Portable Fish house lighting?

I am wondering what all of you use for lights inside your portables? I have done the lantern thing for years and I decided that I want to put some 12V lights in the fish house. Any of you have any advice or ideas?

I remember a small 12v light that you could screw right into conduit poles, but I cannot find them….

that’s what Bobber does and it’s pretty slick. I want to make the change also.

I use the rope lights in my portable..I have them zip tied to the poles and the collaps with the poles no messing around or worring about breakin them..I should mention I have the eskimo sled type house…It works great for me and it hooks right up to the battery I leave in my sled portion of the house. They are not as bright as a regular 12v light bulb but thats another reason i like them as they dont blind me…they are around 15-20 bucks if I remember correct…good luck finding what your lookin for…jay

I like the rope lights also, here is a thread from last year!

Rope Lights

People have been using this light bar. I use 2 30 led 1157 bulbs from EBay. Rope lights are a wast of money. I tried them last year and you would need 20 of them to see anything. Of course I got the $7.99 from gander now I think they are $14.99

Fish House Lighting

LED Headlights, they go with you wherever you go

I have heard the rope lights are kind of weak in power but draw less on your battery. I think the brighter LED lights would be my choice for my 4yr old and myself.

Like Scott mentioned, I have been using my headlamps and old schooled lanterns for years now. I think more light the better for me right now anyway.

Thanks for the responses!
Are the LED “rope like” lights bright enough? I have a Otter Mag Lodge, could I get by with 2 of them?

I use one set of rope lights in my Fishtrap Pro. Plenty of light to see what’s going on while fishing. When I have a fish on, I flip on the headlamp for extra light to land the fish and rebait.

You will have plenty of light for fishing Steve. I like them because they do not cause any fatigue on the peepers with glare. I do keep my head lamp close in case I need the extra light for retying or any of the other problems that always arise once it is dark out

I used the new Priceton Quad Headlamp last weekend. Its all you need.. $30 at Gander

If you have cordless tools with battery packs, another option is to get a flourescent light. I currently use a 19.2v craftsman flourescent that I attached to my overhead wind pole with a shimano velcro rod strap or you can also use a bungy cord. It gives off great white light but is not overpowering. The light from craftsman is only $15 if you have the batteries and charger already. Usually runs for 3-4hrs on a battery, so I carry two.

I went to walmart and got myself a battery lantern that uses 2 6volt batteries. it get brite enough when I have one on each side of the house. then it is like daytime in there, the batteries pretty much last me all year. I also have a led head lamp that i have on as well to shine in the little bit darker areas and outside.

shane

Steve,
I had this same issue last year. I had been using a propane lantern in my portable for years, and now when I bring the kids I was worried about them burning themselves. So, I did some research and found a bunch of folks are using led lightbars from various suppliers. The light bars I settled on were from:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/light_bars.htm
I used two of the LB1 series 12-LED Light Bars and mounted them to the front bar above the door, works very slick and frees up room for feet, equipment, and in my case kids.

If you want to go this route let me know, and I can give more details. The whole system with wiring and accesories cost me about $45 to $50.

Hope all is well with you and your family.

Take care,
Brady Blaska

Thanks alot guys. I think I will check into some LED string that I can attach to a couple over head poles.

Brady….you have a PM.

Has anyone thought of running these on the side of the sled that faces the holes? i would think these would light up the ice pretty good and would look pretty good on a flip over shack… FLIP LID LIGHTING You would obviousley need more lighting but i think this would be great combined with rope lighting, the rope would light the shack up and the flip lid would give more light for landing fish

I’ve tried different types of lighting, & I would recommend checking out some of the light bars made for under cars, they’re LED’s & you can buy different lengths, either 36″ or 48″. You can mount them directly to the poles in your portable with self-tapping screws & run the wires along side of the poles, attached with wire ties. A Vex battery will last a long time if you just use it as a spare for the lights. One of the sites to check them out is Spectrum Lighting, you can do a search on the web for the address. At $20 for a 36″ light bar, it’s not too bad. I also have an Otter Mag. Lodge, & two 48″ work great, one at each end. I also installed a dimmer switch for when I don’t need all the lights turned up.

Steve…I recently did a major light fix on my old guide. Now that it is gone, I need to do it to my yukon.

I had two of the led ropes, more than enough light, then I had two 15 bulb led “swivel” lights mounted directly over each seat. That way, you could move the light directly on you, if you were tying a jig, and then move it back to where you are fishing. I had all four lights rigged with toggle switches so you could use any combination of lights.

I have and always use my petzl headlamps..but they get to be a pain in the fish house…

If you are going to be at the GTG, I will show you the light set up I have..

Does anyone know where a guy can get a bright LED strip bar here in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area?
IS this something that may be sold at Menards, Lowe’s, etc…?

I get the feeling that the lights that are completely covered in the PVC tubing (rope lights) may be too dim for what I am looking for? An 12V LED strip is exactly what I am looking for I believe!

Does anyone know of a 12V clamp light that you could clamp onto just about any surface? This might not be a bad idea to be able to re-direct the light if need be?

Any bigger automotive store should have them, would be my guess.