Although I'm not a huge fan of loosing sleep, I'm a bigger fan of catching fish so I wondered what kind of lights ya'll use for night fishing. Also, do you change your line to floresant line?

Any other things to consider when night fishing?

Dont go alone. Watch out for snakes ,rats and meth heads.

Any of the green lights work really well. I have one that is a 4 foot flouresent/green and I have to put a window wieght on it to get it down away form the surface. Give it time and bait fish cloud around it. Drop some jigs below it and the crappie tear them up.

You can use either the "floating headlight" style or the newer green LED tube lights. The LEDs pull a lot less battery power than the headlights. Also, you can rig weights onto the LEDs to submerge them a few feet in hotter weather. This gets them down to where the crappie hang out this time of the year. Sometimes I think the "floating headlight" pulls in more baitfish, but the LED light seems to do ok too.

Either way, hook these lights up to a secondary power source, NOT your main engine battery for your boat. You need to have an "anchored" light as well, so other boaters can see you. Be careful using your main battery to power this one too, since it can run your battery down and leave you stranded.

I use a battery powered camping lantern for this and for working light on my boat. An LED headlamp or clip on light for your cap is helpful too.

You don't need any special line. Regular line will do. You may want a night bobber such as the "night bobby" if you plan to fish with bobbers. This time of the year, I start about 6 inches off the bottom and work my way up if I see fish on sonar.

I use no lights when I night fish, other than my stern light when not underway and both stern and bows while underway. Before Fork got crowded and a lot of the timber fell, I ran all over that lake at night with no lights on. Don't blast me , I know it wasn't safe, but there were very, very few boats and I could see better without any lights blinding me.

You'll need a good Q-Beam to navigate the boat lanes. Hold it down to the side of the boat and shine out under the nose while running to check your course, occasionally. Be courteous and don't shine it directly at oncoming boaters. Blinding them could cause a tragedy for you both.

Don't go alone. Let someone know when/where on the lake you are going and when you will return.

Take a cell phone or other means of communicating with someone on shore.

Buy one of Lance Vick's Boatlane's chips if you are fishing a lake that has one available. Its an invaluable navigational tool, especially at night.

No special line required. In fact, I'd probably use braid on all applications that it is suited for.

Be sure and take a light jacket. It can get cool out there, believe it or not.

GO SLOW!!!! I run just fast enough to stay on plane and in control of the boat. I never run over 40 at night any more, and typically less.

Know the area you plan to fish, well. Get out before it gets to dark so you can look around and let yours eyes adjust. If you're launching after dark, be sure and scope the area out in daylight hours.

Either launch at a private, secure ramp or be sure you leave no valuables in your vehicle. Thieves love night fishermen.

Be as quiet as possible. Banging on the sides or floor of the boat, slamming compartments shut, etc will spook fish. Turn off your electronics if you want to be super stealthy.

All of the above will help to make your night out there safe and enjoyable. I'm sure there is more, but those are the basics for me when night fishing for bass.

Oh yeah, wear that PFD!

Thanks for all the tips! Initially I was thinking bass fishing, but now I'm thinking crappie may be more fun. Not to mention I haven't had a good crappie fry in a few months! I'll be picking up one of those green lights today!

Thanks again,

Okay,

I just looked on line and saw mixed reviews for the BassPro light, and decent reviews for the cabela's.

Any suggestions or recomendations?

Headlamp +1 on the Dont go alone... and watch out for dopers.

Cell phone and a firearm.

Green Lights are the way to go, and Crappie, Whitebass, Hybrids at night are a blast! Check out the ones on my site.

On Ray Roberts?! Seriously?! Okay, Mr. Glock gets a ride in my boat I guess.