How underwater lights attract fish

How Many Lights Do You Need?

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?   AquaStar lights 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. Also see 120VAC lights.

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.