Just looking for some input from the more experienced guys on here when it comes to night fishing and using lights. Submersible or boat mounted? Is it necessary to sink a light or if I put enough good bright lights under or on the sides of my boat is that good enough? Is green best or will white do the same thing? This is the next step on my Jon Boat. Had a few things to do ahead of lights. Just got electronics and a small bilge pump, lights for under the seats and drink holders (my wife comes along a lot.) Let me know what you guys think. I'm a master electrician so wiring isn't an issue.

Experts say green lights repel crappie and they stay outside of light, however has not been my exp so far. I put them on both sides of boat for 35 bucks and change.I did it that way because I didn't want to deal with extra equipment.Color. I fished for 100 years with head light floaters and I think the green lights pull more bait fish in.What ever you choose enjoy.

I prefer green under water .fish the outskirts of the light.

I will say please do not run across the lake with the lights on if you mount them on sides of boat ..

Green or red lights down the sides of a boat are actually illegal. I've posted about this many times. Read the USCG regulations, which Texas adopted. Red and green are restricted colors with their use being TOTALLY reserved for navigation lighting - even the angle of view for each side of the vessel. A free-for-all use mentality seems to have coincided with the economical availability of 12V LED strips. Just because you can buy it doesn't mean your plan/idea is legal. Discussion with TPWD indicates they are aware of this chaotic nighttime on the water and citations may be issued for violators, though public education and self-rule are preferred.

So...you mean to tell me someone can't tell the difference between a Green and Red NAV light on a boat and a Full Length Green Light Bar running some 17-20 feet down the side of a boat?

That is simply asinine in my opinion.

I think the green lights on the side of a boat is more of a gadget junkies toy. The submersible lights work much better. It also makes it easy to see around the boat but not overpower your vision. I would suggest not to use a head lamp because as you move around it will cause light flashes towards the water. This mimics lightning. just my opinion.

Good point, but...not all of us are intelligent crappie fisherman. Just look at all those green carp fishermen and women who spend thousand of $$$ on boats and baits...and don't even keep a fish to eat.

The way our gov. tries to run our lives is asinine to me also! Personally as far as the lights go I use head lights and green. More lights the better at first, when the bait shows up turn off the head lights. fish out side the green light.Less bugs that way.Good luck and eat all you want of your catch.Know bass fishers here!!!

TPWD told me it's against the law to have any color lights other than the red & green up front and the white 360 degree light at the back, on the outside of the hull unless anchored.

asinine,asiten,asieleven & asitwelve!!

All I say here applies to both red and green, but I'll use green as the example. Not everyone puts a full-length strip on their boat. Even if they do, part of it may not be visible while on plane (think hull spray obscuring the light). Green is supposed to be ONLY on the NAV light so that spotting ANY green means it has special significance. Put a sheep-load of green lights all over a bunch of boats on a busy lake and you will no longer be able to make heads or tails of what's going on.

What do I mean by What's going on? Very importantly, it's not just that you see a green NAV light, but that the display of that light is restricted by regulation as to what angle at which it is visible. It should be visible from dead ahead of a vessel to a point 112.5 degrees to the right of the vessel's centerline (for green). It must NOT be visible at any point beyond 112.5 degrees. In this way, seeing a green light means you are looking at the forward right quadrant of a vessel, AND that you are in front of the midpoint of that vessel. All of this situational awareness becomes garbled and is lost once people start doing whatever the heck they want to with green lights.

Say you've got a strip of green down the right side. I approach from your rear, slightly to the right. I won't see a long strip of green light. Instead, I'll be looking up the side of the boat from the rear; all of that green can be piled into one glob I think is a NAV light - especially at a distance on a bad visibility night.

So, the rules aren't asinine. What's often asinine is the sheer lack of boater comprehension of the rules, why they are like they are, and all the valuable information that can be learned from spotting some simple (regulated) light signals while out on the water. The orientation of two vessels to one another can be accurately discerned from observation of regulated lighting. Violate that (with non-regulated red/green), and the system becomes contaminated with misinformation and doubt.

I don't think matters. After dark you'll see very few game wardens on the lake. They'll be home having supper.

When any enforcement officer is on or off the lake doesn't matter to the integrity of the lighting system designated for vessels and how it works. Bad lighting is bad lighting whether an officer is present or not. If use of all color lights is a free-for-all, I'm far less safe because I can't comprehend as much about the orientation and movement of other boats. It would simply be a confusing clusterflock. That bothers me much more than when an officer is on the water.