I want to buy three small 12-volt halogen spolights that I can rig on the rear of my tee-top to illuminate the cockpit of my 21-foot Vision while night fishing. I'm having a stereo and VHF installed in a new instrument box at Coastline Marine in Seabrook, and figure I might as well have them wire in the night-fishing lights while they're at it? Last time I checked, lights of this sort were pretty expensive, and most problematically, drew a lot of amperage. They could take the juice out of a deep cycle in about 20 minutes. If that's still the case, I'll just have to turn them on for brief periods (shooting video, fishing fish, etc.). Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Have you thought of getting several strings of waterproof LED's that run on 12 volt?? You can get them on Ebay for about $10 a string free shipping. Here is a link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LED-STRIP...sQ5fAccessories

X2 on the LED lights. The newest generation of those bad boys is plenty bright!!!

LED lights have come a long way... I can't believe how much brighter they've gotten...

While we're on the subject, and not to hijack your thread, but my fluorescents seem to attract much more bait fish than LEDs when in the water.... HMMMMMMMM

Here's the link to one of them.

http://www.coastalnightlights.com/

You would think LEDs would have been a no-brainer to think of. Last time I bought halogen lights, LEDs were still being refined in a faraway R&D lab. Re: the fish-attracting quality of fluorescent over LED, that is a bona fide fact. Fluorescents have a much slower wavelength, and as such penetrate the water a long, long way with very little amperage. Unfortunately, for my purposes, they cast a greenish-blue hue on digital photographs and video, and since lighting the cockpit for shooting is the priority in this case, I'm going with LEDs. Again, can anyone recommend a manufacturer who produces water-resistant (if not waterproof) 12-volt, low-amperage LED light boxes (maybe 4'x6") that can be affixed to a tee-top upper railing (and wired through the tee-top aluminum tubing)? Thanks a bunch, guys. This is just one of the many things that makes TFF such an awesome site ... namely, the people. If I can ever help from my end, don't hesitate to ask. ... Boz

So, THAT's why... That makes perfect sense... Thanks for the education... I bought one of those LED underwater lights... Never again...

I am my own island when I night fish. i have 4 of the green flourecense that hang in the water. It will even attract UFO's.

I might agree with you, EXCEPT for the fact that LED's can be made to emit exactly whatever wavelength of light you desire. I have greenlights that I make with 240 green LED's and 120 Ultra Violet LED's. Fish see very well in the UV spectrum and they attract bait like crazy. Not only that but they make GLOW plastic baits and UV sensitive painted (UV VISION PAINT) jigs shine like crazy.

Each 360 LED light runs less than 2.7 amps per hour. That gives a lot of hours on one battery.

To light your T-Top just Zip tie three 120 light strings side by side on the metal tubing of your T-top. Connect all three leads together with a waterproof connector connected to a switch which is connected to your battery. The LED light strings from the link on Ebay I gave you are totally waterproof (including salt water).

Am I going to have to come to Corpus and do it for you??? "Kiss" is my preferred method of doing things. I would plumb in a couple of red strings to a separate switch on maybe the sides of your T-Top so you can illuminate the boat without destroying your night vision. Total cost somewhere around $60 plus my travel expenses.

Hey FoldCatOne. I bought 4 ea of the 4ft green string of lights from your e-bay site. May need a little info.

I wish it were "MY" EBAY SITE. Its just a site I by them from. Not related to me at all.

Thanks a million for the info. Thanks to your info and instructions, I should be able to get it set up. I had no idea that the wavelengths of LED lights were variable.

Just when you think you know somethine ...

Thanks again.

Boz