Night Fishing (headlamps? casting gear?)

[Woody B]

 My night vision recovers really quick after using a white light.  It seems to take forever to recover after looking into a white light.  I can turn on my head lamp, remove a fish, re tie...whatever, turn it off and I'm fine in 30 seconds.  If I accidently look directly at the white navigation light at the back of my boat I'm basically blind for a few minutes.   I bought a really tall stern light so it's above me.  This keeps me from looking directly at it.  

 

I suspect everyones eyes are different.  I've often heard that people with light colored eyes are more sensitive to light.....people with dark colored eyes aren't.  I've got fairly dark greenish brown eyes.  I rarely wear, or feel the need to wear sunglasses.  I wonder if there's a link between eye color and night vision.   I've got a couple co-workers who use headlamps while working on automobiles.  This is in a well lit shop.  I've never felt the need for a headlamp at work.   

 

 

[Crow Horse]

A  couple of suggestions based on my experience:

 

Use a red light when you need illumination. Red light  preserves night vision There's some research that indicates that mosquitos are actually attracted to the color red, so possibly a green light might be an advantage.

I recommend  using a Thermocell unit. It's extremely effective in keeping mosquitos away. The stern of my yak was covered with a carpet of mosquitos because of the white navigation light but I was basically unaffected by them.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

From my remote UAS training, it takes about 30 minutes for the average person's night vision to return to normal after being exposed to a white light. Your mileage might vary.....

 

 

[Big Hands]

On 11/13/2022 at 6:25 AM, throttleplate said:

Randy...... Randy...... ? ?

LOL, we do look more like each other than I do my own brothers. Sorry for your luck, Randy.

[Zcoker]

I'm lights out down here in the south Florida everglades. I fish solo at night out of a kayak and have three lights, one Nitecore headlight and a twin sided neck light that my wife got me off QVC. The Nitecore's aren't cheap. Then, again, if fishing at night I would suggest not skimping on the main headlamp. The Nitecore has proven itself beyond expectations both fresh and salt. Battery is a USB rechargeable and plugs directly into the battery itself, just charge in the car, always a full charge. As far as using the light, I usually flip it on when landing one of these giant everglades bass. The landing process can get totally insane and I really could care less about what the light spooks at that point lol. I ware the neck lamps as a backup; also use it for video lighting, if necessary. Other than that, I use the moonlight and the starlight and the occasional meteor shower. 

[Revival]

If you fish on the regular at night on a boat/yak/land, it’s a good idea to carry a main/back up light for multiple reasons.

 

I am a flashlight guy and I can tell you that now days you can get awesome reliable lights with multiple features that are not THAT expensive.

 

Spend the money on a good flashlight just like you would a rod/reel/lures.

[Big Hands]

22 minutes ago, Revival said:

If you fish on the regular at night on a boat/yak/land, it’s a good idea to carry a main/back up light for multiple reasons.

 

I am a flashlight guy and I can tell you that now days you can get awesome reliable lights with multiple features that are not THAT expensive.

 

Spend the money on a good flashlight just like you would a rod/reel/lures.

I have redundant lights for my redundant lights, and I usually have a couple more light sources on board as a back up to my redundant lights. . . . just in case.

 

At a minimum, I carry these while night fishing:

• 1 @ Bow light
• 1 @ Rear navigation light
• 3 @ Milwaukee M12 work lights (3 different styles) and
• Way more Milwaukee M12 batteries for the work lights than I could possibly use
• 2 @ headlamps (for me)
• 2 @ headlamps (for my passenger)
• 2 @ Cyalume glow sticks (required by our County overlords)
• 1 @ Q-Beam spot light
• 1 @ Submersible 'crappie light' (I had 2, but I recently gave one away)

I don't want to be lit up like a Christmas tree, but I also don't want to need light and not have it be available.

[frenchy]

Minimal light as others stated, go by feel to prevent backlash which means a lot of practice and time on the water

 

[Mr. Aquarium]

I rarely turn on my head lamp. Sometimes I go with out it!  I can see pretty good at night. I don’t have gators, bears, wild cats, or snakes to worry about!  I do turn it on for walking or tying knots. But it stays off most of the time.

 

i also use a bait caster for jigs and big swimbaits after dark. Never had a problem with casting them! 

[PressuredFishing]

1 hour ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

I can see pretty good at night

Yeah, turning it on you almost loose more vision than gained, hard to explain but... yeah

[flyfisher]

On 11/11/2022 at 6:16 PM, PUTitinYOURmouthFISH said:

For any of you who night fish do you always have a light on?

 

Do lights cause less bites or spook fish?

 

How do you time stopping the lure at entry with a baitcaster?

 

I try to avoid lights and I'm torn between dealing with backlash sometimes or buying gear solely for night fishing.

 

I do a lot of night fishing and never have a light on.  You would be shocked at how well your eyes adjust if you let them.  As far as tying on baits etc.....i usually take out a few rods pre rigged to lessen the needs for retying but it does happen and when it does I use a headlamp with either a red or green light as dim as possible to not mess with night vision.  I will flick on the regular beam at times for navigation if needed but not normally and I also fish from a kayak.

[Mr. Aquarium]

6 hours ago, PressuredFishing said:

Yeah, turning it on you almost loose more vision than gained, hard to explain but... yeah

It blinds you!