Night Fishing

[Nick Williams]

I am curious, for all you who night fishing, whether from the bank, a boat or on a river, how many of you guys take/use headlamps? Or any other light source? I always have one on, but not always on, so I am curious to see what other people do.

Also if any of you do use headlamps do you use one with a red light as well?

[Al Agnew]

I take a small flashlight if I'm on totally familiar water (rivers), a bigger light if I'm on water that isn't as familiar. But I very seldom turn them on, only if completely necessary for some reason, like getting out a tangle or unhooking a difficultly hooked fish.

[ColdWaterFshr]

Got a little cheapy clip light that clips to the bill of my cap. $8. Click it once for green light and dim shooting straight down from the bill of the cap. click it twice for 2 green lamps light shooting out in front. third click is full power shining out front white halogen and fairly bright. Petzl also makes great headlamps. Have a big one for camping stuff that has held up really well for 15 years now.

[Mitch f]

In the past I've night fished at LOZ with 10 black power worms around docks. We always used a black light with Stren clear blue fluorescent line. It makes theine show up like a neon light. You definitely wouldn't want to use it in clear shallow water.

[mic]

Here's a trick from astronomy. Get one of the head lights with a red light. You can leave it on to see, but you eyes won't dilate, and you will keep your night vision.

[UnCivE]

I take my caving lights on larger lakes and on rivers I just take a small headlamp.

[Kelroy]

I always take my Petzl Tikka, and a 5-LED 'black light' that clips onto a hat. I also use 'clear blue fluorescent' mono line, the UV light makes it glow white. I only use the light on it when I'm making a difficult cast and need to see where it goes, if I'm working a worm or jig fairly deep and want to watch my line, and especially when it's time to re-tie. Otherwise, I leave it off. On LOZ, there is enough ambient light from the docks that it really isn't necessary to have one on all the time. If it's really dark, I'll throw one of those cheap chem lights in my tackle box just to save battery juice while rummaging around in there.

One interesting thing about the UV/mono setup- it's a really cool way to check out your reel when you're casting, and refine your technique. The first few times I watched the line spooling off, it was amazing to see how it struggles to make it out of the reel and through the guides. Interesting physics lesson.