Reed Curry at Overmywaders.com is writing a multipart series on trout vision and how the ultraviolet spectrum may affect the appearance of both real and artificial mayflies.

I’m a self confessed science buff – but still consider this a must read for any fly tier that labors over an exacting imitation:

The materials we commonly use in our mayfly imitations – furs and feathers – do not provide a UV key, the all-important “trigger”, which tells the wary trout that the fly drifting above him is real. Given the choice of taking a fly which has no UVA signature (our artificial) or the natural insect that glows in a certain banding, the trout’s instinct is to sip the natural drifting inches away rather than our artfully created, but unmarked, imitation.

Parts 1 & 2 are available already, and like all of Reed’s efforts, hold great promise for what’s coming. I’m a huge fan of his prose, and unlike myself – he thinks before committing pen to paper.

I figure if we all pile on, he’ll write faster…