I know some of you have your boats rigged with green LED lights down the sides and I am looking at possibly doing it as well. Looking for suggestions on setting up lights, mounting advice, preferred brands or types. These will be going on a Ranger aluminum so would like a clean looking install that's durable and fairly maintenance free.

Thanks

Wildcatlighting.com

You can buy a commercial package at a higher price or you can buy the led strips at ebay.

There have been several threads about doing it yourself using LED strips purchased from ebay or Amazaon.

I would go with the 5050 LED lights, as they are brighter. (Green Waterproof 5050 SMD 300LED 5M 60LED/M Light Strip Flexible 12V) As you can see this strip has 300 LED lights over the 16'.

It cost me less than $50 to buy three 16' strips to do the underside of my pontoon. You might not need three strips on your boat.

I used the strip lights. LED 5050. I love them. The 3M tape that is on the back of them will last about 1 week once it gets hot outside. Plan on using super glue or some other type to get them to stick long term.

wildcatlighting on my yak works great

All the LED lights I have seen are incased in white material. Anyone seen them in black? I have a black hull and think it would look better in black if possible.
I guess you guys are mounting them below the bumper strip? Where are you going with you wires to get inside you hull? Drilling hole in hull behind bumper strip or running around the back and coming over the transom?
What are the advantages or disadvantages over lights that are dropped in water. I know the above water cast more light on surface so you can see line and fish being netted.

i have them on my yak like i said i have 2 green under in front and 2 amber to keep bugs at bay on top they work i drilled hole in my yak becaus it was only like 400 buck but a boat are more expensive id ask some one to install if it where me

You can get LED lights off amazon for about $11 and either do it yourself or have someone do it for you.

idk the advantages but it work very well for me thats why i use them i just have a battery run mine have a solar panel on top to charge a little on way out there so i can run for 5 to 6 hrs

I inserted mine into my rub-rail and drilled a small hole in the top cap under the rub-rail. It was pretty easy and looks good.

I have lights for a tri-toon that my buddy has, but I haven't figured out how I want to mount the lights.

Any tips or pics from ezgoing????

Here is what mine look like.

pic. 1 What it looks like without lights on
pic. 2 Nav lights on
pic. 3 Nav lights on in the dark
pic. 4 Trolling motor foot pedal lights

All of my lights are tied in to the 360 light. I did it this way to make sure that my lights are on when switched either way.

TarponFly do you have your lights below the bumper strip? Have you had any problems with them coming unstuck from hull?

Bogey that's nice and thanks for the pics. Not sure how a fill string of green lights would work in bumper but that would sure clean up the install.

I think I'll give this a shot!

Great idea.

I posted pics in several threads but I can't find them now. If I find them later I will add them here.

Here is the initial thread that shows one side of pontoon with the LEDs installed. The thread also discusses how they were installed in some of the later posts on the thread.

Thread on LEDs for my pontoon

I only have two logs instead of three but I don't know that would make a difference.

Ezgoing, when you installed the lights did you use additional adhesive/glue & if so what kind?

That is really the only concern I have.

No, I did not use any additional adhesive/glue when I installed them. I did not have any problems with the glue on the strip sticking to the metal.

I did add some clip on clamps every few feet to hold the strip in place if the glue ever failed. So far it has not failed.

I suspect that eventually I will need to redo the strips. I doubt the glue on the strips will hold forever, given the heat and humidity of the lake. I probably should have added rubber cement or similar glue as I installed it but at the time I was in a hurry to get it running.

thank you ez, I'll go check it out!

I put these ultraviolet blues on mine. really attracts bait fish and make your line highly visible. Makes my night fish pictures look cool


www.TheCrappieKing.com

I have looked at the UV lights also. Sorry for the string of questions Monster Crappie.........Did you mount it above the bumper or below? Are they Wild Cat brand? Any problems with them coming off so far?

Thanks for all the help guys. I wont to do this right the first time if possible. Nothing worse for me then to find out i should have done it another way. I know there is several ways to do anything and i am good with that but I like to do it right the first time. Its cheaper and less frustrating in the long run!!!

Mine just stick to the boat. No problems coming unglued. Turn them on and bait shows up within 5 mins.

Some peeps do eBay some spend the money for better ones, that we're designed to attract fish.

Just research before u buy.

And try to determine how the $$$ ones do a better job of attracting fish than the $ ones.

Ha good point ezgoing.......That's what I am trying to do. The devil is in the details!!!
My biggest concern is "quality" mounting and running wires through/over/around hull. Not interested in making my new boat look like [censored] or spending every other Friday evening gluing lights back on my boat.

I cleaned my Alum boat rails with dish soap in water, then wiped wiped them down with rubbing alcohol...after it dried I stuck the light strips to it...they are still there two years running...no extra glue, no muss, no fuss.

Use a 2 or 3 amp in-line fuse or attach to the fuse block (and use a 2/3 amp fuse) and wire it to an auxiliary switch on your dash board (if you have one) otherwise use a toggle switch and mount it underdash...the wires are very thin, so put them inside some flexible plastic automotive wiring harnesses and attach to the boat via clamps.

Make sure you buy the "waterproof" versions....If it doesn't state "waterproof" its NOT.

I'm sure the expensive lights will have nicer looking mounting, fancier than what you would buy if you installed the ebay LEDs. I know the expensive submersible LED lights look fancier than the two I built but I doubt they are more effective, since I used 150 LEDs in each tube.

My lights went on the underside of the deck of my pontoon, on the aluminum edging that goes around the deck. The wiring is at the rear of the pontoon and goes into the sheath that runs underneath the deck and contains the engine wiring going to the console.

So there is nothing to look bad. The LEDs are not very noticeable when they are turned off as they fit flat under the edging and are very, very small. When they are turned on all you can see is the lighting, even in the daytime.

My strips have been on my pontoon for approximately eight months now and have not come unstuck. My strips are stuck to aluminum, other materials might provide different results. I was also careful to ensure I used pressure to stick these strips in place to get the best contact possible when I installed them.

I don't want to do it too often myself, as I must pull the pontoon out of the water to work on them.

I suspect that eventually they will become unstuck as I doubt any glue would hold them on forever in a water environment. I had initially thought about using small screws to secure them but I did not want to drill holes in the aluminum edging so decided to see how the glue on the strip worked.

In and when it comes unstuck I will find another glue to put them back on or just buy another set of strips. I checked and I have $47 invested in the three strips on my pontoon so I am not risking much money on the lights.

I CONCUR! I went to Ebay, got 'em on the cheap...quit using my three foot "green monster" one trip later...don't need it...

I was lazier than you and did not prep the aluminum edging on my deck. I wish I had thought of that. If it becomes necessary for me to re-stick them I will pull them and do a through cleaning job. Then I will apply the glue and re-stick them. I will buy marine glue when I do this, assuming I must redo them at some time.

I soldered 16 Gage auto wire to my LED strip and ran that through the wiring harness under the boat deck to a on/off toggle switch I installed in my console. I had to drill a hole for the switch but it looks factory.

I then soldered a fuse holder in the hot wire that ran from the switch to the battery.

I hope my setup lasts as long as your setup but since I was lazier doing the install it probably won't.

Ezgoing, I don't think anyone realizes there is only one company (in China) making all the Led lighting strips regardless of the type and all use 3M glue strips for adhesive backing...they do have different quality levels though...at least that is what my research determined before I bought...I was looking for a USA product...just no other companies were willing to spend the money necessary on equipment...apparently it is a major equipment expense. So everyone just ordered from the Chinese company and put their name on it...same basic lights, plastics, adhesives...different price, though...

I have been goggling for info on LED lights for a week and came to the same conclusion. Waterproof and quality seem to be the big factors on price difference. If you do the research there are weatherproof and waterproof lights for this application. If you dig, the Ebay lights claim to be waterproof but everywhere else shows the same strip as weatherproof. When you get to looking at "industry standard" waterproof in high light output the price jumps pretty drastically.
Big question is if the strip is mounted where it will stay wet from spray (side of a bass boat low to waterline vs under deck on a pontoon boat) will the weatherproof lights hold up? Another shinning fact I figured out is "waterproof" lights are a bit less bright(watts/ft) due to the waterproofing applied to the strip.
The more you dig for information the more questions you come up with

I guess my question would be...will the 5050 green LEDs do what we want, attract bait fish and then crappie/ white bass. For the guys that have used them, has water caused a problem with the lights so far? For the money seems like a good deal if they do what we want. To me spending 200-300 on LEDs seems crazy.

I have had my lights for around eight months, crapicat has had his lights for two years.

So while I have had no problems with my lights, crapicat would be the best one to answer this question.

I spent less than $18 on Ebay, shipping included for green 50/50 led lights, 5meters, which is a little over 16'. My boat came with an extra toggle switch that is fused and the wires ran to the back compartment. I ran the wires out my exhaust vent for the rear compartment and under the electric anchor, over the rub rail to the strip light. I'm not happy with the over the rub rail in the rear of my boat as I'm always watching stumps to make sure they don't catch. I will move them to go over the rub rail on the back of my boat soon.



I have only used them for I short trip so far, but I didn't need a lighted to bobber and the bait fish came in real quick!

Those look awesome tboxfish.

Good job tboxfish. I have about decided I am over thinking this LOL. Hope you enjoy fishing in those lights bud.

Yup!

Someone was wondering about lighting a toon, I hope this helps a bit--
At first I had blue 300 lumen lights I bought from Ebay and mounted them facing OUT over the water, these were the waterproof with 3m glue and at first I was very happy with them except I did have to use gorilla glue to help hold them onto the boat.
The lights DID attract baitfish.
But within a year of year round use between bumping stumps, docks and such I had knocked out a couple of sections on the lights--Looked bad.
Here is a pic when they looked ok-

I have since bought and replaced the blue with 600 lumen green lights and mounted them facing down under the rail and am VERY happy with them, the 600 lumens put out much more light and mounting them down I haven't lost any to "bumps".
This time the 3m adhesive worked great from the start and are still on after more than a year of use.
If you look close you can see that I put green on both sides and used the blue I had for a strip across the front middle. The green far out shine the blue when next to each other. (Lumens)

Nice job Steve

Thanks Todd--
I really like them at night, the wife and I often will "camp" on the boat overnight (temps allowing) and we just leave these on all night while anchored, both bringing in the baitfish and making ourselves seen on the lake while anchored down.

Yes SIR,
I can't wait to use mine on Fork at night Belinda loves to fish at night also as long as it's warm

Very nice. I am going to order lights this weekend and will try and post details with pics on the install.

Take some pictures slipshot. Thanks for the help with pontoon info

Night fishing is the way to go in the summer as it allows you to escape the heat of the day. Plus the skiers, the jet skis and the green fish chasers are not on the lake so it is safer.

My wife and I always fish at night during the summertime.

What color works best/better for night fishn for crappie if there's a preference?

White, blue, green or ????

Everything I read when I was doing research indicated that green was the best color to attract planton, which attracts bait fish, when attracts game fish such as crappie.

So I chose Green 5050 LED lights for my boat and slip.

I chose a mercury vapor lamp for my underwater light because it produces a green color to the light it provides. I also use green lights for my overhead lights on the slip.

5630 LEDs are brighter than 5050 and the same price

i just did mine last night. but dont know how to post pics. put a green 16' led strip down each side. 14.96 shipped on ebay.

Click on the 5th symbol, that says "upload image into post" when you move your mouse pointer over it. That will open a window where you can select the image of boat/lights from your hard drive.

I tried that but my work laptop has it blocked.

Do the 5630 LEDs have the 3m backing like the 5050s?
Thanks

I'm sure they do and it's [censored] just got home from work lights hadn't been on the boat 24 hours and one side already came unstuck. I even prepped the surface with alcohol. What do yall think I should put on that will hold it?

I tried using my laptop. It would not upload the jpg file but when I changed it to png it uploaded the file, as you can see.

I don't know what to suggest. It's a little expensive but I would expect that marine adhesive should hold it but I would do a small test section first to see if it harms the light strip or the boat.

I did not prep the surface and my lights have been on since September without a problem. I did use as much pressure as I could apply to make them stick. But I really don't know if that made a difference.

Is it on fiberglass or aluminum? If aluminum maybe epoxy. One of the guys will know for sure.

Fiberglass

I used 3M marine adhesive from academy and it works great

I prefer white LED as they are brighter out of the water. The green lights work better under water IMO. I put two white LED 300 lights from Amazon on both sides of my jon boat and secured them with GORILLA GLUE as it is water based and activated and holds strong.
I get lots of plankton and bait fish around my boat all the time at night. I even have a green light I can drop to attract more fish if needed.

WOW I can see where every bug in 3 counties would come to white lights. Being a diver and underwater photographer we learned that the 1st spectrum of light dissipated by water is red followed by yellow then green and finally blue (this is natural light IE the sun). Now keep in mind this is clear water and the more sediment in the water the less any light will penetrate. As far as what spectrum draws bait fish us old timers used to use floating head lights because that's all we had back then. Now I hear of people using green, blue and red LED's with pretty much good results. I have seen saltwater fish stage in the edge of most any color light to hunt and pretty sure fresh water fish will do the same. They are after whats drawn to lights and the "popular" color at the moment seems to be green. Again back to my diving we have lights for night and a white light will cause fish to flee out of the beam, but red doesn't seem to effect them. I don't have a green or blue light or ever seen one used so no data on that but a green marker light can be seen further underwater. All this being said a lot of variables come into play with light intensity and water color (IE clear, green, murky or muddy). Not sure any of this helps with light selection but its something to consider.

went lastnight and got some loctite waterproof glue and put a small seam on the top and bottom of the lights and looks like that will do the trick on sealing them to the side of the boat. Best thing if i want to remove them a plastic blade will take the glue right off. i had a few runs in the glue and work on them. if anyone can upload my pics pm your number and i will txt them to you.

Actually the white LED lights do attract bugs but mine are facing down on the water and the bugs do not come in my boat. They hover around light close to water surface thus again drawing in more bait fish to eat them.
The light spectrum will be more affected underwater and green does work better under water according to studies but as far as attracting plankton and bugs to attract bait fish then the white LED works great for me above water.

Guys, tbox and I have the very same setup, only I wrapped my lights from the front all the way around. These lights take a bit longer to attract baitfish than my green monster, but I CAN/DO leave home without it when night fishing. I will add that Mrs. Tbox makes a shiny silver glitter Lil Fry (I forget the name) that is tremendously effective fished about three feet down just outside the light shine of these lights after about an hour or so of them being turned on...if the shad are there and the fish are there...drop one of these baits, swim it through from light to dark (or vice versa) and hang on...

I used a silicone adhesive on mine - holding so far

These are the pics for Lowboy_31

I also made a submersible light by wrapping 600 50/50 LEDs around 2" PVC.

Looking forward to seeing how they last submerged like that. I was planning to make a 3 sided light inside of clear PVC like ezgoing's

I coated mine with several coats of clear flex seal, so it should last quite a while.

Guys I would check with the Game Warden on the allowable colors you can put on your boat. I had blue LED's on my center console to light up the floor at night. I was at the boat ramp at Joe Pool and got a butt chewing by two game wardens for having those lights. They told me to turn them off, and get them off my boat. They said that you could not have navigation color lights on a boat, other than as navigation lights. Mine were blue but I guess that's not acceptable either.

This is copied from Texas parks and wildlife

Sec. 31.064. LIGHTS. A vessel or motorboat when not at dock must have and exhibit at least one bright light, lantern, or flashlight from sunset to sunrise in all weather. A vessel or motorboat when underway between sunset and sunrise in all weather must have and exhibit the lights prescribed by the commandant of the Coast Guard for boats of its class. No other lights that may be mistaken for those prescribed may be exhibited.

I guess I should mount the RGB LED's and when they complain about the color, I can just change it or maybe have it strobe to the music. Just a thought.

I dont think most of them will say anything. last weekend a guy drowed on lake conroe off a party boat. the same boat that runs the lake will strobe lights, black lights, green lights and purple lights and i never seen them stop them from doing it. i called to find out on the laws all they said is you cannot use these in lieu of your running lights. they never said you can run with them on. they are going to have a water officer call me back with the all info i need. hope this helps as well.

I got a GW compliment with my green lights down the sides. They point down. Just said to turn off when underway. I try not to break laws whenever possible, so interested in what the research says. BTW I bought 10m of 5050 (60led per meter) LEDs from China for $33 Saturday night. Man,I need to quit looking at fishing stuff after midnight and drinking a few. Also bought a quad beam transducer,and jig tying supplies.

I hear ya! They say it's safer to drink at home, but not with wifi and a debit card! I have woken up to quite a few emails regarding my order I placed.

I sell Wildcat Lights and they are top of the line. They are waterproof and they will never come off your boat once they are on. Very good quality lights

That thing is a beast

When was this? I asked a JP gw before installing my lights last year and was told it was OK if they pointed down into the water and I did not run with them turned on.

If you run with them turned on you have green lights on both sides of the boat, which is a no-no. But if you only used them while anchored or tied up, it is acceptable as long as you have the white overhead light.

So I wonder when this happened as I don't want a ticket over something this minor. I can always use the underwater green LED lights I made for the boat if these are now a problem.

Got my green LED stripe lights yesterday and ready to get them installed. Just wondering what gauge wire some of you used from the lights to your power supply.