Okay I heard the rumor years ago that suspending a light under the ice will help you catch more fish... Thought was the light attracts plankton which draws minnows and the big fish follow... Sounded possible to a gullible individual like me, so I figured I'd try it... Hit Porcupine at 4:00 AM one morning and went out and set up... Which was a scary morning as the coyotes howled all around me and I was out there all alone in a very black dark spot... But enough about my fears... Anyway I didn't have funds for a green light, actually didn't know that was the chosen color light either, but I did have an extra set of boat trailer marker lights... and a 12 V battery, so I took an amber light and dropped it about 4' under the surface and let soak.... Well, I got skunked that trip, so I never tried it again... My question is, has anyone tried these lights and found success or only failure like me? I heard they worked for Kokanee, but was wondering if you have caught anything what and how do you do this? Thanks Jeff
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Might mention this was an ice fishing trip, not a boat trip... J
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Never tried a light but have often thought about using a green colored glow stick along with a dodger tied together. Drop in in a hole off to the side of the hole that you are fishing from. You could jig it up and down and even attach a regular jig to it too.
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That's not a bad idea to get some attention. I do like the glow stuff lately. I even think some days the fish like it too. But I'm not so sure about the light yet. Later J
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Years ago I tried it on fishlake in the evening . When the sun went down the bugs came . There was actually a noise you could hear from the water bugs . . Three of us got over 100 each. Didn't have to put bait on the hook . Best fishing trip I've ever had. Fished until 1 am. I'm not sure if it is legal now days .
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Good idea to check the regs on that, I'm not sure if they have anything in there or not. Maybe that's why I don't ever see anyone trying it. Thanks for the tip. J
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I've have good night's and bad nights using lights. They do attract a bunch of water bugs like said. Haven't tried the green ones. It seems like when I'm fishing for crappie the white light doesn't seem to help. The light is supposed to attract the water bugs and the bait fish will follow then the predators that eat the bait fish. Here in Utah we don't have much for bait fish so the fish usually don't care about the light. Just my opinion.
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Good subject, and the range of answers seems to fit my experience.
Had a shallow lake in Washington State, Spraque Lake, that I used underwater lights on to check it out. I had one white, one green. The white drew more underwater bugs but the lake had no "minnows" that came to the light. After several hours I gave up. Still, both lights had so many bugs/plankton under the lights it was like watching the water move. Wierd.
I have used the white light for crappie in Colorado, where they had shiners and shad, and caught crappie very well. Also saw it used in Louisiana. In Arizona, I would set a lantern on the shore to fish for Catfish and minnows would come to the shore in droves.
I guess that in reality, most states allow them now, they work some time, but not all the time.
I no longer own them, but I won't tell you not to buy them or use them either.
I was a guest on a Powell houseboat a while back. They hung green lights under it every night, claiming that it drew bugs and then shad and then stripers in. But we were there in mid winter, and although they were on all night, nothing came in. Too cold for bugs or shad, probably.
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I think they work for crappie because the green light attracts phytoplankton that crappie eat. I use a green light while ice fishing for them. Never had any success with other types of fish. I haven't tried it with Kokanee, but makes sense that it would work since they also eat phytoplankton.[fishon]
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I have a small green LED stick that I hook to a lantern battery. I can get about 7 full nights of fishing. It worked great at Powell over the summer. My sons and I were catching non stop off the fishing docks while others around us were not. There was noticeably more baitfish and predators moving through the green light area. The white lights around the docks drew fish but also lots of bugs. Having a light 15-20 ft down eliminated the bugs.
I used it on Willard once this year after dark and found a few Wipers but I can't say if the light was the factor. I couldn't brave the mosquitoes long enough to really let the light soak for more than an hour.
There is a great write up on fishing with lights on the Wayne's Words page in his pile of techniques articles.
Yes it is legal in Utah. Underwater lights are not legal for spear fishing though.
I would think it would work catching Crappie through the ice, but usually if they are not on the sonar when you set up they won't be there.
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I can vouch for the green lights at Powell. Two summers ago we tried it and it made all the difference with the night fishing. Only caught fish in the green light zone, while those nearby just fishing normal lights caught only a fraction of the fish we caught. We made ours from parts off of eBay and it worked great.
Mike
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Being an aircraft electrician for over 40 years, I've always been hesitant to mix water and electricity. [crazy] But before the days of chemical light glow sticks and living in the deep south at the time, we used to dig a semi shallow hole up on the bank of the river, build a layer of rocks around the edge, put an old car tire down in the hole, soak it with gas, set it on fire just about sundown. Doubt the state EPA folks would appreciate that nowadays, but once the initial fire flare up from the gas died down, the tire, and any dried wood we found, burned bright enough to attract the big river Cats, (and the odd gator once or twice) and the tire smoke helped keep the skeeters away. Course the smoke smelled pretty bad, and we always went home stinking like a junk yard fire, but we almost always took a cooler full of healthy cats home for the next days fish fry.
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Oh great , I tried to go through and thank everyone for the time you all put in to answer this question for me and then the post disappeared... It was really a good thank you to all... Sorry I usually like to reply to each response, but I got too far behind this time... Thank you all so much for your time and explanations... I think it looks like there is something to the light in the right circumstances, so I'll try and remember next summer and give it a try... Thanks all J
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