lighting

I was out with a friend over the weekend fishing off his pontoon. Talk about fishing in comfort. He had one of those power packs that you use for jump-starting a vehicle. He also had a DC to AC power inverter that he hooked to the power pack to plug in rope lights. The rope lights were red and we never got bothered by a bug. As soon as we had to use the spot light (white light), the bugs came in hoards. Anyone else use colored lights for night fishing and how do you have them set up??

I have a Petzl head lamp that has a red filter that can be flipped down at will. That really keeps the bugs off you. Nothing like inhaling a cloud of mayflies while fighting a fish…

I like the green led headlamps..great for hunting nightcrawlers, keeping bugs away, and fishin’ in the dark.

Great post, Jim. This really interests me. I’m running a power inverter off my trolling motor batteries and then I have a couple of clamp lights with yellow bug lights. They light up the whole boat. I only use them when I need them like when I am landing a fish. I like your information about the Power Pack and the red rope light. I would like to run a short section of red rope light at the front of my boat continuously so I could see the trolling motor a little better to see where I’m going.
I’m interested in the Power Pack because I could use it for a lot of fishing situations especially ice fishing.
Do you know what kind of Power Pack he was using? How much it cost and where he got it? There are several out there but I’m not sure they are all a good buy – if his works good I may go the same way.

Steve – how about those little work generators you can get just about anywhere (Walmart?)? They are a cube that includes a cd player/radio and two or three power outlets. Then you just recharge it by plugging into an outlet.

I think you can pick one up new for about $75.

Steve, I don’t know for sure what brand or what the price was for the unit he has but I will try to find out. The rope lights stayed lit for about 3 hours with the pack. I don’t know if the unit was fully charged or not. I think a lot depends on the wattage of the rope light and length of time it is on. I know you can buy those packs for as low as $35 when on sale. I’m sure there are different “power ratings” for them. Probably one of those “you get what you pay for” situations.

I just picked up a Black & decker 12 volt DC Power Supply at WalMart that looks like it will fit the bill perfect. It was $38. I got a 6′ red rope light from Menards for $5. I need some light at the front of my pontoon so I can see the electric trolling motor and the red rope light should be perfect. It won’t attract bugs but it will give me the light I need. I’m hoping to try it out tonight. Thanks for your post it was very timely for me.

Tag for pictures!

Steve, have you looked into 12 volt rope lights? They come in all colors and some are LED, so they don’t take much juice to run them.

I did a Google search and they are much more expensive then the others.

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I just picked up a Black & decker 12 volt DC Power Supply at WalMart that looks like it will fit the bill perfect. It was $38. I got a 6′ red rope light from Menards for $5. I need some light at the front of my pontoon so I can see the electric trolling motor and the red rope light should be perfect. It won’t attract bugs but it will give me the light I need. I’m hoping to try it out tonight. Thanks for your post it was very timely for me.

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Thought I would let you know the rope light worked perfectly. It helped me put this in the boat:

Now that’s a clean looking cat. How big Steve?

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I just picked up a Black & decker 12 volt DC Power Supply at WalMart that looks like it will fit the bill perfect. It was $38. I got a 6′ red rope light from Menards for $5. I need some light at the front of my pontoon so I can see the electric trolling motor and the red rope light should be perfect. It won’t attract bugs but it will give me the light I need. I’m hoping to try it out tonight. Thanks for your post it was very timely for me.

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Thought I would let you know the rope light worked perfectly. It helped me put this in the boat:

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Steve!
If you hold fish any farther out in front of you. You look like you might fall over or throw your back out.
Nice catch Mate!

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Steve!
If you hold fish any farther out in front of you. You look like you might fall over or throw your back out.
Nice catch Mate!

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Naw, the beard is coming in as a counter balance.

She sure is a pretty one!

Glad no beavers smacked their tail next to the boat that night.

For years now I’ve had rope lights installed in my boats. I tuck em up under the rails and when it’s 3am, you can’t see OUT of the boat, they’re that bright. Nothing like em. I don’t keep them on continuously, but just switch em on when I need em. Work like a dream.