I’m updating and rigging my boat out for the upcoming cat season. I have been working on boat lighting and equipment storage. I noted that there is requirement on page 85 of the 2005 Minnesota Fishing Regulations under Boat and Water Safety concerning navigation lights. It states: “Navigation lights are required from sunset to sunrise. (Remember to keep your white stern (back) light turned on while still fishing or at anchor. This light must be visible for 360 degrees around the boat and may not be blocked from view)”. We had a discussion on the forum last summer about the use of anchor lights and most of us didn’t use them much when anchored late at night. This kind of spells out the requirement but it sure seems a pain in the butt. I hate my back anchor light because it gets in the way sometimes when we are fighting a fish. When I am fishing by myself it is difficult to plug and unplug while fighting a fish so I end up passing the rod from hand to hand to go around it. It is a pain. I was thinking of trying to rig up an anchor light that I could move around easily if I needed to when fighting a fish. I would keep it at the back of the boat but have it on some type holder so I could move it quickly. Last summer late one night I noticed a Houseboat anchored on the St Croix north of Stillwater that had solar lights hanging on their houseboat for anchor lights. They worked pretty good. I’m thinking of rigging up some similar kind of solar light for anchor light. That way it doesn’t have to be plugged in and it would be powered up all the time and it could be made very portable so I could move it with one hand while fighting a fish. Has anyone else rigged up an anchor light like this?
March 18, 2005 at 8:25 pm
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