Category Archives: UV

September 20, 2019 · 9:24 am

NEW PRODUCT – Chameleon UV from Deer Creek!

Deer Creek has just recently released a brand new, totally unique UV resin. It is called Chameleon UV and it is decribed as tack free colour shifting nano pigment technology. As you can see by the photos below, you will be able to obtain some very cool results!

Chameleon UV comes in two different color shifts. Gold/Red and Blue/Purple.

I can vouch for the tack free part, because I have used Deer Creek Diamond Fine for years and it cures tack free. You can see my review of Diamond Fine here.

I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on the new Chameleon UV yet, but I have some on the way. If you are looking to make some realistic bugs or wild and crazy bugs, this stuff is going to be the ticket. Then there are beetles. Beetle flies are going to raise up to the next level because of the look of this stuff. There is also the imagination factor in using this new resin, so who knows what you can come up with.

If you are interested in purchasing some, you can get it straight from Deer Creek right now.

I have also posted some videos from Deer Creek below to show you a little more of the color changes.

Tied by Stu Medi

Comments Off on NEW PRODUCT – Chameleon UV from Deer Creek!

Filed under New Product, UV

August 31, 2015 · 12:02 am

Deer Creek UV Resin review

Deer Creek Diamond Fine Flex

Well…well…well, another review of a UV resin. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t planning to do another review of a UV resin or comparison or anything like that, for that matter. I used to think my light wasn’t strong enough or when it wasn’t completely tack free, that it was as tack free as UV resins get. Then people would say, “Just put Sally Hanson’s over it and it will be tack free.” To me, that was asinine and I wasn’t even about to attempt that process. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of being tack free? I thought all of those things—until now, that is.

Actually, I don’t use UV resins these days unless I have a specific purpose for them. I just use Krazy Glue if I need to seal my thread head or to do normal gluing on streamers. For example, if I need the head of my fly to look good and shiny, I’ll use Deer Creek UV resin. Another instance; I have a soft hackle fly I designed called a “Bit of Alpaca” where I needed to coat the Flashabou body, so I used Deer Creek Diamond Fine UV resin. Then I have this new fly I’ve been working with this summer and I found using Deer Creek Diamond Fine Flex worked perfectly.

Bit of Alpaca – soft hackle

So there, I said it, Deer Creek UV resin. This is the reason I have come to the point of writing another UV resin review. The truth, Deer Creek UV resin just plain works! The first time I used Deer Creek Diamond Fine, I was shocked and really impressed all at the same time. The light I was using and the light I still use is a Deer Creek pen light. When I first received it, I chuckled and thought to myself, “This little light will never work.” Guess what, it did work and it still works. It takes about 15 to 20 seconds to dry the resin for most applications. Sometimes it may require a little more time. But what matters is, the resin actually dries completely tack free. You can count on it and I count on it for my own flies.

Deer Creek Diamond Fine

Deer Creek just released the Diamond Fine Flex this year and I wanted to try it for this new fly. I’m not ready to say much about this new fly, but I’ll briefly explain, so you understand why I was using the UV resin. This new fly is a bottom bouncer with lead dumbbell eyes. I want it to sink to the bottom of the river or creek and drag it for smallmouth bass. So the dumbbell eyes are coated yellow and of course the way I’m using this fly causes the paint to chip off and it looks like crap. So I now use Diamond Fine Flex on the bottom of the lead dumbbell eyes to protect it from chipping. This worked like a charm! I have been fishing and dragging this fly that you see pictured below with no chips out of the paint. I have also taken this same fly by the tail and smacked it on concrete with no harm done to the paint or the dumbbell eyes. As you can see, there in no discoloration to the UV resin, it is still nice and clear looking.

Deer Creek makes one other type of UV resin and that is the Diamond Hard. This is to build up and thicken your resin application, but I haven’t tried that particular type. But I’m sure it works just as well as the other two. Like I mentioned, I have tried the Diamond Fine and the Diamond Fine Flex and I’m completely happy. This is the UV resin for me and I won’t have to worry about writing another review, because Deer Creek UV resin works and I’m sticking with it. I honestly and wholeheartedly recommend Deer Creek UV resin, without a doubt!

Deer Creek is a company located in the UK. You can visit their website here: Deer Creek website

Casters Fly Shop is the main Deer Creek outlet in the United States. You can visit their website here: Casters Fly Shop website

written by Paul J. Beel

5 Comments

Filed under Product Review, UV

June 18, 2015 · 9:41 am

FrankenFly update – 6-18-2015

I figured I would post a FrankenFly status update since it has been some time since the last one. I am getting ready to be with my family for a vacation so the website will not be updated very much in the next week. But never fear, I will dive right into it as soon as I get back to business.

There are a couple of interviews coming in the near future. I’ve sent the questions to these fly tyers and I’m just waiting to hear back to get those posted. They should be good ones!

I’ve got two new flies I’ve designed that I have been testing and fishing to see if they will be good hunters. I don’t want to say a whole lot about these yet, just in case they don’t make the grade. I will say that one is an articulated streamer and the other is a bottom beater.

flex

I’ve been using Deer Creek’s new UV Flex resin for my new bottom beater and I am very impressed. It has done a great job and there is absolutely no tackiness after drying. I don’t have to put something like Sally’s over the top of it. It works all on its own. I will post a review of Deer Creek UV resin soon. If you are looking for a UV resin that actually works, this is it. No special high powered light or anything, it just flat out works! I’m using a pen light for goodness sake.

olive-1200

The Zudbubblers are going over very well. These are terrific popper style flies! So if you haven’t fished one of these little suckers, then I suggest you try it because they are a blast to fish! I will be making smaller versions of these too, which I think people are really wanting. I’m just waiting for hooks to arrive to move those into production. So stay tuned! Same Zudbubbler time, same Zudbubbler channel!

So far this year it has been the season for my single hook streamer, Grandpa’s Chickenhawk. It has been tearing it up, catching a lot of smallies and bucketmouths. Several different fly fishers have been using it and reporting back their catches, including myself. The charteuse and white version has been outperforming the brown and black this year, but the brown and black has its place, so don’t ever count it out. I just posted a fly tying video this week showing how to tie Grandpa’s Chickenhawk if you are interested.

I hope everyone is having a good fishing season. Get out there as much as you can and fish people!

Comments Off on FrankenFly update – 6-18-2015

Filed under FrankenFly, New Product, Streamers, UV

March 20, 2013 · 12:23 am

UV products for fly tyers with Dave McNeese

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to entomologist, fly tyer, and fly fisherman Dave McNeese. When Dave was young he traveled to New York to spend time with fly tyers like Art Flick, Elsie Darbee, Ray Smith, and Roy Steenrod. He has been doing scientific study on fish and insects since 1963. Dave has been instrumental in the study of the effect of UV products for fly tyers and is an expert in dying materials. He’s helped Bill Black of Spirit River tremendously with their UV2® line of fly tying materials. To read more about Spirit River UV2®, read my previous post on FrankenFly.

Dave says the UV factors in wildlife are used to a high degree. The structure of certain insect’s eyes that need pollen from a specific flower are guided by the UV signature within the flower itself. Predatory fish are like predatory birds as both use UV to hunt their prey. For example, the sparrow hawk can spot a mouse down on the ground in broad daylight by seeing the phosphorus in their urine trail they leave behind. In mayflies, females are amazingly protected by creation because they hardly have any UV, while males are often fed upon because of their color. Refraction is a big part of this. Light passes through and it develops other colors.

Jungle cock eyes are highly visible to steelhead because they contain a reflective polish for instance. Dave mentions you could actually replace synthetics in steelhead flies and use UV2® products instead because it will take care of the reflective color the synthetics show off. He has been testing this theory for years. One example is by adding a light colored material like a pinkish orange to the sides of his Hare’s Ear Nymph which has proved to be more effective in catching fish for him than a normal Hare’s Ear.

Some UV materials can be used sparingly, like Spirit River’s UV2® Enhancer. When working with Enhancer it’s best to mix small amounts into some natural dubbing or mix it with natural fur like beaver or otter for example. You have to keep in mind that the entire body of a mayfly does not glow. Only small parts will have a UV reflective aspect to them. This is why you should only need a small amount mixed in instead of using only the UV2® Enhancer by itself. Spirit River does have their own UV2® dubbing mixes that have a mix of 15 to 30% UV2® already in them.

Dave emphasizes that trout have incredible eye sight. Their eye sight is several times greater than a human’s. As a trout moves closer to its prey their color spectrum increases. This is good information to keep in mind when designing your flies.

Hopefully this gives you a basic idea of reflective UV in nature. This is the reason you see large lure companies developing more types of UV lures because they hire their own scientists to study and learn this information and relay that information when producing new enhanced products to catch fish. There is a world out there we don’t fully understand. If you’re not a scientist it’s difficult to obtain the information. Dave is lucky to be in contact with the leading entomologist at Oregon State University, Dr. Paul Hammond, who provides his expertise.

We are just now starting to scratch the surface in the fly fishing world with UV products and like “colors” it will take years of experimentation to learn what works and what doesn’t. It’s exciting to be in the beginning stages of this new development and I’m looking forward to where this might take us in the future.

7 Comments

Filed under UV