[Richard]

What do you use for a head torch at night for lure/ fly fishing...
Bright?
Led?
Red Light?
Or what?

 

[Matt Newcombe]

No light at all mate. I've not lure fished properly at night, but know to keep lights away from the water. Someone had a good idea of using a glow stick for changing lures etc.

 

[Adrian]

for areas I know really well or where there is lots of ambient light, I use one of the little LED baseball cap lights. For more exposed and "dodgy" areas, I have a petzl myo XP. literally "brilliant". As Matt says, I don't shine the light on the water although a mate of mine does and his catch rate doesn't seem to suffer much.

 

[Ger Doran]

Ah....dunner on kai is it?

The short answer imo is very little light if any at all. Get your gear organised so you know where to find everything and travel lightweight be familiar of your marks so you have very little need to use any light. I carry a cheap energizer led(but use it very very little).... Apparently green is the colour to go for?

 

[Tom Massey]

IIRC, red light is at the end of the spectrum where it will travel thorugh water(or anything else) the least distance, compared to blue (violet) light at the other end of the spectrum which will travel much further.


I've got a headlamp (from wilkinson's £3.99) that has 2 white LEDs for seeing stuff when you need to and a red LED for the rest of the time so you can make out outlines/distances (don't fall off the cliff beh!).

 

[Keith White]

Carry 2 lights for safety.
1 red, 1 white.

Make sure the red light is diffused and the white light gives a wide spread and depth for rock hopping.

Only use lights whenever absolutely needed.

 

[Dave Fitzpatrick]

I use a cheap Energizer 7 LED Headlight myself and it does the job, its got a couple of different modes one of which is a red 'night vision' light and the others are white beam and floodlight modes. I just like that fact that's its cheap and has both the red light and white beam/floodlight, although that said the way it cycles through the modes is a pain in the ass and as a result I may end up getting a separate red light at some point. The only other thing I'd say is always bring a back up light with you, batteries die, lights pack up and even the most familiar marks can become disorientating in the dark.

 

[Mike Sullivan]

well i carry a pair os smalle petzl's in white and red. Mainly as back up use red light mostly though this said when changeing flies lures ect i have allways crouched down with my head low facing away from the water shadowing the light away from the water to mimimize spooking ect.
hope this helps

 

[Ben Field]

Only slightly related but when I was out for a quick dusk/dark session, I was fishing the rocks to one side of a beach, below a well known b**t fishing mark. In good conditions and having had two quick fish, I was quite chuffed that things were going so well. Just after my second fish though I was drawn to the bright light shining over the water on my left hand side, slightly around the corner. "There can't be a boat this close to shore?!....". It was THAT bright, and getting closer... Two minutes later and after much confusion, the owner of the Worlds brightest headtorch reached the rocks above my position and proceeded to tackle up whilst surveying every bit of water within 200 yards for a likely 'watery(?)' looking spot. I admit, I have no idea what he thought he was actually looking for, but either way, that was the end of the fishing - despite trying - they definitely weren't at close range like they were. The poor chap (queue fake sympathy) had obviously spent a LOT of money on something so powerul but had also scared every fish in the bay most of the way across the Atlantic.

It wasn't until that night that I first laughed about the unsuitableness(?) of some of the headtorches anglers are flogged for silly money. I used to really want one back in the day! It might be the novelty factor of being able to survey the other side of any beach while you're stood in the dark doing nothing, but its hugely unlikely to help you in catching any fish? Unless you want to cast miles?! What is the need for a light that shines past your rod tip? Even that far? Even when walking home in pitch black I've never needed intense brightness past about 10 foot. Like Keith says, it makes sense to carry a light (or two) of two colours (white for walking home, red for close range), or even just a glow stick for the simple tasks as Mark points out, but 500m visibility is a preferrence because?........ Is me moaning about this a bit like the other side moaning about red rods? Am I missing something?

Sorry for the semi-rant. It just reminded me of the 'boat' incident.

For me, Having lost my small Petzl, I've been using a small torch and just turning around and keeping low every time I've needed to do anything. Its not ideal, but I does the job for the few sessions I have these days.

 

[Dave Irving]

I carry a small head torch with red and white lights, and a small back up + batteries for both. I have stuck a semi opaque bit of tape over the red lens to damped the light down a bit more. I only want just enough lure to tie a knot or clip a lure. Totally agree with turning your back to the fishing area is possible.
Most of the time I don't use any light as many of my marks have some light from the shore line, which even a few hundred yeards is more than enough for my needs.

 

[Matt Newcombe]

Lol. Cold in the shop today is it??

The guy was obviously a mobile light house can't fault him for thinking of the safety of ships and on a plus side, if he didn't catch any fish, he didn't kill them and take them home.

 

[Adrian]

I agree with the general comments of only using a light bright enough for what you need to do and not to shine it on the water but, like I said in my earlier post, my mate thinks different. Sometimes he intentionally shines his light down on the water as he brings his lure up under the rod tip and he can see the fish (pollack) take the lure in the light of his headlight. Maybe it's different for bass?

I did have some tw*t with a zillion candle power light take great pleasure in showing me all the pike lying on the bottom of the canal one evening when I was night luring for them, needless to say none of them were interested in my lure after he'd left.

 

[Keith White]

Sometimes he intentionally shines his light down on the water as he brings his lure up under the rod tip and he can see the fish (pollack) take the lure in the light of his headlight. Maybe it's different for bass?

It is 99.99% of the time.

Some fish will hold like lamped rabbits in a strong light but move it away from them even for a split second and they'll be off like a rifle bullet.
Lights and night lure fishing for Bass mix like oil and water. The rare times you can get away with it are....

using fixed light (tilley etc) and bait fishing outside light range or, around already high ambient lighting, like a busy harbour. Even then, Bass will follow the shadow line just like under bright full moonlight. On that note, bright full moon light isn't too bad as long as the overall lux level of your light doesn't exceed the moon. Still, I wouldn't rely on it.

To be frank, your mate is likely wrong in this case.

 

[Adrian]

To be frank, your mate is likely wrong in this case.

I've seen him do it, stood next to me on a quay. I'm not saying it's a good idea to, just that, as with most things, there's usually an exception that proves the rule

 

[Keith White]

I've seen him do it, stood next to me on a quay.

Yes, maybe, but as you said, with Pollack, not Bass.

 

[Adrian]

Yes, maybe, but as you said, with Pollack, not Bass.

Maybe? :shock:

You might remember that I posted a catch report sometime ago when I went fishing with my mate (same one, I do have more than 1 mate though), and his son. My mate had 25 bass, his son had 15, and I followed up the rear with 12 (or numbers like that). His son hadn't fished that mark before and it was pitch black, fairly shallow, sandy bottom but with strong flow. he was a little nervous about wading for the first time in the dark and so kept his headlight on virtually the whole time (cant blame him really although I took them to this place which is fairly safe). We were spaced about 20ft apart. I think he had his personal best lure bass too, 4-4 I think it was.

So, although I advocate not shining lights on the water, it didn't have much of an adverse effect that night ;-)

 

[Keith White]

fair enough. I've never experienced that and have in fact, experienced the exact opposite on loads of occasions early in our night lure years.

However, if it happened, it happened. Can't and won't argue the point for the sake of it.

 

[Richard]

I use a cheap Energizer 7 LED Headlight myself and it does the job, its got a couple of different modes one of which is a red 'night vision' light and the others are white beam and floodlight modes. I just like that fact that's its cheap and has both the red light and white beam/floodlight, although that said the way it cycles through the modes is a pain in the ass and as a result I may end up getting a separate red light at some point. The only other thing I'd say is always bring a back up light with you, batteries die, lights pack up and even the most familiar marks can become disorientating in the dark.

Yes... thats the one i use... but one red led has died... so thats the one i will replace it with...
Thanks lads for the replies.....

 

[andy cottam]

Have a look at www.ledco.co.uk, i've got and use the LED-LENSER 'Aviator' model for all my night-time sea trout fishing. It has 5 white light Led's for general use and a single red LED for use in the dark so as to not ruin your night vision.