Underwater lighting

[BigTerp]

Any of you guys have underwater lighting on your boat? If so, what did you use and how did you install? After doing some catfishing out of my boat for the first time over the weekend, I realized it would be really nice to have some lighting out to the sides to light up the water when bringing in a fish. Doesn't necessarily have to be underwater, and I was even thinking just under the rail on the outside would work. What color did you guys use?

 

[T Man]

I have white underwater lights on the transom of my boat. I love em. I went with the shoreline marine underwater lights. They were great in fairly clear to slightly cloudy water. I've read that green penetrates cloudy water a little better.

 

[BigTerp]

I remember seeing yours now T Man. I get all my LEDS from www.oznium.com. They have some waterproof options I might try. How did you wire yours up? I was thinking of just connecting them to my interior lights and running the wire over my rail and down to my lights. Another way that would be neater would be prefered though. I'm thinking of putting mine on each side of the boat right around where the captains seat is. Seems to be where we ended up landing all the fish we caught the other night. How many of these do you think I'd need on each side of the boat to light up the water enough? Don't need to light up the whole river, but something to be able to see whats on the other end of the line would be nice. Do you notice any issues with bugs and your underwater lights?

 

[Rat]

Wildman has the green underwater lights on his transom, no problems with bugs and they light up to the midship of his 18 foot Panga.

 

[T Man]

Our bugs haven't really started yet so I can't really comment on that. What I have noticed is that it draws bait fish like crazy. Mine are wired to a switch on my console so I can have them on and night fish. I'm not sure if I would want them on the side of the boat underwater, but I also bbreak ice with my boat and was afraid of damaging them or breaking them off. It seems like you are wanting more of a spreader light than an underwater light

 

[BigTerp]

Good point. We run through some ice at times during duck season as well. Not sure what you mean by spreader light, but I'm looking for something to help us see what we are bringing to the boat one it gets close. Either underwater or just under the rail. Whichever works best. I'm thinking underwater would work better though?

 

[T Man]

A spreader light is one mounted higher up on the boat to cast light down on the water/deck of the boat etc. They are commonly seen on T Top boats. The underwater lights don't give much lighting out of the water. There is a company that makes rub rail light kits that seem to be fairly well reviewed over on bassboatcentral.com. On my old boat that I did quite a bit of limb lining in I built a hoop out of emt and bimini fittings that resembled a polling platform but it was for spreader lights. It was great at lighting up the entire boat and surrounding area. Ill see if I can go get a picture of it tomorrow. The only problem comes with fighting fish off the back of the boat. Underwater lights do make your wake look pretty kick ass. Totally worth it for me.

Rub Rail Lights:
https://www.nightfishion.net/newproducts.html

Spreader:

 

[BigTerp]

Thanks man!! My interior lights do a good job of lighting up the inside of my boat without attracting bugs. Not looking for any extra light into the boat itself, but rather the water around my boat. I'm envisioning underwater lights that would light up the water on each side of the boat so I wouldn't have to use a headlamp to shine into the water when bringing a fish to the boat.

I bet yours does make your wake look pretty sweet!!

 

[T Man]

Doesn't really do it justice, but you can at least see where I mounted mine.

(Sorry for the link instead of a picture)

https://www.duckhuntingchat.com/forum/download/file.php?id=211593&mode=view

 

[pafree]

i am adding a light bar to the transom of my boat and have been looking at LED fog lights to shine down the side of the boat for landing fish at night. example: https://www.amazon.com/Tuff-LED-Lights-27watt-Polaris/dp/B009ES3F0Q/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t you could mount them on a pole that would fit in a pole holder. add a two wire plug and then you could remove them when not night fishing.

 

[BigTerp]

T Man » Today, 12:42 am[/url]"]Doesn't really do it justice, but you can at least see where I mounted mine.

(Sorry for the link instead of a picture)

https://www.duckhuntingchat.com/forum/download/file.php?id=211593&mode=view

Cool. Thanks for the link!! Did you run your wiring up over your transom, or go directly thru your transom?

 

[BigTerp]

pafree » Today, 1:37 am[/url]"]i am adding a light bar to the transom of my boat and have been looking at LED fog lights to shine down the side of the boat for landing fish at night. example: https://www.amazon.com/Tuff-LED-Lights-27watt-Polaris/dp/B009ES3F0Q/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t you could mount them on a pole that would fit in a pole holder. add a two wire plug and then you could remove them when not night fishing.

Thanks for the link and idea. I'm looking to do something more permanent like T Man did with his rig.

 

[T Man]

BigTerp » Today, 06:43[/url]"]

T Man » Today, 12:42 am[/url]"]Doesn't really do it justice, but you can at least see where I mounted mine.

(Sorry for the link instead of a picture)

https://www.duckhuntingchat.com/forum/download/file.php?id=211593&mode=view

Cool. Thanks for the link!! Did you run your wiring up over your transom, or go directly thru your transom?

Through the transom.

 

[BigTerp]

How did you seal everything up?

 

[T Man]

5200.