Fishing at Night? Don’t Forget Your Fish Light!
Daytime fishing in fresh or saltwater can be an exhilarating experience, even if you don’t catch anything. The same holds true for night fishing with one possible exception. It offers a certain mystique that daytime fishing cannot parallel. It goes without saying that as a night fishing aficionado, being able to see what you’re doing is essential. In other words, you’ll need some type of lighting, but not just flashlights or lanterns so you can see what you’re doing. You should also have something to attract the fish to you such as floating lights or more importantly, the underwater fish-light.
Why submersible or underwater fishing lights?
For many years prior to the development of underwater fishing lights, the most common form of lighting that fishermen used to attract fish was some type of above-the-surface or floating light. However, there was one major disadvantage or downside to using these types of lights. They not only attracted fish, they attracted swarms of annoying insects as well. It was primarily for this reason that the submersible or underwater fish lighting was developed.
The underwater fish-light is placed beneath the surface of the water to light up the water below your boat or fishing dock. There are several versions of submersible lights that are available including 12-volt, battery powered, fluorescent, and LED models with the most common colors of light being green and white. Some models sink immediately when placed in the water while others are weighted internally. Still others sink by using a weighted swivel cup at one end of the light.
Colors that attract Fish
Most submersible or underwater fishing lights are available in two colors – green and white. However, the green underwater fish-light is consistently the most productive for the night fisherman. Basically, it’s all about reproduction and the food chain. To put this into perspective, the green light source attracts microscopic creatures known commonly as plankton (zooplankton is the technical name). These creatures migrate towards the light in order to reproduce.
As the plankton gather to procreate in the light, it attracts smaller baitfish that feed on them. In turn, while these swarms of baitfish are feeding on the plankton, it attracts the larger fish that you want to catch and make a meal out of. You can credit that green light for getting the process rolling and helping you catch your limit. Although you can use white light instead of the green, it is absorbed quicker and doesn’t penetrate as far. Consequently, it’s less effective than the green underwater fish-light.
Whether you fish from a boat or on a dock, in freshwater or saltwater, you can almost be assured of having a successful night fishing experience and bring home your limit when using underwater fishing lights.
