Green lights on my boat

I recently bought a bas boat and the previous owner put green lights under the rub rail. He said that they did well for Crappie. I haven't night fished for Crappie so here is the question. Do you fish different at night with lights than you would during the day? I have always fished back up in creeks for Crappie in Places that a bigger boat won't go so I am kind of at a loss.

Thanks

The green lights are to attract zooplankton which minnows feed on. Minnows draw bigger baitfish and larger and larger till you have produced a "baitball" by the boat. Takes several hours, but it's said to make night fishing awesome! I'm making a portable light right now, waiting for parts from Amazon and Ebay. Clear pvc ect.

It works! You will also have big fish come up early to investigate. Not that they are really hungry but they come up to check out the light. I made an underwater green light and put it off the pier. IN 30 minutes I had a 5 lb blue cat swimming around it at the surface. I tried to take a pic but he swam off before i could.

I hope so, sounds promising! I'm already about $150 in for a 2 ft bar. Fingers crossed!

Cool. I had no clue. There are green LED's down both sides of the boat.

You need a VERY HIGH amp battery to run them tho. Or else you'll get stranded with a dead battery.

Yeah, He added a battery in one of the compartments so the lights run off of that battery. Then I will just have to charge it with a battery charger.

Can you get to your favorite spots up the creek with the new boat? If not, back out to the staging areas and fish them. The biggest issue with night fishing is finding a good spot. A good spot has decent depth, bait fish, structure, and feeding crappie. The spawn is a good time to learn the ropes of night fishing. If, after the spawn you want to really try some night fishing, I know a couple spots (I am willing to share)...We can take your boat, and maybe I can offer some tips, ideas, etc...and maybe we can catch some crappie as well. I like to night fish after the night weather warms some until mid summer.

Usually, I will fish minnows at night (or shad), until the crappie move up and start biting in 4 ft or less. I will switch to a Thermcline Lil /fry in Silver Flash and start sacking them up...One key in fishing with the Green LED's (or other green lights) is to fish just outside the lighted area (at the edge of darkness), because the crappie will hang out in the dark area and snag any thay come to them. Good luck and Good Fishing!

Also many bass and crappie will sit under the baitball and stalk. Since your lights are actually on the boat, you'll want to fish about 10 ft down just under the baitball. The one I'm building is submersible since I fish off of banks.

I use to fish with nothing but greens on my pontoon but I use 2 350w and 24 volt system on my center console and the fishing is the same so far.Order overseas and save a bunch of money from dhgate.com just remember 5m is 16 feet. Good luck.

I have 300 leds on each side of my boat, under the rub rail. They work great at night drawing the bait and fish under the boat. They don't get hot, nor do they use much power. I have never had an issue with battery draining much. Mine are connected to my cranking battery. Never an issue with these lights.
Just be sure you hook them to a separate switch so you can turn them off when underway. The game wardens stopped me twice at night and told me to "turn them off when traveling". They quoted some regulation that says "red on port, green on starboard, only. No green on port, people might get confused which way you are traveling".
They can't see all those green lights going lickity split across the water? Yea, right!

Fish out side the light

Yes, it is best to have your bait on the outer edge or just outside the edge of the light.

Robert, here's a video kinda explaining how they work to attract fish and build the "baitball".

http://youtu.be/uWpOd_HYR2o

Just ignore the sales pitches and propaganda, more for detail about how it attracts.

Right, NO ONE will NO SEE your boat! LOL Of course, anyone that sees you at the launch will have lots of questions about the lights...and the invarible comment "I need to get some of those" Heck, I don't even take the battery draining Green Monster anymore....just takes a bit longer to attract the bait ball...

Thank a lot. Looks like it could be a lot of fun.

I would like to get some for my boat. Any recommendations on what to get?

ebay...or amazon...there are several types you can get some brighter than others...the cheap ones work very well...they will all "wear out", especially if you leave the boat out near the cattle and they are in a rubbing mood...sigh

..5meters is 16 ft...make sure you get the one's that are "waterproof"...I get two, one for each side and get a 3 or 5 amp inline fuse between the power source and the toggle switch. Put them under the rub rail pointing down towards the water...clean the area well before installation and rub down with isopropal alcohol. Then Peel and stick....also, they have some really cool single LED lights in waterproof aluminum housings that are pricier, but they will light up like a flood light (for inside the boat)...I even put some on my two man...under the seats...all these leds have very low amp draw, so you dont have to take a dedicated battery for the lights...that is the main plus to me, well and I don't have to take up space with loose stuff laying around...just be careful on installation and run the wires inside sheating, cause they are tiny and prone to break if left loose or not protected. Hope this helps...

My grandfather fished with a floating headlight. I recently bought a 24 in led submersible light from Fishinglights.com. Looking forward to trying it out. I hope it attracts less insects. We always used minnows.

I got mine on amazon. Think I found 2 waterproof rolls for $16.00 or so. 5 meters 300 leds per roll.
I cleaned the rub rail good with rubbing alcohol. Peel and stick, I also put a dab of 3M 5200 every 3" to 4", because the reviews said the adhesive wasn't that good. The adhesive holds long enough for the 5200 to set up.
At the back end of the line is where I started, working forward to the front end. 5200 dabbed on the front end to seal it, because it is made to link to another string of leds. Worked from back to front 3 or 4 times gently pressing up on the adhesive to make sure it had a good grip. Don't press too hard. I did on one and it shorted one led bulb out.
I drilled a small hole in the rub rail at the end toward the back, to run the wires through, so the wires would be inside the rub rail around to the transom. Another small hole in the rub rail end cap. 5200 in both holes.
Put woven mesh over the wires with a zip tie to hold the end inside the end cap and used heat shrink butt connectors inside the rub rail, with more heat shrink over that. Then ran the wires with my motor wiring inside the rigging tube into the hull.
Connected the wires from each side together inside the hull and ran 14 gauge wire to the console, put in-line 5 amp fuse, then to toggle switch with a 10 amp circuit breaker.
(That way you can turn them off when the Game Warden tells you to).


"Right, NO ONE will NO SEE your boat! LOL Of course, anyone that sees you at the launch will have lots of questions about the lights...and the invarible comment "I need to get some of those" Heck, I don't even take the battery draining Green Monster anymore....


Every time I am at the ramp when it is dark, someone asks me about them. Invariably, they say " I gotta get me some".

"..just takes a bit longer to attract the bait ball..."

If you use a Bobosthumper it don't take that long to draw the fish in. lol

It's refreshing to see a professional guide with such a high regard for and knowledge of boating regulations. Quite sad, actually. You don't appear very professional making an excuse as to your disregard. either. Let me pose the concept that when boats approach in a head on bearing, the green/red regulation you seem clueless about is exactly what allows one vessel to determine/confirm the course of another and thereby insure passing safely to avoid collision.

What you and others do with illegal display of red and green lighting is dangerous and should be addressed by enforcement until you find it too expensive to continue. Put the lights under the surface of the water and you avoid confusing boaters or violating regulations.

All in fun but....

LOL...quit it... ...He is trying to be serious and follow the rules and regs, as we all do...but then your little pic was just TOOO Funny and I had to laugh... There are times I have had to use them though...and I can guarantee you EVERYONE can figure out your direction of travel regardless of the color of the lights...but the GW's tend to be forgiving as this light situation is better than what the law currently requires.

Seriously, I considered getting some of the short strips (4inches) of leds in red and green an put them up front as an additional aid to the front light and was told by the GW that it was cool as long as the colors were on the correct side...because sometimes my front light doesnt make a good connection when the boat is bouncing around, despite all my efforts to correct it.

Really? I did not say I continued to run on plane with my leds turned on illegally. At the time the GW stopped me, I did not know it was illegal to have additional lighting on the lower (midway)part of my hull. I had them wired into my running lights for an easy connection. I had installed the proper 4" red and green leds on the rail over my center console at the time I installed the lights on the rub rail, because my trolling motor partially block the green nav. light on the bow. I inquired of another GW before my next trip out, and was told there was a regulation about lighting. I had not been able to find it previously, on the boating light regulations page online. I then wired them into a switch on the console.
I was just showing a little humor about the GW ( who I do respect as an officer, but is a world class jerk I have known several years). He is the only GW I have met who I consider to act in a way that is not professional. All others I know are first class.
In response to your statement about my high regard for boating regulations, You don't know me yet, or how I regard anything. I certainly have the most fair and objective view about any water regulation you have ever seen in anyone. Was I not giving the op a fair warning about possible consequencies he might face if not done properly?
My statement was somewhat made in jest, but also with the warning.
Don't question my professionalism. You don't know me.

I never knew green lights were so controversial.

I have an led light bar that I sometimes run on the front of my boat. It works great keeping me from hitting stumps.

Not sure of how legal it is, as I've heard varying stories. But I bet the canoe in the middle of the river with no lights on appreciated the fact that it was on.

I run one of these. 4 foot long, 180 segmented LED's, 25 foot cord so I can drop it down into a brush pile.
I measured the amp draw and its about 2.5 amps an hour. I wont ever night fish without it.

Thanks for all of the tips!

Two things..... The law is pretty clear.....and it's retarded...

Second, if you run into a boat lit up with 12' of LEDs... You're also retarded and shouldn't operate a boat......

I can tell you the law is NOT retarded. There are laws regarding Navigation lighting for a reason. I too have green LED's on the outside of my boat, and red LED's along the inside of my boat. I will not run with my LED's on because it is a hazard to other boaters. Sure, they can see me, but determining what my speed or heading is could be tough because they cannot see the proper nav lights. I tested my 8yr old daughter on the concept of required Navigation lights while on the water last summer, and she grasped the concept right away, and could tell me which direction boats were traveling, and whether they posed any danger to us, right away.

And yes, I too would expect any guide I hire to not only know the laws, but understand them and the reasoning for them.


Lord forbid you have someone run into you while running anything other than the legal navigation lighting written into maritime laws. Because if that should happen, whoever it is not observing the law will spend a great deal of time in a courtroom explaining why they were running illegal lighting. Likely paying a pretty hefty settlement when it's all said and done. And insurance isn't going to help when they find out you were running illegally.

All that said, I love my LED lights, and have caught many fish using them. They are a great addition to a boat for someone who uses them properly. For all of those who don't care, or think the law is arbitrary, I would assume they are at the very least inexperienced boaters, or at worst so selfish they do not care about the law. Either way, definitely not someone I'd want to be on the water with, much less at night.

Beat setup that has ever been posted.
will be making one soon.