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And my lights can dang sure be seen at 2 miles and the required 112 degree angle.

There is a reason the lights are supposed to be at least 12 inches above the bow of the boat.

I like the LED idea but you in waves the lights in the rub rail will be hard to see.

Some of the elite guys have them and there not even on the nose of the boat

The new Triton's have the same set up as Nitro. Saw dozens of them at the Triton owners tournament just this past weekend. I have the same setup as BigRM. Each light is 19 inches long. Guarantee it's more visible making it safer.

I think the goal in a bass tournament is to have the best stringer weight last time I checked.

Don't get me wrong, I like LED bow lights. I was just wondering where your line was drawn. As long as it's not illegal(notice my question was hypothetical)..I have no objections. I place where I place based on the fish I caught..period.

You are absolutely correct.

I do know the Coast Guard mandates that boat manufacturers install lights that meet their standards and that the manufacturer is responsible for those lights not the consumer.

I still don't think I'd give much thought to it....even if the boat the angler was using was illegal during night time hours. I don't care if they use a kill switch. I don't care if they wear a life jacket.

What I do care about is if they pilot the boat to an off limits area, use a net to land fish, cull a dead fish, use an umbrella rig (BASS rules obviously), or any other rule violating act used to directly give themselves an advantage to CATCH fish. Those are things I protest. If they break a non angling type rule, and I see it, I would likely just guy to guy inform them that some others, maybe you, would turn them into the TD and try to get them DQed for their lights, life jacket, kill switch, etc.

That's just me.

I don't dial 911 every time a person passes me on the highway with a headlight out of if they are going 70 in a 65.

If I see them obviously impaired while driving, I might. Of it I see them doing something hugely wreck less, I might. But...again....that's just me.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjZp4fGkPTMAhUPGlIKHSEpAWUQFghDMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uscg.mil%2Fhq%2Fcg5%2Fcg545%2Falerts%2F1015.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFlfPL8Im6EwOWEWDe5r2bH46bPAA

That's USCG pdf on it

Again. I place where I place based on the fish I caught..period.

So do I....unfortunate isn't it? Haha.

To be legal, the lighting must be of a minimum intensity stated as visible distance. That can be met easily by many solutions. There's actually a document that discusses color of the lighting by scientific measurement of the lightwaves. That can be met in many ways as well. The typical white, red, and green LEDs may very well satisfy this.

What gets tricky is lighting placement for the navigation lighting (red/green). Both lights must be visible from dead ahead of the vessel. That requirement probably isn't too hard to meet, but the installer must insure the lights are very far forward on each side to insure visibility of both from dead ahead. As an approaching vessel moves to the left or right of dead ahead, one light must disappear. This is why there is a partition on the traditional red/green pole light. Each navigation light must be visible to a point 112.5 degrees from the bow to each side. The underlying technical details allow this to be deemed as meeting specification as long as the light appears to "cut off" within 5 degrees of passing 112.5 degrees, but in no case shall it be allowed to drop below rated intensity within the required horizontal arc - before reaching 112.5 degrees. The housing of traditional lighting fixtures is designed to accomplish this.

Have any of you noticed the permanent factory installed "bug eye" red/green lights on some boats? The housing on those is the controlling factor in hitting that 112.5 degree mark. The manufacturer insures that placement of the lamps doesn't undo their designed-in arc of visibility. The LEDs don't have a housing to insure they become invisible at 112.5 to 117.5 degrees. They're just flat on the hull or rub rail. Put that strip too far forward and it may appear to "go out" too soon because the arc is too short; put it too far aft of the bow's curve and it will be visible past 112.5 degrees, with the arc being too long. This becomes very problematic due to the curve of the bow for various boat hull designs and the placement of the LED strip on that bow.

I would guess that virtually all after-market LED navigation lights are visible beyond 112.5 degrees because there is no blinder to stop the light from projecting past that point. That is the most likely thing that would deem the installation to be in violation of USCG regulations. BTW, installing the factory light pole doesn't fix that. Operators are not allowed to display any red or green lighting in conflict with regulations. The improper viewing angle of red/green LEDs would still be a violation.

WIll the game warden measure all this? Probably not. However, the growing population of boats installing red/green/white bling lighting visible outside the boat and the improper placement of red/green LEDs is diluting the certainty of the orientation and movement of other boats on the water. If I can see red or green when I should not, I can be mislead on the path of another vessel. That can increase the chance for confusion and a collision.

19 inches of length alone does not insure they meet specification.
Intensity is only one parameter for a light to be deemed as meeting specification.
It is quite possible that manufacturers have analyzed the curvature of the bow of various models and placed lighting so that it meets the requirement for visibility up to 22.5 degrees past an abeam position, which is where the 112.5 degree value comes from.

The 22.5 degree requirement is difficult to control without a "blinder" to cut off the arc of the light at the appropriate point. This would vary for every different hull curve also, so placement requirements would vary.

I read a report detailing some of the USCG audit action with recreational boat manufacturers. The USGC was concerned with the lax adherence to the mandatory requirements by the original manufacturers. Guess which part of the rules were most troublesome? Lighting was, by far! The USCG was not fining the manufacturers, but using the audit process to increase awareness of the requirements, correct, and prevent continued violations. Manufacturers cited aesthetics and customer demand for the lighting system designs in place. Sidelights (red/green) were more problematic than sternlights or all-around lights.

BTW, if any of you add shallow water anchors to your boats, you're existing all-around light pole may no longer be tall enough. Some get citations for this one....

With all this 112 117 degree talk....red/green....one meter high....etc, etc....most people on the water nowadays don't even know who to give right of way to....so in reality, the color of the light or when the red/green light disappears is irrelevant. The important thing is TO BE SEEN.

I bet there is not 1 in 10 boaters that actually see a boat in the dark and can tell you which way it's moving based on the color of the light they see. They are going to watch to see which direction the light is moving to tell you.

I apologize because I'm using common sense when coming to this conclusion. I do realize common sense doesn't account for much nowadays.