We have been doing some spinner fishing for summer steelhead lately and have had quite a bit of luck and it got us to thinking if we could improve our catch rates with these spinners. I have read a lot about UV and how steelhead and salmon use it to feed in the ocean and that is why I have been tying UV micro jigs and using them for years now with great results. Daniel has been having great luck with regular blue fox spinners and I have had a lot of luck with the solid silver spinners below. Below are a few custom blue fox type spinners along with some other quality spinners that we have been messing around with.



Now the same picture with the lights off and the UV light on!



You can see in this image that the bottom spinner is not UV enhanced!



We are going to be doing some extensive testing to see if these UV spinners get different reactions to steelhead that we can see holding compared to regular store bought. The spinners above may look like blue foxes but are set up much different weight wise, the quality of the components and the way they fish. Stay tuned to see if UV spinners are as effective as our UV micro jigs are on steelhead!

Yes indeed the UV craze is the latest "got to have" item in the box. Before I say to much I do think it makes a difference in putting fish on the stringer.

I would caution that you consider what you are fishing for and how you are going to fish for them. You only have to GOOGLE UV to see there is a lot of different thinking on the subject. I personally like fishing them in low light conditions. First thing in the morning and just before dark. As well if I'm fishing deep on cloudy days. Lets face it, the more interesting your offering is the more fish will be attracted to it.

So far I have read at least 20 different studies on using UV enhanced baits. Depending on who is writing the article you will get different thoughts. It ranges from calling it another gimmick to you better have two of each. Anyone who has walked the isles of any top fishing store has to wonder why we need so many options to catch a salmon. Why are their dozens of QUICKFISH options when you only need three. Chartreuse green and chrome, chartreuse green and chrome and last of all chartreuse green and chrome.

Any way I leave you there on the issue to decide for yourself. Will I have them in my box? Yes indeed.

H

Thanks for the good information! I guess with the ever growing pressure on our beautiful waters sometimes you need something just a bit different. This is more for fun because there are a few places that we can spot and see steelhead and how they react to different baits and lures.

That's funny you mention the "Chartreuse green and chrome" quickfish because Danny "fishstories" says any quickfish will work as long as it is "Chartreuse green and chrome" or has Chartreuse in it!!

Well let the testing begin, I think I am going to drag my wife to the river today and see if I can get lucky.

I think I would lean towards any time there are low light conditions as Hambone stated in a round about way. I have a jig that I like to use in low light conditions and it catches fish, it also glows quite well under the uv light. I actually was using the jig for a couple years before I had any idea of it uv characteristics.

Well the first cast with the blue and silver UV spinner above and a steelhead chased it four feet, second cast and FISH ON!! I ended up hooking one more on the silver and gold UV spinner above but it came off. Great day of fishing and more testing spinners on Thursday!

Very nice Chad. Man, something else to think about. I dont know if Ive got any more room in my winter steelhead jigs to add UV flash HA HA HA HA. They look like little orange and pink mice as it is
Definitely worth my adding it though!! Good post Buddy!!

It would be cool to see your jigs under that UV light to see the enhancement the UV flash gives . Just a thought

Ill have to do that!! I know the eyes would definitely stand out because they go through a similar process as the spinners above. I have not checked to see how the UV flash looks though. I will have to try it out!

The mouse jig works fine the way it is. That's always what Daniel is telling me when I show him a new jig, "didn't it work good enough before". I'm always trying to find something to keep me ahead of the steelhead if that is even possible.

Now thats funny right there Chad!! Isnt it true though?? That is the beauty of it, we are always trying to make something new. Its the passion of it all that drives us to keep trying to improve on what already works

The jigs under a black light look freakin' awesome. I was in woodland, wa to go night fishing with a buddy, and I showed it to him my jig with my black light i use to charge my corkies. Man did that thing glow. I've never seen a jig that bright under a uv light before. Very impressive.

Very cool! I am working on some new stuff that will be incredible!!