Have you added below water (underwater) stern lights?

Seems popular in our marina to have an underwater type light as the stern.

we were at Catalina last summer and a guy who have the lights had them on while at anchor at night time. it was amazing to see, like having your personal aquarium.

was wondering if anyone here have these lights and if they are happy with the lights or just another gadget wearing off the appeal quickly.

They seem most common on sportfishermen, if you like to fish at night or look at the fish they attract they might be worthwhile. last year while we were in a couple of marinas in West Fl where boats had them they drew lots of snook, tarpon, sea trout and others. Most marinas there don't allow fishing, but fun to watch. I do enjoy night fishing and have a couple of 300W spotlights which I run off the generator and hang over the Gunnels, they are quite effective at drawing bait which draws the bigger fish. If I were to add some permanently, I would look into mounting them to the swim platform somehow, rather than putting more holes in the hull
Steve W

Per wrote:


Seems popular in our marina to have an underwater type light as the stern.

we were at Catalina last summer and a guy who have the lights had them on while at anchor at night time. it was amazing to see, like having your personal aquarium.

was wondering if anyone here have these lights and if they are happy with the lights or just another gadget wearing off the appeal quickly.

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I have often considered adding this to my to do list. Just for the......... C:blankstare::blankstare:L factor!

-- Edited by Forkliftt on Thursday 2nd of June 2011 06:12:24 PM

Thats one of the things on my list as well. I think they would be fun for fish watching when at a nice anchorage in the islands.

I put them on our last boat and will put even more on our new boat. They are a blast.

If you care about the environment we boat in, be considerate in using underwater lights. When you light up an otherwise dark underwater environment, you are messing with the creatures that live there. Many fish and other creatures that feed at night are blinded by underwater lights. They either cannot feed properly or cannot avoid predators. If you must run underwater lights, do it on moonlit nights and only for a limited time.

Since thy will not be used very often I question a non charter boat knocking a bunch of holes in the bottom , that then have to be kept clear of marine growth.

Does no mfg offer a stuck a on a stick ,version that could be rigged as needed?

I was captain on a boat in the mid 1990's on which we installed an underwater light. They were very rare then and it drew a lot of attention. Unlike the newer thru hull lights, this was glassed on the exterior of the transom using a swimming pool light. The installers basically used a plastic trash can as fiberglass mold, then simply cut a hole in the fiberglass housing to mount the light, and then ran the power cable above the waterline. The light shone out rather than down but the effect was still great.

FF wrote:
Since thy will not be used very often I question a non charter boat knocking a bunch of holes in the bottom , that then have to be kept clear of marine growth.

Does no mfg offer a stuck a on a stick ,version that could be rigged as needed?

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*That parallels my thoughts.* I don't want anymore holes in my boat.* Besides, the water here is too murky for underwater lights to be useful.

I bought some cheap strips of LEDs from Ebay. Wired them to a 9 volt battery.

I tied them to a cleat on the dock of our marina and droppede them in the water one night last summer. Kept the kids occupied for hours (adults too). Tried it at Block Island one night too off the swim platofrm.* Worked great. Not as bright as the big boats, but as bright as one or two in our marina that have added them.

So for about 8 bucks, a 9v battery and some electrical tape it worked out pretty good. And no holes in the boat (or the wallet).

I think this will fit FF's budget too

*

*



-- Edited by jleonard on Monday 6th of June 2011 01:12:10 PM


-- Edited by jleonard on Monday 6th of June 2011 01:12:58 PM

The other forum I also spend time on has a lot of info on underwater lights ( sea ray forum... go figure ) there are a lot of surface mount led lights for this purpose available. As far as causing any harm to the marine environment I seriously doubt it... most days there is this really big light in the sky that lights up the ocean.. and we don't have blind fish bumping around.* I have spent a lot of time on boats with underwater hull lights and they are very cool .. it is like your own private aquarium. In the B.V.I it brings in all the small bait fish .. then the big Jacks and Barracuda come out.. the kids love it!. See the link below of a surface mount led hull light

HOLLYWOOD

http://www.shadow-caster.com/gallery.html

Larry H wrote:
If you care about the environment we boat in, be considerate in using underwater lights. When you light up an otherwise dark underwater environment, you are messing with the creatures that live there. Many fish and other creatures that feed at night are blinded by underwater lights. They either cannot feed properly or cannot avoid predators. If you must run underwater lights, do it on moonlit nights and only for a limited time.

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Is this a joke? I try to be respectful of other's views but I've got to draw the line somewhere. Are you telling me that my ten foot arc of light a few hours a week in the 1000's of trillions of gallons of seas is going to cause a problem and should only be used on moonlit nights? When you drive your big boat through this environment your "messing with the creatures that live there".

Steve wrote:
They seem most common on sportfishermen, if you like to fish at night or look at the fish they attract they might be worthwhile. last year while we were in a couple of marinas in West Fl where boats had them they drew lots of snook, tarpon, sea trout and others. Most marinas there don't allow fishing, but fun to watch. I do enjoy night fishing and have a couple of 300W spotlights which I run off the generator and hang over the Gunnels, they are quite effective at drawing bait which draws the bigger fish. If I were to add some permanently, I would look into mounting them to the swim platform somehow, rather than putting more holes in the hull
Steve W

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*I always thought that this - pitlamping - was illegal, although trying find confirmation of that is challenging; it is certainly illegal in many jurisdictions for hunting I know.

Fishing under or with lights illuminating an area may be illegal in some places, none I have ever heard of it is legal in Louisiana. If any one knows of it being illegal in any of the Gulf or Atlantic US states please let us know here. I'd not want to do it any where it would be.
Of course hunting at night with or without lights is illegal for most species in most places.

Thanks
Steve W.

markpierce wrote:Besides, the water here is too murky for underwater lights to be useful.

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*Ya' know... I was considering lights on Skinny Dippin' in the distant future, but if we're going to stay in the Neuse, I suppose ^^this^^ is why I should save our money for other things.

i dont think it is illegal to use for fishing in california, it is often used to catch live squid which is used as live bait (aka candy bait)