I've been spending a good amount of time looking at lights... cockpit light and fishing lights.

Wildcat, Supernova, DIY, etc...

I'm almost pulled the trigger on THESE several times now and haven't because I'm waiting to get my yak back into the water to see exactly where the water line comes up to so I can have a better idea of where I want to put them and try to imagine the angle the lights will hit the water.

They've got THESE switches also.

1 green ($20) that I can cut into 1/2, it's wired on both sides so I don't have to attempt soldering onto the strip.

1 amber ($20) that I can cut into halves or quarters and use for cockpit lights.

2 of the switches ($13 ea). I'll have about $70 bucks into it.

Here's my concern and where I'd like others to chime in at.

How do you like your lights?
Did they fall off at some point?
Did you install below the water line?
Do you get leakage where the wire runs through the hull?
Overall, would you recommend this mod?
If you've done the Amber (mosquito) lights, did they actually work?

Looking online, I find it hard to find any current info on them. Seems most info dies off in late 2013 to early 2014. So for those guys that installed them 2 spring/summers ago, how are they holding up?

Just from an electronics stand point, those are 3528 and most likely would not compare to the package lights in lumens as they use what looks like 5050 lights and there are still brighter in the 5630 light strings. I still have not pulled the trigger on them due to the changing technology and all of it works on 12 volts and is waterproof. I would not install below the water line unless you are putting the wiring hole above it as that would be your most likely point for leakage.

That is my 2 cents, everyone who has pulled the trigger will hopefully chime in.

I have green lights on my yaks with blue cockpit lights. I think they are a great mod from the standpoint of safety but I'm not sure that I've seen any benefit from the standpoint of attracting fish.

In low light conditions (early morning/dusk/night), they will help you stand out dramatically to boat traffic. For this reason alone, they are worthwhile. Also for this reason, I would mount them ABOVE the water line.

My blue cockpit lights are ok but not great. I might change them to amber this year.

I went the DIY route and haven't had a problem with the lights falling off, but have had some loosen when I've rubbed up against standing timber. I haven't had any problem with leakage because I use marine goop liberally where it's needed. They've been on my yak for two seasons now and are still going strong.

Depending on how nuts you go with your lights, you might need to upgrade your battery situation. With all of mine on and the fish finder hooked up as well, I will drain a deer feeder battery in 3 hours or so...

If you're not sure about the DIY route, the SuperNova kits are very nice and the guy that makes them has been very supportive of the kayak fishing scene so he's worth supporting.

oh, yeah...I've had a game warden remind me that the led's do NOT replace the 360 light when fishing at night so keep carrying that with you.

Craig

Red LED bicycle tail lights provide cheap cockpit lighting with no wiring to worry about.

And read won't destroy your night vision either.

Never understood way you'd want green lights on your kayak. Seems to make more sense to create a light you can place away from your kayak to cast towards so there's not a 12+ foot long shadow the fish are looking at. I'm just thinking out load really, don't have a need for lights other than my 360 white light.

@BERT I've spoken to the people at Oznium and have been told the 3528 chip they sell are actually brighter then the 5050's they sell because there's more of them on the same length of strip. The green ones I linked emit 250 lumens, quite a bit more than the other colors. I've read an article that was something along the lines of, "All LEDS aren't a like." They said don't buy anything smaller than the 5050 chip, but after talking to Oznium I'm not convinced the 5050 are necessary... but who knows, maybe their pushing the 3528's cause that's what they offer in waterproof or silicone encased rather.

@Craig, I planned on running 2 separate batteries for that reason. A buddy of mine gave me a new one for xmas so I've got the extra already. As for buying a brand, man I'd love to, but this hobby is adding up everyday. I've got to find ways to keep my costs down. But, not sure this is the right place to do so. I do enjoy working on things myself, researching, sourcing, installing... so I'm a hair torn as is.

@tallgrass, hmmm haven't heard or read anything on that... seems like a great idea though.

@neumie, to my understanding, and this could be all sales and hogwash, you're not buying green lights to help cast. I'm thinking more about pulling up on a bridge and just dropping straight down, with a little luck and if the green lights do what they're supposed to do they should attract bait fish up to something more plate size. Who knows though, I'm a sucker for a decent sales pitch... nonetheless, it would be a neat looking mod and fun to install.

Appreciate the feed back fellas.

For those of you not wanting the engineering explanation, skip the link and the first paragraph,

http://heracolights.com/2014/03/10/3528-vs-5050-vs-5630-led-smd-diodes/

Fair explanation here, the surface area and power of the leds determine lumens. Even the double row 3528 is only max 48 lumens using 6 leds where 3 5050 leds are minimum 48 and maximum 66, 3 5630 would be 135-150 lumens but they have almost 3x the power draw. The only way to get more lumens out of a 3528 would be to overdrive the power which would either burn up the led or the strip it is mounted to faster. IMO the best balance of battery use to light would be the 5050 but I will most likely go with 5630 for the sheer amount of light that I can output if I choose to. They are coming out with more different strip set ups than I can keep up with but to give you an idea where they are going the 3528 in the standard single configuration would put out about 146 lumens per foot, 402 with the 5050 and for reference a 40 watt incandescent light bulb puts out about 450 lumens. I am reading data sheets on new 2538 led strips that are putting out 1830 lumens per foot which is over 4.5 times the light of the 5050 with only 3 times the power consumption.

All that being said, do what you think will work for you and have fun that is what we are all shooting for. If you need any help cutting, soldering, waterproofing or installing your lights give me a shout I am an electronics engineer and do this stuff for a living.

I use the LED strips and mine work great. Those look real samll and it looks like the small LED bulbs on that strip are raised and could get caught on things pulling it off. The cheaper strips from Amazon and EBay are thicker and are smoother and nothing catches on the smooth surface.
As for attracting fish, I get bait fish all the time around my green lights. They in turn draw in predator fish.
The cheaper LEDs are better as you can replace them easier for less if they are damaged.

Good read Bert.

Did you guys use a fuse?

If you are using a switch use a fuse and put it on the negative line, if you are using a dimmer and a power module follow the recommendations for it. I would use a dimmer on the cockpit and fishing lights any other lights I would run full bore. See below for single line dimmer with water resistant keyfob style remote.

http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers/pwm...W5E0aAkq08P8HAQ

What I've learned about LEDS on my kayak.
1. There are different ratings for electrical devices claiming to be "waterproof". For longest lasting lights you'll want ones rated at IP-67 or IP-68. It seems hard to find that rating for many of the inexpensive LED strips.
2. If you use a dimmer you'll also want a switch to cut the power off going to the dimmer. I've had 3 different dimmers for my cockpit lights and everyone of them drained power when turned completely off.
3. Supernovas are worth the money IMHO.