Lights for Night Fishing

Just wondering what my best bet for a light or lantern is to give the people in the boat some light? I thought about kerosene but am a little worried of it breaking and starting a fire. Suggestions? Recommendations? Thanks

LED rope lights work pretty well, they make for a nice clean hidden install and give off lots of light. I wouldn’t bring any kerosene or even propane lights, they get pretty hot and can start a fire awful quickly. I’ve also used a clamp on 12V light that clamps on to the stern light bar, worked good but chews up a battery if fishing all night. Or, the little coleman LED lanterns work nice also.

BIRDDOG

I actually just got two LED rope lights in the mail yesterday from Cabelas, and will install tomorrow. They are 6 ft. long, and should be easy to wire in. I thought about the lantern idea too, but had your thoughts about breaking it. I was told they use very little power. Hope this helps.

wiswalleyenut

Depending on your budget and boat set up you can take a cheap flood light that has a standard light bulb in it and put a 12 volt bulb in there. Then remove the plug and put clips on the end and hook to the battery. I have made them from the lights that clamp on to the windshield and also the temporary lights for construction with the protective cage around them. A 12v bulb can be picked up at some hardware stores and most camping stores. You may want an extra bulb with you just incase one gets broke.

From what I’ve seen the rope lights are a good solution. I have had, for a couple of years, a battery operated lantern (looks similar to a smaller coleman type) with LED’s in the chimney with two settings, I think 8 or 16 LED”s lit. It’s powered by 4 D cell batteries and runs a long time and provides good light sitting on the deck to illuminate the inside of the boat or the inside of a 1 man ice shelter.

I do the same thing as Shew. Not sure if I’m just lucky, but that light/bulb have bounced around the floor of my boat for 4 seasons without breaking!

-J.

I run a 400 Watt Power Inverter in my boat that I hook up to my trolling motor battery. It converts the DC power from the trolling motor battery to AC current. It has two standard 110 volt plugs on the power inverter. You can then plug in a standard light to use in your boat.

I use the new incandescent low wattage light bulbs which give you plenty of light with very little battery drain. I have a 23 watt bulb that puts out the equivalent of a normal 100 watt light bulb. I can run that all night off my trolling motor battery with no problem. It lights up the whole boat and out around the boat for late night catfishing. Works great.

One other thing – when the bugs are bad you can run one of those yellow bug lights and it works pretty good at holding down the bugs and still providing enough light to see well.

You can pick up a power inverter at any of the outdoor sporting goods stores (Gander / Cabelas / Sportsman’s Warehouse). My 400 watt inverter cost me about $30 on sale.

I made a 6′ high light pole out of 1 1/2″ PVC which mounts in my front casting platform seat mount. This gets the light up in the air so I get the most light coverage and it keeps any bugs up in the air too. It works pretty good. Here is a pic:

My rig is similar to Steve’s, only I use a Stern light, and hook a fog light to the tip. I put it in the front navigation light hole. When parked cat fishing or bobber fishing on Mille Lacs…I can anchor, and hit the “Nav” light switch, and light up my world! Works great! Stow it with your stern light.

Great idea Tuck….

Mine is similar to Steves…..

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I do the same thing as Shew. Not sure if I’m just lucky, but that light/bulb have bounced around the floor of my boat for 4 seasons without breaking!

-J.

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It seems like I cant break a bulb in summer but when winter comes I cant keep one around more then a trip. Maybe its the cold.

I’ve had luck with battery powered lanterns that you can pick up at any outdoor shop. I think i got mine at Mills. They’re just enough light where you can see what you’re doing but not too much where you’re blinded when you look in their direction. I put one in the front and one in the back. And… it’s even a little romantic for when you bring the little lady out with you..