So I live on Lake Tyler and for those of you who fish these lakes I have the most brush and best setup of underwater lights on the lake. I spent a lot of time putting out the brush and similarly time and money putting out the lights. And I generally keep them on so that all of you who do fish these lakes can fish in the habitat I created. But I have a beef. Today for the fifth or sixth time I've had problems with my lights that trace back to someone cutting the cables right next to the dock with the trolling motor. In addition lights have been broken and I've had to replace them. The question I have for you fishermen is do you take any care not to mess up my stuff or the lights that others put out? If you cast directly at the lights you likely won't catch a fish and you may break the light. So I'm going to leave them on for now. But if I have to keep going out and repair the stuff fishermen have broken. I'll just turn them off.

Sorry to hear that about your lights. I don't know how someone would break a light, and why would someone trying to fish a light get close enough to cut a cord? We were fishing an underwater light on Tyler last year, not yours but another dock, and some jackwagon not only came in right on top of us but drove his boat directly over the light. When I asked him if he really thought was okay to come in on us like that the woman in the back of the boat said, "Hey, it's a big lake."

I don't think she understands what that really means.

I try to do everything I possibly can to avoid hanging up on a dock, much less tear anything up.
However, that slimy rope that was about 18" long that you l(not the op) eft in the water and I hung up on - yes, I got hung in it and it was probably me that cut it short and threw it up on your dock. Sorry.

I used to fish the lights out at Fork. I loved it, some of the best fishing I ever had. I started noticing that there were fewer and fewer lights on any more. I ran into a couple of the owners and they told me that they were having similar issues like you. Someone got a lure caught and pulled up the wire and cut it to get their lure back, lights got broken, people couldn't cast and would hit their boats with jigs and chip them. One man had about 5 spread out around his dock. He turned them on to attract the bait and fish before he came out to fish and there was a tournament fisherman sitting on them. He told them he had turned them on so he could come out and fish them and they responded that, "you know how it goes, it's public water and I was here first". Some never came back on and others told me that they had them on timers and even told me the time settings so I could fish them. It was never really the same out there anymore.

It's a shame but just a fact of life that there are enough people who don't have manners and try to protect another's property. Sorry to hear it is like it on that lake also. A few ruin it for the rest of us.

The city actually put a street light up at Twin Buttes ramp last year. Didn't last a month until it was full of bullet holes.

Yeah, you are right on. I was putting a cover on my boat earlier this year and noticed a pock mark on the back of my 250 ZX. It looks about the size of a head of a 1 ounce jig. Look I understand that I'm going to get a hook or two in the cords. In fact as I repair the lights I run a ten foot piece of PVC pipe to lie flat on the bottom and then run a ten foot piece vertical to protect the cord coming up to the surface. I'll have them all protected within a month or two. I have no problem with people fishing around my dock as long as they are careful not to tear up my stuff.

And on another note, as we transition from spring into summer there is no way I could ever get down there to be the first to fish the lights. Every night there are fishermen out there. So if I want to exclusively fish my lights, I'll have to drop the boat and camp over the lights till it gets dark. This Saturday morning at around 5:30 to 6:00 AM there were three boats politely fishing off different parts off my dock. I suspect they know the fishing is a lot better than I do or they are better fishermen. I've had three reports of nines being caught off my dock along with scads of reports of 7's and the like. Largest I've caught is a five plus and I've seen a 7 pounder being caught.

Those lights are expensive. I feel for you.
Mine was in deep water and still got torn up.
What amazes me is that an idiot would hang the cord and cut an electric cord.

Out here on lake Austin and LBJ the pressure causes owners to put their lights on timers so guys have no idea when they will be on

Looks to me that they are running against the cord with the trolling motor. I see multiple slice marks up one side of the cord and finally a gash that cuts into the copper. Once the copper is exposed to the water the lights short out. I make my own underwater lights. I looked at the construction of one of my "store bought" units and realized I could make my own. Biggest challenge for me now is finding green 250 watt Metal Halide bulbs. I can easily find 1000, 400 and 175 watt green lights. And I can build them for less than half the retail cost. A light and cable for a 400 to 1000 watt bulb costs $175 to $200 dollars. I can reuse cable and build them for fifty to seventy five bucks. A 1000 watt unit purchased is upwards of $700 to $800. I can build for just over $200.

I’m down to two of my four lights on my dock at Fork. That’s after replacing 2-3 over the last 5 years, about $250 each.

You’d be shocked at some of the dumb [censored] I’ve seen take place on mine and my neighbors lights.

I’d actually like to leave them on all the time for the fish and fisherman but it’s not worth it. They are going on timers soon. People ruin good things.

Depending on how much cable you can salvage you can make your own for much cheaper. A 1000 watt bulb is about fifty bucks. The mogul socket is about fifteen and then you have to get PVC fittings. You fill the light fixture with epoxy to waterproof the connections. Purchase epoxy online. Epoxy isn't cheap but you can build a dozen replacement lights with a gallon. A 400 watt bulb is about twenty bucks and a 175 is $12. PM if you need more details. I can find a way to send some pictures.

I like to have mine on every night for about 8 months. The fish hang around if they are on. When they are off for extended times the fish will depart.

The fish definitely do not gather as much to eat when the lights aren't on all night. Another thing to consider from what I was told from someone who installed them if they weren't run for the proper amount of time they wouldn't burn off the algae and would begin to lose their brightness. This might no longer be true since there are alternatives to the type of light that can be used now. I'd put a switch up at the house if possible then if someone is on them and you want to fish them, switch them off and the fishermen might leave then turn them back on for you to go down.

I've never messed anything up on a dock. Now I've hung myself up on one but have never broken anything. Strange how that happens and I'm sorry about your situation. I hope that it improves over time.

What effect do lights mounted on the side of the dock have to attract fish versus the ones on the bottom of the lake? Not as good, but better than nothing? Not worth the effort? I'm thinking about adding these on Nocona at my dock, but we're only in 6-8' of water at full pool. Is it worth the effort to mount 1-2 lights on the side of the dock pointing down to the water?

That's a problem alot of people were having on Conroe for a while. Many property owners started shutting of their lights because of it.