4 Things You Should Know About Fish and UV Light

Anglers naturally tend to judge lure finishes as they appear to the human eye. However, this approach overlooks the basic biological differences between the human eye and the eye of a fish. Unlike human eyes, which require a black light to see an ultraviolet reflection, many predator species of fish can see it naturally. This is driving a whole new approach to lure design. Read on to learn the four things an angler should know about fish and UV (ultraviolet) light.

Fish do not see color the same way people do
How fish see and respond to color has puzzled many anglers of the industry. The more we learn about their vision, the more perplexed we become. They simply do not see color the same way. You might logically think that a beautifully finished pattern lure will catch you a nice bass because it looks like a frog, but that is not necessarily the case. The position of the rods and cones in the eyes of most fish enhance their sensitivity to motion and contrast, at the expense of detail. The ability to see reflected UV
light not only helps them identify mates and enemies but also transparent food sources. For example, plankton is much easier to see when they’re reflecting UV light.

Fish rarely bite what they can’t see
As you may know, the spectrum of visible light is a group of colors ranging from reds to deep violets. While these are of high importance in our own environment, they quickly filter out as depth increases below water’s surface. And what fish can’t see, they won’t bite. If you fish with our lures, you won’t get the same tap, tap as you get with other plastics. These lures get crushed. Predators will use UV light to gain a feeding advantage,especially on a cloudy day.

A lure that is more visible is more available to hunting predators Wavelengths of light actually determine the colors within the visible spectrum. The longer wavelengths are red and orange; the shorter wavelengths are green, blue and violet. If you look up its definition, ultraviolet literally means “beyond violet.” This begs the question: Is there light at depths of 400 feet? For humans, no. We do not have the right rods and cones in our eyes to see this frequency of light. For fish, the answer is heck yes! UV light is on such a different frequency that it penetrates to great
depths in an otherwise dark ocean the same way it penetrates some types of clothing and causes skin cancer. Anything that reflects UV rays allows fish to spot it, much like a freshly charged glow-in-the-dark lure. A lure that is more visible is more available to hunting predators

The UV concept isn’t new, nor is it mainstream
Some lure makers started leveraging this knowledge decades ago. That said, you’re probably wondering why this notion isn’t more widely exploited—and rightly so. It’s a combination of new technology and
angler desire for the next big thing. Many are simply uneducated or misinformed about the relationship between fish and UV light. The concept has been around for a long time and we encourage you to experiment with our lineup of UV reflective soft plastics.