Why I re-tie store bough lures.

[G-Man]

So I grabbed some spools of line and put them under normal and UV light as a comparison. I also added a collection of pre-tied rigs that I use to help illustrate as well.

From left to right in the top pic the lines are as follows:
8lb Trilene XT, 8lb Berkley TriMax, 6lb Maxima Ultrgreen, 8lb Maxima Fluorocarbon, 10lb Maxima Ultrgreen, 12lb Stren Fluorocarbon, 20lb Maxima Chameleon, 40lb Pline CFX Fluorocarbon, 8lb Berkely XL and 30lb TufLine XP. You'll notice that both of the Berkely products flouresce under UV light with the XL product being extra bright, which is one of the reasons why those spools are still full.

Picture taken under UV light.

UV Fishing Line.jpg (99.2 KiB) Viewed 5271 times

Picture taken under normal light.

Normal Light Line.jpg (166.3 KiB) Viewed 5271 times

[goodtimesfishing]

Wow that is very interesting, like I said before, I never thought to look at the line with the black light. I am curious about something. In the picture, of the lures that can be seen, which are your 3 most productive lures? Are they the brightest ones under black light? Just curious.

[G-Man]

Kind of depends on what I'm fishing for. The white purple haze hoochies are probably my most productive over all. Oddly, I haven't had much success with the firetiger Apex on the west side of the State, it fairs better on east side lakes.

[goodtimesfishing]

Funny you say that, I would have guessed that firetiger apex was your top producer just because of how it looks under black light.

[Bodofish]

I've never had much luck with any color Apex. I have a hand full of them, got hooked and reeled in at one of the sportsmans shows. The guy at the stand had lots of Pic of big trout he's caught in Lake Tahoe on them so they do work somewhere...... I just haven't seen them work around here.

[hewesfisher]

I've never had much luck with any color Apex. I have a hand full of them, got hooked and reeled in at one of the sportsmans shows. The guy at the stand had lots of Pic of big trout he's caught in Lake Tahoe on them so they do work somewhere...... I just haven't seen them work around here.

My experience as well Bodo. I have caught some on them, but not the quantity that others claim. I think it may be a technique issue in my case, but I really like my choice of streamer flies as they work, consistently, the way I use them.

The UV info is enlightening G-Man, thanks for sharing your observations.

[Bodofish]

I've never had much luck with any color Apex. I have a hand full of them, got hooked and reeled in at one of the sportsmans shows. The guy at the stand had lots of Pic of big trout he's caught in Lake Tahoe on them so they do work somewhere...... I just haven't seen them work around here.

My experience as well Bodo. I have caught some on them, but not the quantity that others claim. I think it may be a technique issue in my case, but I really like my choice of streamer flies as they work, consistently, the way I use them.

The UV info is enlightening G-Man, thanks for sharing your observations.

Absolutely!! I love streamers, trolled or off the whip stick. I've been tying some up for a fly trip tomorrow, they're in the vice section. I'm picking up some "Buck Hair" and eyeballs I'll post them up when done. They're all on size 6 hooks for the big brownies...

[Augwen]

Well I am stumped Gman The chartreuse, rainbow and firetiger apexes are my go to lures for trout on the lake that I fish most often. Different times of the year for the different colors. And there they are in your demonstration. Is that good or bad ? Over time do you think that the glow diminishes? Specifically on the leader material?

[The Quadfather]

Well I am stumped Gman The chartreuse, rainbow and firetiger apexes are my go to lures for trout on the lake that I fish most often. Different times of the year for the different colors. And there they are in your demonstration. Is that good or bad ? Over time do you think that the glow diminishes? Specifically on the leader material?

Augwen, as G-man was saying, I think he said that the ones that you liked seem to fare well on the East side of the state. I see that you are in Spokane, so there ya go.
I agree, this is great information, the kind of stuff that makes a forum like this a great community thing.

[goodtimesfishing]

Well I am stumped Gman The chartreuse, rainbow and firetiger apexes are my go to lures for trout on the lake that I fish most often. Different times of the year for the different colors. And there they are in your demonstration. Is that good or bad ? Over time do you think that the glow diminishes? Specifically on the leader material?

The glow is good on the lure (it gets the fishes attention) but you don't want the fish to see your line highlighted. The reason I had asked gman about which one was his best lure, was because of exactly what you are saying about the ones that are so bright under uv light. I thought gman was going to say they where is go to lure. I would guess you run yours behind a flasher or dodger and your leader length is on the short side for a active lure. most likely similar to the same length that is used for a squid or hootchi. Though they are a lure with it's own action I think they work best with short leader.

[Augwen]

goodtimes...I have never used a flasher or a dodger on a Apex. When trolled between 1.8 and 2.5 they create their own action and flash. And from what Gman is showing us, especially the flash.

[goodtimesfishing]

goodtimes...I have never used a flasher or a dodger on a Apex. When trolled between 1.8 and 2.5 they create their own action and flash. And from what Gman is showing us, especially the flash.

Try behind a flasher, dodger or sling blade and you will be surprised how fast the limits can come...just saying I have done better with them then without. Of coarse they have their own action so you don't have to have flasher, dodger, sling blade, like with sqid but does seem to improve the catch. Just my experience.

[Bodofish]

Here's some tips and tricks from the Mfg.

http://www.hotspotlures.com/booklet.pdf

[G-Man]

Well I am stumped Gman The chartreuse, rainbow and firetiger apexes are my go to lures for trout on the lake that I fish most often. Different times of the year for the different colors. And there they are in your demonstration. Is that good or bad ? Over time do you think that the glow diminishes? Specifically on the leader material?

I'd say that the mini Apex is my fallback lure in the event that the hoochies don't produce. The pattern that I use most is watermelon and it takes its fair share of fish. I'm not a set it and forget it fisherman, if something isn't working, I'll change it out which is why I have a variety of patterns. I normally fish them with at least 4' of leader behind a dodger or abe and al style flasher, otherwise the drag of the lure hampers the action of the dodger/flasher. If I'm on a lake with minimal boat traffic, such as any lake around here in the winter, I'll ditch the flasher/dodger and fish it by itself. The fluorescense of the UV paint used on the lures doesn't really fade unless you leave your gear out in the sun for extended periods of time. If a line fluoresces under UV light, it will do it for the life of the line as the materials responsible are distributed throughout the body of the line. I suppose that one could use UV reactive line for wrapping the body of streamers, scuds and nymphs if you wanted a little extra flash.

[racfish]

I use a strobe flash unit off my old Nikon. The strobe works great for squid jigs and other glo in the dark lures.

[Bodofish]

I use a strobe flash unit off my old Nikon. The strobe works great for squid jigs and other glo in the dark lures.

Very old school and hard on your eyes, not to mention it doesn't last long enough. And don't forget the warm up time. Get a UV flashlight, you'll never look back.

[TroutSnipr]

i just use the 'flashlight app' that comes with my cell phone that activates the camera's LED flash. It might not be quite as efficient as a true UV light for recharging bug it's always handy in a pinch.

[racfish]

I know Im old school. I cant help it.

[Bodofish]

I know Im old school. I cant help it.

A new flashlight, and a new outlook on life. It's the little things.

[Augwen]

Hey G-man...went and got a UV flashlight and checked all my Apex's. Between the 11/2" up to the 4" (30+)and none of them had line that glowed. Checked all my line material and nothing there either. Thought maybe the light was not the right one.Went to my fishing buddy and checked his. It does work!! He had 2 Apex's where the line did glow and 2 poles that the line on them glowed as well. We checked his line stock and all the spools of Trilene glowed. What was amazing was that the one pole he had used to catch a 15lb steelie with last week. Thanx for the tip.