Hello all! Great forum! Wondering about the green lights for night fishing. Do they clip to a battery and do you carry a extra battery if they do? One light or two? Can they be bought at Academy? If two batteries are they put out both sides of the boat? I'm not a crappie fisherman. Trying to learn. Thanks

I'm no crappie fisherman...he he...but yes most of them have gator clips for batteries. Yup, Academy has em. (At least they sell em...dunno if they have any in stock...never seem to have my stuff in stock!) I have one in my boat, and I don't run it on my cranking battery, and suggest having a spare battery just for the light. Now about the light itself, I dunno if I like it or not. Doesn't seem to put any more fish in my boat. Now permanent lighting such as boat docks etc. do tend to work. I think it has a lot to do with the brush and such in these highly fished areas.

Thanks for the info

I'm not sure if it works on all lakes, but at Ray Roberts it works really well. Tons of shad will circle around the light. I drop it 1.5 to 2 feet down. I tried it at Benbrook once and not much luck there. Spare battery is a good idea, learned that the hard way.

I have ran mine on my trolling batery all night without issue. But I don't use those batteries for anything else when night fishing. Don't forget to buy the weight to sink the light. I have had great success with the light and I have struck out at times. I usually fish under bridges at night, just FYI. I don't have much luck catching crappie though. Usually catfish and sand bass is what I catch.

Me too!

I got mine at Academy and it does have the clips for battery terminals. Mine has a green flourescent light and a white incandescent flood light on the same unit. The weight to sink it is sold separately but just use a 1 oz lead fishing weight.

I agree that it works great on Ray Roberts. Its amazing the difference between what happens when I put it in the water at RR vs what happens at Grapevine. At Grapepevine I get several dozen minnows swirling around the light and sometimes catch crappie and almost always catch sand bass. At RR you get a swarm of thousands of minnows, thousands of shad all swirling around in a swarm and larger fish diving through, hitting the surface and hitting your bait. Last time on RR there were five large carp swarming the light eating minnows and the light was getting knocked around in the feeding frenzy creating a spooky effect of light and shadows and fish flashing everywhere. I had never seen anything like it. Well worth the $20 I paid for the light.

Jeff, do you park under a bridge or tie to a tree near a creek or what?

I plan on hitting the vine this summer at night for sure.
I saw someone mention a LED light on another post.
I'll be hitting the BP's that are too hard to sit on during the day from wave traffic.
I guess it's a challange for skiers to see if they can pick up my bouy while going between me and the shore.

Dont bother with the LEDs or halogens...the flourescent tube lights are the best and draw the least power from your battery...only about 1 amp/hour. You will need an 8 or 10 ounce weight to sink em. I have had all and will only get the flourescent ones from now on. I use two, one in front and one in back. Drop one about 1-2 foot down and 1 about 6-7 foot down. You can run them both for a LONG time on one battery. I think they can make a big difference.

When Fishing at Night Green Lights are the only way to go. I made some Great LED one's and then pull less the .65 amps... so they last forever on a deepcycle battery! I have to agree wiht Naggler the LED one you get from the stores are not worth it. However, The Ones I make are very bright! Here is the link in case your courious. http://www.grangergang.com/LED/Led.htm

I don't think it matters were you drop it at RR. The ghost minnows show up first, then give it time and the shad will carousel around the light. I'll need to take a pic next time.

I've got a clear light I've had for several years. Think I'll give it a try Friday night. Thanks for all the info people. If the clear light doesn't do the job I'll purchase some green lights from SaltyDawg88.

I've mentioned this several times in the forum so I guess my secret is out. I tie to the first tree just north of the 3002 bridge. The tree is huge and right next to the main channel and I think somebody has added some brush to it. I've tried other trees in the same area but this particular one always has the most action. I've fished the same tree from midnight to 7AM several times and caught crappie there every time. Usually go home with 8 or 10 keepers which is good enough for me since I'm the only one eating them. I've also tried the bridge columns at night (3002 bride) and had some success. Sometimes I get bored and net some shad that are swarming the light and sink them deep. Its really fun to catch a 6 pound catfish on a 5.5' ultralight rod and light line. One time I hooked onto a catfish that felt more like a submarine that just pulled drag steadily until the line broke off. Must have been over 10 pounds or maybe more. Night fishing with a green light is a lot of fun on RR. Just be careful driving around at night with all the timber and stumps.