Largemouth bass
can see
ultraviolet light.

Humans cannot.

Visible light, the light
we can see, ranging
from purple to red,
usually can only
penetrate water
a few feet deep.

Ultraviolet -- ultra
means "beyond"
the violet or purple that
we can see -- is 80 percent of light in water 6 feet deep.

Largemouths seem often to use UV light to see.

In the deep, they can only see UV.

So the company Tightlines UV began making lures that reflect UV light.

Tightlines makes soft and hard lures that reflect UV for largemouths, crappies and walleyes.

The company also began making saltwater swim baits.

Living organisms sometimes reflect UV light, a recent article about Tightlines said in New York Game & Fish magazine. Baitfish, such as shiners and shad, reflect it a lot, and largemouths can see them in the deepest water they swim, where no visible light penetrates, it said.

Many natural fibers, including feathers and fur, also reflect UV light, the article said. Maybe that’s why lures made from natural materials catch.

Research showed that UV colors caught three to seven times more fish than other colors, the Tightlines Web site said.

Brett Ware, the Tightlines founder, researched the reaction of fish to UV-colored objects in water with little or no visible light, and the fish not only kept their eyes on the objects, but tended to strike them, the magazine article said.

He studied live baits including shiners and crawfish, and realized that the baits reflected UV light, explaining the reason fish attacked man-made UV-colored objects, it said.

The company’s lures look like usual colors to the human eye, but a fish like a bass can see the UV color.

The lures seem worth a look.

Visit Tightlines UV's Web site.