July 28 at 7:04 PM  · 

Brad Fresh,

My saga with HyperVis tape started in the late Summer of 2019; I was prepping for a 10 day, long range bucket list trip out of San Diego. We found a couple kelp beds after a day and a half, and rigged up trolling rods for Wahoo. I was in the 1st group, and as the newbie I got the outside spot away from the kelp beds. I used a Nomad DTX minnow in Pink, and I decorated it with 3 thin stripes on each side of HyperVis gold tape. I caught the 1st fish, a 47 lb. Wahoo. Some of the guys asked me about the tape, and I gave them each some. I also gave some to the crew. I caught Wahoo, YFT and Mahi using lures decorated with HyperVis, as did my friends and others on the boat.

I didn’t get much of a chance to fish Winter Steelhead when I got back. We were in the process of moving North of Seattle. But, I did get out once. Nightmare jig with Solar Flare eyes tipped with a Looney Coonie tail managed 3 fish on the Kalama River.

Covid hit, and fishing stopped for way too long. By the time it reopened, it was Summer Chinook season. I headed up to Bonneville with my buddies. I put out a basic Oregon Tackle spinner that I decorated the blade with a square of Green HyperVis. It hooked and landed 4 Chinook; 3 of which were hatchery. The other fish was caught using a proven Mag Lip. My friends took note. Picture below.

I used UV HyperVis for Halibut, Ling Cod and Rockfish. My rig with some Chartreuse tape accounted for 4 Halibut on one near shore trip. I also decorated my flasher with a few remnants of tape when we fished Coho at buoy 10 while trolling anchovies. It got 6 fish, 3 keepers out of 5.

I’ve also used HyperVis in Florida. I rigged up a jig head with Solar Flare eyes and a paddle tail and I’ve caught Snook, Redfish, Snapper, Flounder, Grouper and Sea Trout. On one occasion I tried removing the tape, and didn’t get bit after that.

Back in May Bonneville Dam opened up for 3 days after quite a few years of being shut down. I again headed up with my buddies. We’ve always limited the boat back bouncing eggs, so that’s what we were planning to do. No love after 2 hours; never marked a fish. Decided to anchor up down at the Shad Rap, and try spinners. I didn’t bring my spinner box, I used the only spinner I had with me, wrapped with a Looney Coonie and 2 triangles of pink and blue HyperVis tape on the blade. Frankly, I didn’t think it would work, but sent it anyway. We were anchored on the outside next to a guide. He said they got 2 at daybreak, but nothing since. No one else had hooked anything either. About 5 minutes later my rod doubled. A couple minutes later I was tagged out on a hatchery Chinook. I fixed the spinner, rebaited it, and sent it again. Rod went off again. To make a long story short, that spinner accounted for 6 bites, and 4 fish. One buddy also had HyperVis on his spinner, and he got 5 bites and 2 fish. The only other fish caught in our boat came off a MagLip. No one else in the area hooked a Salmon, and the guide ended up getting his last fish after I believe we had 9 or 10 bites.

A month or so ago I had the opportunity to fish the Columbia for Salmon. I took down a couple Simon spinners I redecorated. I used the Purple and Gold, a friend used the Solar Flare and Chartreuse; both wrapped with Looney Coonies. I got a Salmon, and my buddy got a nice Steelhead. We saw no other fish caught. See pictures of the spinners attached.

Yesterday I went out with 2 friends and 2 of the 3 fish we caught were on a SNG with a solar flare stripe on one side, and a chartreuse stripe on the other. Pictures attached. One of the steelhead was 15+#. I also attached a picture of a spoon I modified with blue and solar flare as a birthday gift toa young coworker when he fishes for coho.

My current opinion is that unless I’m fishing bare bait, I ‘ll have HyperVis tape on my flasher or lure. I really need to work on taking more pictures; tough when my hands are usually trashed wit bait.