounced as sunlight and the sun's angle in the sky begin to diminish. Moonlight also sheds uv because it is reflected sunlight, but the amount of available uv in moonlight is considerably less. Clouds and water-borne dirt will filter uv from sunlight but the uv light will still be noticeable. In the dead of night on nights with little or no moon or when heavy cloud cover blankets the moon, natural uv will be minimal. But aside from absolute darkness found on very few nights baits will still be somewhat noticeable when enhancers are used in colors or top coats. You have to have some light for the enhancers to work, because they do not glow. The uv enhancers make colors appear to glow. Even in the very earliest of morning twilight, long before the sun has cracked the horizon but still darned near dark, those enhancers are at work and make baits way more visible to fish. In many ways the enhancers probably are more effective attractants than glow products because the glows create an "aura" around the glowing bait while uv simply makes the bait more visible....remember, fish see things different from us. 

The lighting used to show the uv in pictures is deceiving as well. Its highly concentrated uv light that excites the uv end of the colors you look at. Fluorescent colors gather and amplify uv to make themselves brighter than similar non-fluorescent colors. In the dark, in deep water or dirty water, those fluorescent colors don't do much. Fish see them but not as well.

I think a lot of people get misled with the notion that uv enhanced baits will glow like phosphorescent colors when charged by daylight or artificial light. The only time uv enhanced products work is when there is a source of uv light. UV baits won't glow like halogen street lights at night. One thing, I have not read anything on uv and glow-in-the-dark use is whether a uv coated glow-in-the-dark jig might be seen at greater distances than just coating with the glow pigment.

[Botanophilia]

 "Most of the visible light spectrum is absorbed within 10 meters (33 feet) of the water's surface, and almost none penetrates below 150 meters (490 feet) of water depth, even when the water is very clear.

Water selectively scatters and absorbs certain wavelengths of visible light. The long wavelengths of the light spectrum—red, yellow, and orange—can penetrate to approximately 15, 30, and 50 meters (49, 98, and 164 feet), respectively, while the short wavelengths of the light spectrum—violet, blue and green—can penetrate further, to the lower limits of the euphotic zone. Blue penetrates the deepest, which is why deep, clear ocean water and some tropical water appear to be blue most of the time."

For reference, the euphotic zone is up to 200 meters (~656') deep.  UV is in the non-visible light spectrum and has a tighter wavelength than blue and violet so it should penetrate deep as well.  Violet and Blue light is between 500 nm to 400 nm whereas ultraviolet is between 400 nm and 10 nm.  MOST of the uv that reaches the surface of the earth is between 400 nm and 315 nm. 

As Tom points out, UV radiation must be present for this product to work.  Also as pointed out, we are not good at all at seeing uv radiation and any visible light will wash it out to us and to anything that sees visible light... including fish.  That's why these things don't light up like a supernova in the sunlight.  If you're fishing a bait shallow, that uv reflection will be minimal.  But go deep and eventually that uv reflection will overtake the bait color because the uv is the only wavelength present.  Using a blacklight to demonstrate the uv reflection basically demonstrates this phenomenon.  I'll try to take a pic in my basement later of my scrap reflecting uv in dim light... it's a different effect more akin to the combination of blue and orange in a flame (my scrap is fluro orange w/ UV) and likely more like what fish are seeing. 

The thought of using glow and uv together is an interesting one.  Does the phosphorescent light produced by glow powders include uv radiation? 

[Jerry V]

Basically, think of UV light as a flash light and the sun's natural light as a spot light - if the spot light is fully on an object, you will never see what the flashlight contributes.  If the spot light is turned off or gets obscured to a larger degree, the flash light's effect can then be seen - similarly, as sunlight is diminished (either from cloud cover or night), the UV factor becomes stronger.

THIS, I believe, is the most simple and understandable way I have heard to explain the basics of what's going on with the different types of light.  Thank you David.

[BigFoot_158]

Thanks for the read guys. We also have to consider wave conditions, from what i have read they also scatter light. On a flat calm more light penetrates the water then on day with high wind or boat traffic.

[efishnc]

More than anything the "having natural light available" is more of a key to uv enhancers.

Please, please, please... don't think I'm trying to buck your statements for one-upmanship.  I just want to project as much accuracy on this as I can, so we can all have more success in the stuff we do.

I'm not sure what your definition is of "natural light", but I would categorize "natural light" as light visible to humans, or essentially daylight... and UV light falls outside of this band.  However, if by "natural light" you mean all of the electromagnetic energy the sun sends our way, then UV light would indeed be in this broader spectrum of light.  But... stars also produce UV light; some stars individually produce more UV light than the sun (and there are more of them than the sun), but none of the earth is illumined even the slightest by at night by the stars... does this qualify as "natural light"?... in the sense that it is not artificial... but let everyone come up with their own definition here.

Then there's the three types of UV (a,b,c), and the ozone layer filters about 90% (give or take) of all UV depending on angles... blah, blah, blah... that doesn't really matter here. 

Whatever amount of UV makes it to the earth's surface... if stars out-produce the sun, then more of their UV should be a factor, and being the sun is not a factor at night... this makes UV light the front runner at night.

PLUS, there are "non-natural" light sources that produce UV light, such as mercury vapor lights (which are largely outlawed now) and I believe metal halide is a big producer as well because of the electrical arc (just like arc welding produces super high amounts of UV)... so more potential UV light at night from the poles, even without the stars.

So, how much different do we see than fish?... no one knows for sure, but if they use "natural light" as their dominant feeding light, then I would suspect their sight may be closer to what humans see... again, no one knows for sure.  However, using the potential similarity, take a UV bait and shine your UV light on it while in a dark area.  Then, without changing the relationship of your UV light and bait, step into the sunlight (or any spot with an abundance of natural light)... that's how I think it is for the fish... but again, no one knows for sure.

As far as muddy water, cloudy skies, etc., it all should hold true because UV light is a form of light, and it will react as (visible) light. 

And, having said all of this, we should bear in mind that silver will reflect the most UV light of any blade at night.