Blacklights on Aluminum Boat

[crusselltn]

I just ordered a Lowe Roughneck and I am wondering how to mount blacklights on the boat. I have some of the older Hoppy blacklights that plug into a receptical on top rail(used on my fiberglass boat a few years ago). Of couse they have the receptical and suction cups that secured them to my glass boat. Anyone have any ideas of how to put black lights on this boat for night fishing? Any pics if you have them? I have searched all over the internet for black lights for Aluminum boats and no one makes any. I did see where some people screw the led strips to the side of the boat. I dont want to do that. Thanks in advance for any help. Chris

 

[wmk0002]

I have been wondering this as well. One guy in the full boat mod section had some mounted really creatively but he never responded back to my specific questions in his thread about his light. From the best I could tell, he inserted led light strips into some type of extruded, clear pvc which he then mounted on the side of his boat. I guess he sealed the ends and this made them more waterproof than the led lights alone and then the pvc offered additional protection from docks, branches, etc.

 

[RiverBottomOutdoors]

Something like this?

 

[wmk0002]

Any update crusseltn?

 

[AlumaJay]

My first post,hope it works.....I made this to clamp on my 1648 MV NCS Alumacraft,it isn't fancy,but works well. The clamps are about $2 and can be found anywhere,the plastic is 1/8",had a friend that has access to this and a bender,but a small piece of aluminum could be used as well if the plastic wasn't an option. My Glow Maxx is small,but I guess this could be made to fit any size light/suction cups. As far as the phone jack power supply that I think the OP referred to,I'm sure it could be done,just have to mount the female end in whatever material is used for the base. Hope this helps.

 

[wmk0002]

My first post,hope it works.....I made this to clamp on my 1648 MV NCS Alumacraft,it isn't fancy,but works well. The clamps are about $2 and can be found anywhere,the plastic is 1/8",had a friend that has access to this and a bender,but a small piece of aluminum could be used as well if the plastic wasn't an option. My Glow Maxx is small,but I guess this could be made to fit any size light/suction cups. As far as the phone jack power supply that I think the OP referred to,I'm sure it could be done,just have to mount the female end in whatever material is used for the base. Hope this helps.

Really cool idea! Being able to adjust the angle is very nice. I'd like to copy that but space the clamps out farther and mount a long led light strip in between them.

 

[AlumaJay]

Well,I never even thought about that,but I guess the number of LED's would be endless! I was just trying to figure out a way to make the light I use on my glass boat over to my good boat

 

[wmk0002]

Well,I never even thought about that,but I guess the number of LED's would be endless! I was just trying to figure out a way to make the light I use on my glass boat over to my good boat

Yeah, if you already have the light and are swapping it between boats work with what you got.

 

[RiverBottomOutdoors]

Pro Tip: If you use the blacklights make sure the light doesn't wash into the boat.

 

[overboard]

If the Roughneck has the channel along the gunnel that accepts 1/4" carriage bolts, you could possibly fabricate some type of brackets for virtually anything that you would want to mount using that channel.

 

[ejweaver]

Not sure if you have looked at the Moon Light options. Great Lights. Come in two sizes. I have the large size and it covers the entire side of the boat for both the front and rear deck fishing. They are powered through a cigarette lighter plug. To make things easy, I got a minn kota battery center that holds a 24 or 27 group battery and has two cigarette lighter recepticles ( one on each side of the box. This way I can power the moon light and a hand held flood light. Comes in very handy for night fishing and I don't have to worry about too much drain on the cranking battery on an all night trip. The moon light has UV, Green lights. The green light is great for checking the bank while the UV is great for line watching.

the moon lights mount with suction cups that screw into nuts held in the slots of the case. The entire case has slots for the nuts and this allows you to adjust the angle of the light to optimize the illumination zone. You can add nuts to multiple slots so the lights can be mounted on different boats and still accommodate the optimum angle for illumination. Had this setup for two years and found it to work well for my needs (and the back seater). You can order additional suction cups that are already mounted on the right size screw from McMaster - Carr on line.

The minn kota battery center was ordered from Amazon and it includes external terminal lugs for the trolling motor/charging and a battery tester. It also comes with a 10 amp (two external 12 volt recepticals) and 60 amp circuit breaker (trolling motor connections) built in , and a carrying handle.