underwater lights????

[boblee]

today i talked to one of the old-timers at the bait store and he told me that back in his crappie days they used to submerge several lights around their fishing holes and he swears that they caught more crappies and walleyes that way than any other way.  Now I will try this because I'm curious now, but i was wondering has anybody else heard or tried this method

[bucketmouth]

Baitfish are attracted to the light for sure, hence the presence of gamefish as well.  Check your local regs, I know here in Ontario it's illegal to shine fish whether from above or submerged.

[Skipper]

Light attracts plankton, plankton attracts baitfish, baitfish attract predators, so in theory it works. It is unlawful to use lights to attract fish in Minnesota to.

[ice dawg]

I put a pie tin like you get when you buy a frozen pie at the store on the top of a gas lantern to reflect the light down. I set it about six feet from my ice house door after clearing the snow away. I have the right to be able to see when I walk outside at night. If it happens to light the water around my shack a bit it can't be helped. 

[Mainehazmt]

I tryed it all last year   lights above in and around   alas  no luck     totally skunked last year   figures   no law against fishing with lights in maine 

[rondog]

I've tried it Smelt fishing at night and caught fish,but I've done just as well without the lights.I've tried it for Crappies and YUP it draws bugs.

[Chris Raymond]

Use them smelt fishing all the time.  Careful about the florescent/florescent type lights.  They have low battery drain but they mess with the vex. 

[IceholeFisherman]

Light attracts plankton, plankton attracts baitfish, baitfish attract predators, so in theory it works. It is unlawful to use lights to attract fish in Minnesota to.

Keep a close eye on your regulators guys and gals. In the future, they might determine that Techniglow glow bait you are using as an artificial light source and make them illegal also. Who knows what idiocy they our politicians will come up with next.  No such laws in Ohio yet for using lighting.

[Skipper]

Keep a close eye on your regulators guys and gals. In the future, they might determine that Techniglow glow bait you are using as an artificial light source and make them illegal also. Who knows what idiocy they our politicians will come up with next.  No such laws in Ohio yet for using lighting.

They are actually loosening laws up here in Mn. You can now use lighted lures as long as the battery doesn't contain mercury.
Mn has always been a little over the top with their regulations. You no longer need a permit for a portable fish house either as long as you don't leave it. They are however working on a lead ban.......

[Walltrout]

I tried a floating light last year for ling fishing.  It is like a headlight with a styrofoam housing.  It didn't make any noticeable difference.  I think it would have worked better in shallower water.  We were fishing about 25 feet. 

[esox13]

I have been using lights for a few years now and also have been experimenting with different colors (red, white and green). The results have been mixed, but we have tracked the productivity since using them and we have found our average catch is up. Now, with that being said there are a lot of factors that go into that - temp, time of year, pre freeze water conditions etc... I am certainly going to continue to use them if for no other reason than it is a great conversation piece with others on the ice.

[icy mike]

I talked to a guy years back that swore about using lights.  He told me that he would drill a hole with his 10" auger (but not all the way through) and place a lantern in the hole.  I would guess that you would need at least 15" of ice. 

I have had good success with glow jigs and spoons.  I keep a flash light handy and "charge" the lure every 15-20 minutes or so.  Seems to work pretty good.

Icy Mike

[amortec]

Many years ago I came across an older fellow one late winter afternoon, this was back before two lines were allowed on the ice ...any way as the sun went down I was packing it up to head home and he asked why I would leave when things were just about to get going? He had drilled three holes the center one was about a foot deep where a shingle mantel Coleman lantern was placed and  as the sun went down the crappie action really picked up he fished on one side me on the other side and believe me one line was all a person needed. About an half hour latter I found out why he wanted me to stay, the heat from the lamp melts the ice .. the soup can....... their was no way he could have bailed out the water from the light hole, and got back up to sit on his pail. After school the next day I was at the sports shop checking out the cost of a Coleman lamp thats when some one told me don't get caught ..... sure did work Great!

[WANNAKETCHUM]

I bought one of those "Green" submersible tube lights last summer and haven't tried it yet but I'm gonna definitely try it this year. One Sunday afternoon last February the wife and I (and the dog) fished a small private lake near home and it was pretty windy when we got there so I put up the portable ice shanty for her and the dog to hang out in while I stayed outside moving around and hunting fish. I was doing pretty good on Crappies and Gills and she was only catching a fish here and there. As the sun started going down I lit up a Coleman lantern for her and hung it from one of the top braces of the shanty. Just a little while later, I called over and asked how she was doing....she said I'm getting a lot of hits but I miss a lot cause the dog wants to be on her lap or looking down the hole when she's bringing in a fish, or wanting to grab the fish, Etc., Etc. So I went into the shanty with her and we started hammering the Crappie ( when we could keep the dog out of the way)....I think it was because the light was being concentrated down into the holes I had drilled because the Crappie were swarming just a few feet under the surface......

P.S.
Don't take a Jack Russel Terrier ice fishing with you!!!!!!!!!!! ...WK

[ice dawg]

my son brought his GF's Jack Russel on the ice one time and the first thing she did was step in a hole. Good thing it was a 6" hole and not a 10" as the ice was only about 5" thick.

[Mainehazmt]

Baitfish are attracted to the light for sure, hence the presence of gamefish as well.  Check your local regs, I know here in Ontario it's illegal to shine fish whether from above or submerged.

well wouldnt using cameras with led lights  or infared lights   be wrong to?   

[ice dawg]

Fish can't see infrared lights and the game warden can't either. They are invisible.

[Mainehazmt]

Ive been looking at getting one of those lights you lower down the hole  even has a rattler built right in   12 volt small bulb and for less than 20 bucks  I might give it a try    anybody try that yet?  I tryed last year lowering a flashlight down   but the cold killed the batteries quick

[Chris Raymond]

Ive been looking at getting one of those lights you lower down the hole  even has a rattler built right in   12 volt small bulb and for less than 20 bucks  I might give it a try    anybody try that yet?  I tryed last year lowering a flashlight down   but the cold killed the batteries quick

The main one I use for smelt is like that.  Has a little whole in the cover to let water in to keep the bulb cooler.  If so, you're looking at probably between an hour and two of run time on the usual 7 amp 12 volt jelpacks.  They eat batteries hard.  If you're hauling your gear with an ATV, your best bet will be to use a deep cycle marine battery.  When walking, I carry two jelpacks and I can easily outfish the batteries.  From then on, I'm running only on what light my lantern throws down the hole and the fishing success drops off quickly.  The flourescent (sp?) light don't eat batteries nearly so hard but as I mentioned earlier, they throw off a lot of interference that my Vez cannot clean up. 

[Mainehazmt]

they throw off a lot of interference that my Vez cannot clean up. 

hmmm  something I had not thought of   and Im a big fan of compact floresent lightbulbs   esp in my portable ( worried about melting the cover)and to be a new vex owner Ill have to change my thoughts on lighting

[nd.walleye]

Who needs light in the shanty anyway - i use a small camp lantern for inside the shack for setup - after that its just me and the darkness (or the light off the camera's TV) - I've never tried lights under the ice - but after all of this i might give it a shot if its not illegal in ND.

[Chris Raymond]

hmmm  something I had not thought of   and Im a big fan of compact floresent lightbulbs   esp in my portable ( worried about melting the cover)and to be a new vex owner Ill have to change my thoughts on lighting

MH--I don't have rope lightening in my shanty but I'm guessing by the lack of comments on the issue this doesn't present the problem that a submerged flouro light seems to.  Obviously with the transducer in the same medium as the light itself, the opportunity for feedback would be greater. 

NDW--I only use lights for smelt fishing at night (I don't intentionally fish for smelt during the day) and I've found they help considerably. 

[nd.walleye]

I've actually never done any smelt fishing - we use to net them back in the day - but the corp has screwed up the big lake so much its not an option anymore - we need all the forage fish we can get - poor Sak is hurtin this year.

[WANNAKETCHUM]

The one I bought(and haven't used yet) is made by Optronics. It's a 18" long green submersible light. The package says it draws one amp/hr. and the bulb life is supposed to be 5000 hrs. I plan on drilling a hole for it outside the shanty so I will be fishing on the perifery of the light and not right next to it. Just have to wait and see how it works. ....WK

[IceholeFisherman]

Fish can't see infrared lights and the game warden can't either. They are invisible.

Mr game warden certainly can see it if he has night vision at his disposal. Illuminators for night vision rifle scopes  and binoculars use IR light.

[WANNAKETCHUM]

P.S.
Don't take a Jack Russel Terrier ice fishing with you!!!!!!!!!!! ...WK

Here's why I say that...LOL... WK

[CTFishes]

Here in CT I use lights year round at night.Some of my friends have even wired lights on timers to the undersides of their docks.

I use Aquastar submersible halogens with 15' cords.  Here is a link to the lights I use :http://www.fishinglightsetc.com/Products.html

The greens seems to work best for me.But different colors will work with different water clarity.

Here in CT the dominant forage fish is alewife/herring.We use the lights to attract schools of herring which in turn draw in the big trout and other game fish.We also catch the herring to use as bait.

I like to set 3 lights out just below the ice in a triangle with 10' in between each light. I than jig in the middle of my lights and set tip ups or dead sticks on the outside of the lights. Works great for winter smelting as well as trout and calicos.

I also use my lights over the side of the boat during open water at night.

I am a firm believer in lights and have 6 of them now.

Only drawback is the deep cycle batteries are cumbersome to deal with,but the end result is worth it.

Nothing beats being on the water/ice at night when all the yahoo's have gone to bed LOL  I do get the occasional person walking out to find out how I am making the ice glow LOL

[Pork Rind]

Does that Jack smell fish?  I have 3 of them maybe I can train them

[WANNAKETCHUM]

If the fish smelled like "mice" or any other rodent....she would probably be great at sniffing them out! Other than that she just likes to have her nose into everything....like a little kid...LOL... WK

[ice dawg]

Mr game warden certainly can see it if he has night vision at his disposal. Illuminators for night vision rifle scopes  and binoculars use IR light.

How far do ya suppose he will have to stick his head under water???