LED fishing boat lights (long post)

[Jim]

I received a bunch of questions about LED lights on my fishing boat, so I will try to answer them all at once.

This is the boat at Flipper’s the other night.



Here it is on my driveway with the headlights on.



I will try to cover LED lights in general, color choices, bugs, light types, where to buy, and prices.

LED lights in general: True color, little heat, and very low amp draw. I can run all my lights for hours and not notice a drop in my trolling motor battery. True color is important as it is not a filter that wastes light and still attracts bugs. All of my lights are hooked to my trolling motor battery and have a 3 amp fuse.

Important: Keep all lights out of your line of sight when fishing or driving. It makes a huge difference in your vision. That means you should not be able to see any bulbs directly from normal seated or fishing positions. Inside the boat you want all reflected light. Outside the boat, keep all lights below the outer edge of the boat. The lights are waterproof so they stay on the boat 24/7/365 and I never worry about them.

Fishability: The right lights at night make fishing easier and safer. They may scare some fish, but I definitely attract some fish also. Many fish hit in the area of the lights so it isn’t a total turn off to the fish. Other boaters can see you better so it is much safer for avoiding collisions also. Plus the drunks coming home from the marina bars can really see you and they give you some room. Plus it is easier to cast, tie knots, and generally manage the boat.

With all the lights on, I can bass fish just the same as in the daytime. I have no trouble pitching a worm, jig, or spinnerbait to shoreline cover with high accuracy even on the darkest of nights.

Color choices:

Amber (yellow): Bright light with minimal bug attraction. These are best to light the boat interior when you need to see well. They are aimed down from under seats and decks to light the floor.

Red: Will not hurt your night vision. Red lights are not very bright, but great to light the boat interior at all times. Helps avoid stepping on things and seeing the floor. They are aimed down from under seats and decks to light the floor (same as amber, but on different switch). Red lights have the least bug attraction.

Blue (called moonlight by some): aimed out to light the banks while fishing. Works well. Makes it look like fishing on a full moon night. Blue lights will attract bugs.

UV (purple): aimed out to light your fishing line while fishing. UV lights work awesome with fluorescent monofilament line. It really glows bright. UV does not make braid or fluorocarbon line glow. UV lights can really attracts bugs.

Green: aimed into the water to attract bait. Really attracts bugs.

White: only for headlights (like a car) and headlamps (hooked to your hat). White lights attract bugs like crazy. It is the best color to see by when you really need to see something.

Bugs: Big concern in summertime night fishing. You need to be very careful about color choice or the inside of the boat will be filled with bugs in a minute. The outside will have a million around it with almost none inside if done right. When you turn a white headlamp on, you have about 10 seconds until you are covered in bugs. Most of the bugs are not mosquitoes so they don’t bite, but it can still be maddening with the huge numbers.

Interesting thing on with the LED lights for bassboats. It seems people are matching the interior color of the lights to the boat’s interior color. Crazy idea as you may end up with a super pretty bug attracting machine. It would be totally unfishable at night with the number of bugs in the boats interior. Style over function for some I guess.

A Thermocell bug repellant is a good addition to any night fishing rig.

Light types:

Waterproof strip lights - These are very handy. Come in most colors and in many lengths. I used mostly 48 and 96 light strips. Some come in narrow and wide beam. Narrow beam is better to light up the bank and wide is better to light up the boat. They can be pressed into ½ inch aluminum channel and it protects them beautifully. I have an aluminum boat so I just riveted the channel in place and then pressed the lights into the channel with some silicone sealer as the glue.

Here is a close up of the lights in the aluminum channel set just under the gunnels on the outside of the boat.



I have all the colors in waterproof strip lights available to turn on or off by switch at all times. Headlights are also individually switched and on the same circuit as my handheld spotlight.

Spot lights: Can be any color including UV. These are removable and I mount these aimed outward to really light up an area. I use 2 UV spot lights so I can see my line glow at the far end of a cast. I can really see the line better at night than in the daytime. It is kind of crazy to see, but way cool to fish with. To repeat an earlier comment, with the UV spot light in addition to the UV and Blue strip lights, I can bass fish just the same as in the daytime. I have no trouble pitching a worm or casting spinnerbait to shoreline cover with high accuracy even on the darkest of nights.

Headlights: I used driving lights, but you can choose many different kinds of spotlights or headlights. These are made for cars so they are plenty bright, waterproof, and shatterproof. They use the most power by far, but you don’t need them very often.

Headlamp: I found a combo white and UV at Bass Pro. It works great to tie knots with the UV and use the white when you really need to see.

Where to buy:

I bought from multiple places and had no problems.

www.superbrightleds.com – strange website, but lots of stuff. The waterproof light strips are:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...-flexible.html

Check out the WFLB96 series 96-LED Waterproof Flexible Light Bar. These are the right type of light strip with more or less lights being longer or shorter strips.

www.Besthongkong.com – best prices, but new website since I ordered that is terrible.

I used a few others that I can’t remember right now. You will probably have to search as the products change all the time and no site seemed to everything I wanted.

www.Bluewaterled.com – I did not use them, but they have really nice stuff and it is all premade and can be installed for you. From what I have seen, it looks like a good company. Because they have tested and designed everything, it is 3 or 4 times or more as expensive as DIY.

As for price: I think all totaled, I spent about $200. I had a lot of leftover parts that I have in a bin for future use. I also tricked out my young son’s Powerwheel Gator with white headlights, green interior and ground effects and red tail lights. It is fun to see him ride it at night.

I will be glad to answer any question as best as I can, but I am no expert. I did the whole project without any real guidance and it was pretty easy. LED lights are simple to work with.

Jim

[Catch & Release]

Hey Jim, I would love to get a close look at your setup, would you mind if I come and take a look at it?
Todd Smith
615 418 6675

[Jim]

Todd,

Replied with PM with information on meeting up to see the lights.

Jim

[Travis C.]

Looks real good Jim.

[agelesssone]

Here's some info we all need to know as I DIDN'T KNOW it until Doug Markham posted it on his FB wall.

life Resources Agency - Region II


Attached is a short video taken at the Nashville Boat and Sports Show that demonstrates how an inflatable life jacket works. These jackets are legal for anyone 16 or older as long as it is on your body while you are on the water. You can not leave this one in storage or on the boat floor and be considered a legal vest. Allen Herald is the Boating Officer talking to a lucky winner of this jacket a few days ago.

Don't want me or anyone else to get a ticket because we didn't know this. It sure was a shock to me as a lot of time in the summer I don't wear my inflatable PFD. I'll certainly wear it from now on or else have regular life jackets in the boat also according to how many people are in the boat.

[agelesssone]

Jim,
Thank you ever so much, great article on the lights, especially about which ones are the bug attractors.

I am going to follow your links and check/get some of those lights. I have plenty of portable lights in the boat now, but I want the ones that shine toward the bank and are so visible at night.

agelesssone

[Travis C.]

Originally Posted by agelesssone

You can not leave this one in storage or on the boat floor and be considered a legal vest.

You can't leave any in storage. The law reads "readily accessible" for all types of PFD's required. That includes your throwable which is also required for boats 16ft and longer.

That is up to the agent checking you if he determines whether it's accessible enough. Keep that in mind.

Another thing to watch out for is your lights. The time you should have your running lights on your boat is "not" once you see the sun set. It is on prior to what the observed sunset time is for that day.

[Reel Tune]

Jim,

Thanks for all the information, I'm thinking about some work lights for seeing around the cockpit, and looking into LEDS. I'm also looking into Black Lights for outside the boat illumination, but need to be careful with current draw that's why I think LEDS will be the better option for me.

No life jacket works if your not wearing it.

Also if you are anchored be aware if you are displaying any red or green lights, and when anchored you must have a white light displayed to show that on coming boaters must go around you.

[Travis C.]

Originally Posted by Travis C.

You can't leave any in storage. The law reads "readily accessible" for all types of PFD's required. That includes your throwable which is also required for boats 16ft and longer.

That is up to the agent checking you if he determines whether it's accessible enough. Keep that in mind.

Another thing to watch out for is your lights. The time you should have your running lights on your boat is "not" once you see the sun set. It is on prior to what the observed sunset time is for that day.

Hope I did not come off as sounding bossy agelessone as it was not mean that way. Just trying to give you and everyone a heads up on a couple things that get people ticketed every year.

The TWRA has said they intend on having a bigger presence on the water this year. So plan on seeing the guys in green more.

Just an FYI guys.

Sorry, for the brief change in topic Jim.

Appreciate light infot. Unfortunately, found ur site after I ordered from bluewater...$$$$ nice people though. QUESTION to JIM.... In reference to superbrghtled.com you suggested flexible light 'bar', have u seen or tried the flexible light 'strips' shown on the same website? We fish tourneys up 'dark hollers' in waters that r heavily fished. Bass r very wary, thought the 'strips' looked smaller, ie. less light, and maybe more bites???

In your picture, (in reference to the purple uv lights only) is that the flex bars from superbrightled.com?

[Jim]

wvbass,

The light output from the bar and strip are similar. The strip lights are a little stronger, but there are fewer of them per foot. You can check the specs on them for more information. The big difference is the angle of the light output. The bars are 80 or 100 degrees while the strips are 140 degrees (much wider angle), therefore, you will get less light further away from the boat with the strip lights, but more light up close.

Neither is really better, just what you want it for. If you want to light the bank or your fishing line out at the end of a cast the narrow beam lights will work better. If you want a good glow of UV light around the boat with no dead spots the wide angle lights work better.

The lights in the picture are the UV light bar lights from superbrightleds.com

As for the lights frightening fish and getting less bites, get a bunch of switches and independently wire the lights. You can turn on or off which ever light strip you want so that you can have very little light or max light in different situations.

For me, the advantages of being able to see well outweigh the disadvantages. On Old Hickory Lake in TN we can have a lot of boat traffic at night and there are bars on the water that people boat home from after drinking. I like to make sure everyone can see me. If I was way up lake in a secluded area, I would probably shut down a bunch of the lights and enjoy the night.

Do you like your bluewater leds?

Jim

Thanks so much 4 reviewing the angle & illumination info.... will b getting lights today or 2morrow.. I willnlet u know... had alrdy intended to use a dimmer switch. I think the bluewater light comes w it... everything on the boat is self installed/repaired/maintenanced including motor....self-taught... bass trckr alum w 90hp merc x 12yrs w 10,000+ hrs on motor, finally gave out..avalanche now... install of lights little tricky.. but have it figured now..........one last mention...when I replaced livewell on tracker, found can bug spray, coke bottle, & few other debris in boat cavity....boat was new when bought...guess it was the 'factory trash can'...I would've nvr known if hadn't replaced livewell!!

[MPD816]

Here are a few pics of my boat with LED's.

[Jim]

Originally Posted by MPD816

Here are a few pics of my boat with LED's.

Nice!

Do you notice if the light scares a lot of fish? Or do you feel that you catch more with the lights?

I like the extra lights, but want to see what other think.

Jim