Why I re-tie store bough lures.

[G-Man]

I took the following pictures a few years back to help illustrate the reasons why you should never trust mass produced pre-tied fishing rigs. These 4 lures came pre-tied, as shown, straight from the factory.

Lure picture taken under white light.

Apex lures in plain light.jpg (127.57 KiB) Viewed 6372 times

Lure picture taken under black/uv light.

Apex lures under UV.jpg (54.68 KiB) Viewed 6372 times

You should notice that the leader material on two of the lures really reacts to UV light, not what you want when chasing leader shy fish. Keep in mind that these lures are all from Hot Spot, a fairly reputable tackle manufacturer. So if you are having a tough time connecting with line shy fish, I highly suggest checking out your leaders. For those of you who do not have access to a UV light source, I suggest taking a trip down to Home depot or Lowes and picking up a black light CFL Party Light. Unlike it's incandescent cousin, the CFL black light puts out a large amount of UV light that makes it easy to see if what you are putting in the water fluoresces.

[Dan Boone]

Yikes, that`s bright!

[Augwen]

What makes the leaders glow? If they glow, what is to say your new leader that you put on does not glow also? I guess you can put the light on your leader material before tying it up but when buying it at the store, how would you know? I use Apex's a lot and prefer the Kokanee Killer style with the 2 hooks close to each other. I have tried to duplicate the way they have their hooks tied and cannot seem to be able to get them set up that way. Fat fingers or something . So Gman what do you do on the Kokanee Killers?

[goodtimesfishing]

I would have never thouoght to check that! I always check my lures with black light to see how they look to the fish. Ever notice how sometimes a lure that you just can't keep the fish off....you loose it but have another, but does not seem to have the same effect on the fish as the one you just lost? If you look at the lures with black light you can see difference in lures that look identical with out the black light. The ones that light up the most are always the better ones.....just don't want your leader lighting up. Good catch g-man!!

save the glowing one for the fishing buddy that always out fishes everyone. just kidding of coarse!

[drysuperfly52]

i will definatly have to look into that, that is great info.. i wonder if my pretied leaders glow... i hope not.

[Bodofish]

For a local grab on a UV flashlight, Mclendons usually has them and of course Ebay does to, in spades. I use them for jazzing up glow in the dark beads and lures, I honestly can say I've never seen my leaders glow but then I haven't really looked at any pretied ones.

[G-Man]

What makes the leaders glow? If they glow, what is to say your new leader that you put on does not glow also? I guess you can put the light on your leader material before tying it up but when buying it at the store, how would you know? I use Apex's a lot and prefer the Kokanee Killer style with the 2 hooks close to each other. I have tried to duplicate the way they have their hooks tied and cannot seem to be able to get them set up that way. Fat fingers or something . So Gman what do you do on the Kokanee Killers?

Technically items that fluoresce under UV light don't really glow. What happens is the UV light is being converted to visible light, which is why if you eliminate the light source the item will appear dark. With a a true luminescent item, the item will absorb and retain the light and release it slowly over time, hence the term, 'glow in the dark.' I have checked the leader materials that I use under UV light and selected those that do not fluoresce. I mostly use Maxima products and stay away from Stren and Trilene at all costs. I'll see if I can't get a picture together of a few spools of different line under UV light posted. I don't have a problem tying the tandem hook rig for Kokanee Killers, it is just a scaled down version of what one would use for a salmon hoochie or herring setup. I normally use size 2 to size 4 hooks and tie them about one hook length apart. For dedicated kokanee fishing I would go with a trebel hook as the trailer. It seems to be the way of the future and I believe that Toni, from Wannafishalure, ties a few of her kokanee rigs in this manner. As I release most of the cutthroat that I catch, I stick with Gamakatsu or Matzuo sickle octopus hooks.

[Bodofish]

What makes the leaders glow? If they glow, what is to say your new leader that you put on does not glow also? I guess you can put the light on your leader material before tying it up but when buying it at the store, how would you know? I use Apex's a lot and prefer the Kokanee Killer style with the 2 hooks close to each other. I have tried to duplicate the way they have their hooks tied and cannot seem to be able to get them set up that way. Fat fingers or something . So Gman what do you do on the Kokanee Killers?

Technically items that fluoresce under UV light don't really glow. What happens is the UV light is being converted to visible light, which is why if you eliminate the light source the item will appear dark. With a a true luminescent item, the item will absorb and retain the light and release it slowly over time, hence the term, 'glow in the dark.' I have checked the leader materials that I use under UV light and selected those that do not fluoresce. I mostly use Maxima products and stay away from Stren and Trilene at all costs. I'll see if I can't get a picture together of a few spools of different line under UV light posted. I don't have a problem tying the tandem hook rig for Kokanee Killers, it is just a scaled down version of what one would use for a salmon hoochie or herring setup. I normally use size 2 to size 4 hooks and tie them about one hook length apart. For dedicated kokanee fishing I would go with a trebel hook as the trailer. It seems to be the way of the future and I believe that Toni, from Wannafishalure, ties a few of her kokanee rigs in this manner. As I release most of the cutthroat that I catch, I stick with Gamakatsu or Matzuo sickle octopus hooks.

That would be the reason, I never use those brands....

[Augwen]

I guess I am going to run out and get me a CFL blacklight bulb!!!!

[racfish]

I tie all my own hooks for salmon trout steelhead and bass. If I lose a big fish Id rather have it be my fault then some company. I think sometimes lures are made for our liking more then the fishes liking. Same with Spin n' Glos. For many years I used 3 colors of corkies only because thats what there was. Orange/green , orange , and clown. I caught many steel head on those colors.

[TroutSnipr]

On a similar topic, they make an odor less and colorless UV spray that dries instantly and is waterproof. You can literally spray it on anything including flies. The sell it at SportCo. I'll try and remember the name of it. I saw it on Northwest Wild Country and Bill Herzog was talking about it.

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/CS_Coati ... ASTSP.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can get it at BPS/Cabelas/Amazon as well

[G-Man]

I believe that it is called Fool-a-Fish.

[Augwen]

Should be called Fool A Man....never ever worked for me. I tried 2 bottles before I decided that!!

[Bodofish]

Should be called Fool A Man....never ever worked for me. I tried 2 bottles before I decided that!!

Hahahaha aint it the truth! Lures are designed to catch fishermen not fish. I have to say that stuff has really worked good on salmon gear in the salt, especially with the herring or anchovy stink.

[Toni]

On a similar topic, they make an odor less and colorless UV spray that dries instantly and is waterproof. You can literally spray it on anything including flies. The sell it at SportCo. I'll try and remember the name of it. I saw it on Northwest Wild Country and Bill Herzog was talking about it.

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/CS_Coati ... ASTSP.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can get it at BPS/Cabelas/Amazon as well

Be careful where and what you spray it on. It can deteriorate rubber and vinyl. This also may be why those leaders are glowing. Maybe they got the uv on the leader.

[goodtimesfishing]

Those blacklights are also great for charging your glow in the dark lures.....much faster then standard flashlight bulb.

[G-Man]

Be careful where and what you spray it on. It can deteriorate rubber and vinyl. This also may be why those leaders are glowing. Maybe they got the uv on the leader.
[/color]

Toni, none of those lures were ever removed from their original packaging. The lure on the far left was in a sealed bag and I had removed the paper tag from the package. I specifically chose 2 identical lures, as purchased new, to show that different leader material was used during the rigging process by the manufacturer.

[TroutSnipr]

I think Toni was implying that maybe they pre-tied the leaders before the factory sprayed the UV and then packaged them not that you did it.

I have to say that I am skeptical about many of the 'wonder' products as well, but Bill Herzog has forgot more about fishing than most people know, and if he said it made a difference for him then I'll spend $7 and give it a try. the UV Blast does mention to test it out on rubber or plastic to see if it has any reaction on the bottle.

if you really want to look at it, look at those old "magic minnow" ads for those 'As Seen On TV' plastic kits they used to sell from back in the 80's. They used weighted wide-gap hooks and corkscrews to sink into the head of the plastic minnow to keep it attached etc. What's one of the most productive baits now? Swimbaits rigged in almost the exact same way. You never know what is going to catch fish.

[Toni]

I think Toni was implying that maybe they pre-tied the leaders before the factory sprayed the UV and then packaged them not that you did it.

Exactly

but Bill Herzog has forgot more about fishing than most people know,

LOL I agree with that.

[Bodofish]

Those blacklights are also great for charging your glow in the dark lures.....much faster then standard flashlight bulb.

I use an LED UV flashlight, much faster than CF bulb or any filtered bulb type light, and smaller too. Most lures fit in your hand so you don't get flashed and a couple seconds of the UV and glow for up to 20 min.