My son and I launched at Whitney two weekends ago and we commented about how many boats we noticed that were on the water without any lights at all. It was early in the morning around 5:30 just at that time where you can start to see the eastern sky lighting up, but still considered dark. It was literally half of the boats that we saw without any lights.

That is not what that law is referencing..............

You can't have green lights surrounding your boat to draw in baitfish while navigating or perhaps blue lights that may be mistaken for a starboard navigation light. There is no law against using a spot light for navigation.

Maybe, maybe not. Been stopped by the game warden in Galveston for that very thing. Was It told It can blind other boaters and they can’t see your nav lights for ROW.

Anyone using a spot light, when there are multiple boats on a lake, needs a throat punch. A flood light would be enough to see, they don’t need 10 million candle power and blinding people 3 miles away to get back to the ramp.

I think you should rephrase your comment to people shining their spot lights at other boaters may need a throat punch. If you meant what you said, I use my spot light, and I'm pretty easy to find.

If there are no obstacles on the water you are correct. But depending on how fast you are going, its pretty easy to outrun less intense lights. I prefer to have enough light so that should I see something on the water, I have time to maneuver before I see it. A young girl was ejected from a boat on P.K. a few years ago after watching fireworks. What are the chances a boater with no lights are going to spot a kid in the water after dark with no lights?

Everyone uses these in Louisiana going to the duck blind in the mornings. I've never had a problem seeing where I'm going when others are using their spot light.

It is difficult to see the navigation lights when boats are 3 miles away, but I don't care what direction a boat 3 miles away is headed. Once you get closer it is pretty simple to see the navigation lights even when someone is using a spotlight.

I mean we drive down highways all the time passing vehicles feet away from us all the time. My light isn't any brighter than a typical headlight on a car.

I guess it does take a little common sense to use, you don't aim the light at other boaters. Might be a difficult concept for some of the slower boaters to understand.

That's one of my biggest fears on plane at night, is some moron sitting in the middle of the water with absolutely no lights on. I've never had an incident yet thankfully, and I'm on the water in pitch black pretty often, especailly November-January

I have found that running on Lewisville, that the surrounding lights from the shoreline makes it difficult to see boats on the water even with their lights on.

You are NOT supposed to use a “docking” light while running down the lake. I don’t give a [censored] how you misinterpret the law.

I second the throat punch and add a nut kick.

If you can’t see….let someone else pilot the boat. You’re probably one of those that turn on their hazards in the rain and go 30mph in a 75 in the far left lane on s freeway. instead of just getting onto the service road.

As for your light not being brighter than the headlights on a car, remember that a headlight on a car is aimed down and to the right, so it doesn’t blind oncoming traffic. Your hand held spot light is wiggling everywhere from you bouncing in a boat and it , in no way, is aimed properly. It is also a law that boats only be piloted at minimum planing speed, or less , at night.

I’m about 100% certain, like maybe 1000% certain that water refracts/reflects light and that little spot light blinds any and everyone. If someone has one that’s less bright than an automobile (this would have to be a flood light), that’s one thing, but last time I used a spotlight (not while driving a boat), it had something like 1 million or 10 million candlepower, been awhile. But I have seen dipsticks using them on lakes and I know how a deer feels.

I don’t use a handheld spot light, I use a light mounted on a hard hat. I a, looking at the water directly in front of my boat, so it is angled downward.

When there is an oncoming vessel, I either turn the light off, or angle to the side and use the halo to temporarily navigate.

No one out there can see floating objects, unlit boats, or ejected boaters and dark nights with no moon. People are navigating blindly by electronics.

I’m sorry some people can’t figure out how to properly use a light without blinding others, for some reason us Louisiana natives have figured it out.

It always amazes me how many people run in the dark and before or after enough light with zero navigation lights on.

Conroe usually has one or two no light crashes a year. Quite a few killed over the years. Get on the south end of the lake with all the shore lights and even boats with legal lighting can be hard to see.

A light on a headlamp is nothing like a spotlight, not sure why you’re even arguing it. This is one of those times where the proper word would have eliminated all of our post.

That's why when it's not "safe light" yet I won't go fast than trolling speeds. Glad you're okay.

https://www.southernliteled.com/marine-white-mounting-plate-and-bass-boat-led/

Built me a cheaper version of this using a Nilight spotlight off Amazon. Haven't had to use it yet but I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

Light I use is not a "head lamp". It is a sealed beam spotlight mounted into a hard hat. I have light wherever I am looking. If there is another vessel, I am not staring at that vessel.

I'd say the far majority of the time it is not needed. I break it out a couple times a year. Hence the disclaimer, "if there isn't enough moonlight or sun left in the sky to see the water safely in front of me I use a spotlight while traveling."

There are moonless nights, perhaps overcast, where I don't care who you are you can't see any object in the water that may be in your path.

If you are barely on plane and have a close call with an unlit boat on the water, I'm sorry but I believe there wasn't sufficient visibility to navigate on plane without additional light.

I too like many others have seen far too many boats after dark with no lights. If I can't clearly see the water surface, I'm going to use my light. Unless you have radar, those electronic maps are not going to show other boats on the lake. You can go ahead and assume everyone has their lights on, I am not.

I have been checked by game wardens at night while frog hunting several times. If using a spotlight while navigating was illegal, frog hunting pretty much wouldn't be a thing.