Thread: Night Fishing?

Hey Rango, great article on night stalking! Your setup is basically the same as mine as far as the aluminum shrouded lights, anchoring and so on. I installed two regular household 115volt outlets in my boat and wired them to 12 volt so I could just plug in my lights vs. having to splice on battery clips. It also allows me to use a regular bulb when I need an extra light on the job, or at the house.
I have only had 3 night stalking trips this year so far and have only taken the aluminum shroud fixture out only the first time. The insects around here almost carried me off, and the deep woods off was getting iritating. And since I am usually fishing alone, the black light works just fine for me to see the bite, and enough of the interior of the boat is iluminated from it to make my way around it. The clip on flashlight on my hat suffices for all things I need to see.
With not much light topside, bugs are not being breathed into my lungs like they were before. Once the insects are gone for the year, the shroud will be back in use.
Thought I would share the info, helps on less bugs, and I cannot speak highly enough on how well the black light shows the bite.
I found a nice "hump" today while fishing, off a 30' creek channel with a steep bank on the other side and a nice brushpile sitting on a 17' deep hump, with brush piled up to within 7' of the surface. This spot is located 100 yards off a point and is on the main lake body. It made me slobber a bit and wet myself when I saw it on the graph. I jigged it for around 45 minutes and caught 2 in the 10" range, and about 5 under 10". I am charging the batteries and plan to set the starfire out over it tommorrow night if the Tstorms will let up.
Good fishing!
Reaper

Even while using a bright starfire submerged, the black light still lights up the line and pole tips. I can also cast a jig some 30' from the boat, and can see every bit of the line up to the point it enters the water. So, if sudden extra slack, or the obvious removal of slack, BAM! Hook set, fish on. The bugs were just terrible Weds night when I was out. They were so bad, that using the clip on LED flashlight on the bill of my cap, drew all them critters into my face whenever I used it. It had never got that bad. I might load the clamp light back in the boat for the next trip and just turn it off when not in use. At least I could keep the bugs some distance away from me when I needed the light and turn the darn thing back off after I finish using it. Most of the bugs stay next to the blacklight, which is suction cupped to the top edge of the boat.
Reaper