In our opinion it's always better to (2) lights compared to (1) light in most circumstances. Using two lights spread 3' to 4' apart will give you a much wider radius of light and will allow more fisherman to fish in different zones of the light. However, if you have a small boat many times one 100-watt AquaStar will provide sufficient light.
Using (2) lights will also let you experiment with different colors so you can see which color is attracting more bait-fish on any given night. For example, starting with one white light and one green light will let you see which light is attracting the most bait-fish at that particular time. Once you see which color is attracting the most fish, you can switch both lights to the same color.
So which lights should you use? AquaStarlights utilize "one" 100-watt halogen bulb which draw just under 8 amps. Light output will depend on the clarity of the water, but each light will normally light a 10' to 15' radius. Spreading two AquaStar lights 3' apart will produce a 15' to 30' radius of light, while using minimal battery power. In our opinion, this set up produces sufficient light and is hard to beat for most types of fishing in water up to 50' deep. The AquaStar lights are small and compact, easy to store and very bright. Also see Color for additional information.
If you have 120 volts AC available, the 300-watt or 450-watt Magnum Dock Lights are a favorite for Docks, Boats, and Piers. 120VAC lights produce 1.5 Million or 2.5 Million C.P. of light and the bulbs are easily replaced by the consumer.
We recommend using Group 27 or better Deep Cycle batteries to obtain maximum brightness on low voltage lights. WE DO NOT RECOMMEND RUNNING MORE THAN 2 LIGHTS PER BATTERY To help calculate how long the lights will run off of your battery see Run Time.
The Basics
Rods, lures, fish locator's and Underwater Lights all help increase your chances of catching your limits on a daily basis, but they are not magic. In order for lights to attract fish, there has to be fish to attract. If you have a dock that sits in 2 feet of water and you have never caught a fish in the area, chances are the lights will not be the magical solution to the problem. If the water is unsuitable to hold fish, not even lights will help lure fish into unhealthy water.
With that said though, the use of artificial light WILL attract fish to your Boat or Dock if the boat or dock is located in water capable of holding fish and if you follow the below suggestions.
THE BOAT MUST BE ANCHORED IN ORDER FOR THE LIGHTS TO ATTRACT FISH! If you are drifting, the plankton and bait-fish will never be able to gather around the light which will stop the food chain before it ever starts. ANCHOR YOUR BOAT WITH AT LEAST (1) ANCHOR AND PREFERABLE (2) ANCHORS SO IT CAN NOT PIVOT ON ONE ANCHOR LINE. The more stationery the better!
SET UP IN AN AREA WHERE THE FISH ARE! The best Lights, Lures and Boats won't help you a bit if you're not fishing in an area that holds fish. If the water is to shallow, to deep or doesn't have sufficient structure nothing will help you catch fish. This holds true when fishing from a Boat, Dock or thru the Ice! Fish ALWAYS relate to water temperature and some kind of structure. This can be a drop off adjacent to a river channel, submerged brush or even a pile of rocks. If you aren't fishing on or near some type of underwater structure your chances of attracting or catching fish are greatly reduced. Remember, 10% of the water in any lake holds 100% of the fish. The rest of the lake is dead water....with or without a light. To fish, an old river channel running through the lake is like a highway to other areas of the lake and it provides cover and different depths of water for them to forage in. Ideally, a point or a bridge that has the old river channel running adjacent to it is hard to beat. Try and find a spot on the point where there is a good drop off. If the top depth is 10' and drops to 50' very fast, you would want to set up in 15' to 25' of water to start. If you don't have any luck there, move deeper or shallower until you find the fish. Attracting bait fish is a MUST! If the bait fish do not show up in the first 30 minutes after setting your lights, move to another spot. Just because they weren't at one spot doesn't mean they won't be at another spot further down the lake. Water temperature is a key factor in attracting large numbers of bait fish. If the water temperature is below 70 degrees there will be less bait fish around the lights. As the water warms up, the bait fish begin to school up and you will attract them by the thousands around the lights.
If you are fishing from a Dock, the water around the dock has to be deep enough to hold fish. The use of lights will not attract fish to area’s that are not capable of holding fish. If you have never seen or caught fish around your dock before, lights will probably not help attract them to it.
SET THE LIGHTS AT THE PROPER DEPTH! These lights are designed to be hung off the side of a Boat, Dock, Pier or thru the Ice. There is no reason to put the lights deeper than 3' under the surface.DO NOT lower the lights to the bottom or let them lay on the bottom. If you are using the lights with a PVC stand on the bottom, you will need to set them deeper to prevent them from being damaged by watercraft.
NOTICE: If you will be using these lights off of a Dock in tidal waters, be sure and set the lights deep enough that they will not be exposed to air during low tide! The lights will be damaged if not submerged are all times!
Tip: Some fish are skittish of the bright light, so use one pole to fish directly in the light and another pole to fish on the outer edge of the light. Many times, more fish will be caught on the outer fringe of the light. This is usually always true of snook that hang around dock lights.
What We Suggest
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An Underwater Fishing Light Company, LLC
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Customer Service Hours 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM CT Monday thru Friday 785-259-1343