FAQs

QUESTION

I’ve heard that Lucky Bugs use UV on them. Can you explain why you UV coat your bugs?

ANSWER

The REASON: We UV coat our painted Lucky Bugs to reflect ultraviolet light. The purpose is to “light up” the lures underwater to predatory fish thus making them visible to fish in otherwise dark environments.

THE SCOOP ON UV LIGHT AND FISHING:

UV light is a short wavelength, high frequency energy from sun and stars that is invisible to most mammals but is very visible to a variety of fish species that scientists have tested so far. About 60% of sunlight that cuts through the water’s surface is UV light. UV light penetrates clear water far deeper than human-visible light. Oceanographers have found UV light 700’ deep. The scales of many prey fish reflect UV light. Zooplankton, shrimp, squid, and many aquatic insects also reflect UV light. This silhouettes them against their blue-green background, making these creatures more visible to their predators. UV light also polarizes, especially early and late in the day. Diverse game fish detect polarized light.

Many different kinds of fish see UV light. In saltwater, biologists have found that pink, chum, coho, sockeye, masu salmon, weakfish and flounder also detect UV light. In freshwater, biologists found that brown and rainbow trout, kokanee, yellow perch, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, white suckers, carp, bluegill, and pumpkinseed sunfish detect UV light. Many fish species have yet to be tested to determine if they detect UV light.

UV paints are effective in any daylight. But early and late in the day, UV light penetrates the water’s surface much better than human-visible light. UV also penetrates fog and clouds. At these times, UV light is by far the greatest amount of light in water. Moonlight and starlight also contain energy from the UV spectrum.

Another benefit of UV is that it doesn’t fade and never needs to be re-charged like glow paints because it simply reflects UV light.

QUESTION

I’ve been hearing a LOT of negative things about BPA (AKA Phthalates) and plastics. I’ve heard that BPA’s have very negative effects. I’m a responsible angler so I’m concerned because your lures are made from plastic. Are your lures BPA free?

ANSWER

We’ve all been using plastic baits and lures for ages because they catch fish. But plastics lost in the lake are litter, and that’s not good. It’s worse if the plastics contain phthalates, or BPA. You may have heard about it when BPA-free water bottles started being a big deal a few years ago. In fact, most manufacturers took it out of kid’s toys and baby bottles. What BPA does is it leaches into the water and causes “endocrine disruption.” In other words, it makes boy fish into girl fish and girl fish into boy fish. But what’s more troublesome is some scientists believe it’s affecting the PEOPLE who drink that water too, because we don’t really have a way to filter that out. From the places it pollutes when the plastic is manufactured to the places it pollutes when it’s lost or disposed of, BPA (phthalates) isn’t good. That’s why when we choose to make our lures out of plastic we choose phthalate free plastic. You can fish our lures knowing that you are not polluting the waterways with BPA’s or phthalates.

QUESTION:

In order to fish for Pinks off the beach, what you would suggest as a set up for casting the Lucky Bugs? eg. Weight set-up in order to get some distance on the cast. What kind of weight would you use?

ANSWER:

The standard casting set up from beach or boat with the Lucky Bug is an 18″ leader that is a couple pound test strength less than the mainline. Example would be a 12lb test mainline with an 8lb test leader, etc. The leader is tied to a Lucky Bug at the terminal end, the other end is tied to a small swivel. The swivel is then tied to the mainline and weights are applied to the mainline above (rod side) the swivel, the idea being the weights if they slide will slide only to the swivel and not to the bug. The weights that are used in this application are usually split shots and the size and number are dictated by the rod/reel combination together with the distance needed for the cast as well as the wind. From the beach I suggest at least 3 split shots about the size of a large garden pea.

A common alternative to the above is used when extreme distance is required, such as the lower Fraser when fish are jumping quite far out in the mainstream. The basic set-up described above is used but lengthen the leader to about 24″ and use a three-way swivel instead of a standard swivel. Tie the leader and mainline to the three-way swivel so they are ‘in-line’ with each other and the third eye of the swivel is at 90 degrees. From the third eye of the swivel a 1 or 1 1/2 oz ‘Bouncing Betty’ style weight is clipped on. When casting this set up a quick retrieve is usually required (Lucky Bugs like being retrieved fast luckily) especially when nearing shore. If you find the leader is tangling often a simple solution is to stop the cast just before the weight hits the water. Stopping the weight short allows the bug to continue past the weight/swivel and the leader lays out nice and straight. Just a note, a Bouncing Betty weight is a round lead weight covered in rubber with a snap at the top. The snap is what is attached to the swivel.

QUESTION:

When fishing for Kokonee Salmon with Lucky Bug Bingo Bugs, what boat speed is best?

ANSWER:

When trolling for Kokanee we suggest a speed of just over 1.5 mph.

QUESTION:

And when fishing for Gerrard Rainbows, what boat speed is best?

ANSWER:

You want to speed it up a bit to just around 3mph for Gerrards.

QUESTION:

The little round c wire that is attached to the lure itself that has an open shepherd type clasp on it. What is that? Do you attach your leader line to this and then close the open c-type clasp?

ANSWER:

That is a snap hook. It is used to free up much more of the fly’s action. It really acts like a u-joint allowing the body to wiggle much more freely. The snap hook serves 2 purposes, first it frees up a lot of the action on the lure by letting it wiggle freely, second it gives the angler an option to change lures quickly without tying a new knot (We don’t suggest using this option, as it is good practice to change ones knot frequently to avoid losing lures).

To use it, you simply tie directly to the eye on the snap hook clasp. You don’t need to close anything.

Some people are sceptical about the design, however we have never had problem with them. If you find that you are not comfortable using them you can simply tie directly to the fly hook using a simple loop knot. The important thing is to not clinch down on the hook with your knot.

QUESTION:

Love the product but would like to buy kits to make repairs. The feathers are shredding due to aggressive fish.

ANSWER:

Unfortunately we don’t sell replacement parts, however you can buy feathers from any fly tying shop, try not to cut it too large, and I have heard of people using zap-a-gap glue. Feel free to modify the lure also by using marabou or rabbit strips.

QUESTION:

Do you sell just the bodies for fly tiers?

ANSWER:

No, we don’t sell just the bodies separately. There are just too many specialized tools required to make the hook and feather join into the body.