So I have been fishing (fly) Strawberry quite a bit lately. I have felt like I sorta had it figured out. I say 'sorta' because I was consistently catching a reasonable number of fish, nothing like some of you regularly catch at Strawberry, but respectable. However, a buddy and I were there on 10/6 and found it to be reasonably slow and after about 6 hours decided to head back toward the truck. At the truck a nice gentleman floats by us and told us he had not been there long and he was 'slaying' them with a PINK leech. We then saw him reeling one right after another in. That day my buddy and I had tried white, white and chartreuse, red, black, and brown. We tried different depths, different speeds, we even turned our hats on backward [
]. Neither one of us had a PINK fly. Could it be that the color was truly the difference between us having a mediocre day and the other guy putting on a clinic? Has anybody even heard of PINK being a hot color at Strawberry before? If it is a secret I guess I'm letting the cat out of the bag.
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YES color definitely makes a difference. The new UV also makes a difference.
I will not say what colors I have luck with, sorry, but I can see Pink[
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Design of the fly too. Instead of the Woolly Bugger design, try the Purple Showgirl design with your favorite colors.
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Yeah I have been using the UV polar chanelle. And the white/chartreuse that I was using is in the "show girl" pattern. I just suck [
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I found color makes a big difference on some days. I was fishing with a friend & his wife one day. We were trolling squids and spoons. It was a very slow morning. I was trading on & off tackle every 20 -30 minutes on 4 rods. Late in the morning I finally put something orange on & it went from very slow (5 fish in 3 hours) to hot action (15 fish an hour). Orange is generally my last color of choice.
I have always done well with UV pink at Strawberry - one of my first colors of choice.
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Changing fish methods on you, I find jig color makes a big difference as well. It's hard for me to believe color is distinguishable at depths and in murky water, but experience has shown over and over it is one key factor to catching more fish. J
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My experiences exactly at Strawberry.
Try the orange Harley spinner from KCT!
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[quote SBennett]My experiences exactly at Strawberry.
Try the orange Harley spinner from KCT![/quote]
The Chartreuse High Voltage Splatter Blade Spinner also works.
kokanee-creek-tackle
I have changed dodgers and started catching fish. on the same lure, when trolling. Orange and pink and green are good and ranbow are good at stawberry. also the fish love worms.[#ffffff][size 3]Chartreuse High Voltage Splatter Blade Spinner[/size][/#ffffff]
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I would also agree that color can affect fish in different ways when it comes to the time of year and whether it is simply attracting fish and/or triggering a bite.
The other side of this that is worth considering when talking about color is "attenuation." It is the process that defines how far color can travel through water based on frequency with variables such as water clarity. Basically, higher frequency colors, such as red, are the first to fade out and camouflage into the water where as violet can travel the furthest and retain its true color. The more particles that are in the water, the faster this process happens. This is however only a small portion of the equation when it comes to color, and color is a small factor in the art of catching fish. I like to think of it as a big code or combination I need to crack with factors that include, species behaviors, environmental factors such as forage and temperature, attraction vs triggers, speed or movement of your bait, profile, color, etc. Sometimes each factor can be as important as the next and other times it only takes figuring one of them out. I firmly believe that if you can proficiently read and understand a stationary fish finder like you would when ice fishing, it will dramatically increase your skills when it comes to other fishing methods like fly fishing, spinning, baitcasting, baiting, and anything in between. The amount of information is extraordinary when your truly understand the perfect picture a fish finder can portray especially when it comes to how fish react to color(s)..... God I love fishing...
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Agree with your love for fishing, but wow if I had to think that hard I'd just as well go to work. Then again I'm an engineer and I find what works and use it rather than a theorist that likes to spend all day thinking about it. But it's good some take the time to figure out the details so the rest of us can put the discoveries to work. Good luck in your quest. J
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Does the UV stuff actually live up to the hype? I had a guy over at fish tech try and explain it to me, but it really didn't sound like he knew what he was talking about - a rarity at fish tech. He even tried holding up a UV light to the chenille, couldn't see a difference. I bought some anyway for my strawberry trip today, but I just wonder if it makes a difference versus a non-uv, sparkly chenille.
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at pallen, I agree that the multiple aspects to consider and tactics to try are part of what helps keep fishing from getting boring. It is a fun challenge to try and figure out what factors in your control can entice the fish to strike.
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at downed, I often wonder the same thing. I have been using a lot of UV materials and having good success. But I have not done any real experimentation to directly compare UV vs Non UV materials. But that question makes me often feel like I am the "fish" biting at all the new cool tying materials, or new equipment. They may in fact not be any improvement in what we have been using all along, but because it is new and suppose to be better....I bite!
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By adding UV material, you are basically adding one more element to attracting fish.
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Mature trout retain or regrown some of their UV-specific cones – they begin life seeing only UV – however, even were this not the case, trout have no UV filter to block the UV rays from striking their retina. The other cones have a secondary peak in the UV, so trout have that as well. Yes, at certain times of day, dusk and dawn, the UV sensitivity may be greatest.
It can be like that Garlic scent added to the proven worm. Just upping the game a little.
BUT, UV is an additive. In other words, use other material with it to naturalize it.
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Yep I believe article eluded to that FG. Bottom line, it's time on water and experimenting agreed...? Folks learn really learn by reading and trial and error...agreed....?? That's if there is a real commitment to learn....
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I have learned a little about this, but this is a great article. Thanks for sharing Kim!
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Great UV article, thanks Kim!
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Little up date. I bought some UV2 marabou recently and added it to some patterns I already have.
Result, using four different flies, the UV was the fish getter at Deer Creek with Tube Dude.
At Strawberry, again, two favorite marabou patterns I tied up with the UV marabou. They were the fish getter. My partner using same set up but without the UV flies did not catch near as many fish.
I think a TOUCH of UV does a great job.
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But did you out fish your partner more than you usually do?[
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