Fishing at night

[polyphonic]

O.K. Awoonga is only a few weeks away and I'm planning on doing some fishing in the small hours.

I have done no fishing at night with the boat. I have the led head lamps and the good old dolphin torch from my land based days.

Will the dolphin be enough to see where I'm going or am I better off getting a portable spot light like the use for hunting?

Just thinking of driving around in the dark in unfamilar waters.

[Ash]

Mate depending on the moon phase, you may be better off with no spottie etc. I find your night vision kicks in well enough most times, and having a light tends to make it harder to see. Im mean u can see directly infront of you, or where ever you point your light, but you cant see squat outside that beam. Not to mention the possibility of blinding oncoming boaters too! I take a dolphin for landing the fish, or if im edging in towards snags, but thats it.

[chubbstar]

It's scary going out for the first time in the dark. I'm still new to this type of fishing but this is what I've been told.

Fish you're intended night spot during the day a couple of times first to get an idea of the area.

When traveling you're boat speed should be just on plaining.

I dont go to far out because at night the beacon lights blend into the shore lights and makes navigation very difficult.

The best thing you can have is a GPS to help with this problem.

Oh and guys I was told that red lights in you're boat are better than normal white/blue. The red spectrum disapates into the night faster, Dont spook the fish as easy.

As I said I'm new to night fishing so I'll be keeping an eye on this post for more tips also.

Hope this helps poly

[Gazza]

Depends on alot of things some already mentioned

Re: Spotlight If going into open water with no marks a spotlight is useless

If in a river or close to banks of a dam I'd certainly pack one to help find suitable snags and for safety avoiding hazards

I wouldn't go into blue water without a Gps or compass as it's very difficult to get a bearing who said sight was over rated :silly:

in the bay there are plenty of marks to navigate by but a depth sounder is a must.

Hope that helps

Gaz

ps I think a sounder would be handy in all night fishing

[Terry H]

As chubbster said - red lights don't affect your 'night vision' as much as white lights. You won't be able to see as much as if you had a white light on, but you'll be able to see, and still be able to see outside the red beam of light.

[Gazza]

Light force have a good range of light with snap on filters (red is one color) I have a 240 blitz with red filter for Fox shooting foxes cant see red light :silly:

Gaz

[Do$tylz]

^^^ fox shooting????? another pastime of yours Gaz?...where do you go for that?

[ellicat]

I'll say it before someone else does -

Wear the fox hat :laugh:

[Feral]

Awoonga has a reputation for idiots running without Nav lights, hand held spotty should do the job. I've got one from Big W , it was quite cheap.

[Gazza]

Not done any up here yet but will be soon when i get my shooter's licence fixed up and purchase a nice new 220 swift to replace my 22 250 pigs not the ones in blue booty lmao goats etc watch out Gazza is getting ready

I had a very sad day and sold my Browning under and over cost 3500 my much loved 22.250 and bruno 22 and a heap more to finance my move up here as I was told by my brother inlaw that the laws suck and too much of of a bother

On the brighter side now when I can get some new rifles :woohoo:

[Angus]

My godfathers proeprty is up at Moura and we used to get a lot pigs there. My preference was a 222. However he also had a lever action 30 30 which im not going to lie was a lot of fun

There was a lot of boarders at my school as well, most from out Warwick and Killarney way. Plenty of red foxes out there. Not to mention rabbits and hares which can be quite fun in the back of a ute with a 3-10 shotty or stalking with a 22.

Angus

P.S. Sorry for going slightly off topic.

My opinion with night fishing is simple. Id prefer to catch slighty less fish but have lights and avoid someone plowing into you. On a dam fished as heavily as Awoonga it must happen.

Angus

[Gazza]

Waiting on a inheritance soon I hope

it is getting close damm German law system

but that will see my boat and guns restored to their former glory as one of my other passions aside from fishing and Riding big bikes fast is shooting

and the hunting will begin again

[Angus]

Gazza wrote:

Waiting on a inheritance soon I hope

it is getting close damm German law system

but that will see my boat and guns restored to their former glory as one of my other passions aside from fishing and Riding big bikes fast is shooting

and the hunting will begin again

\"But your honour, i was wearing the blaklava because it was cold\"

Just jokes Gazz. Maybe we should open a shooting thread up in general chat

Angus

[Cowfish13]

I would difinately try to get a red light. I've got a head lamp with a red LED and other white ones and the red is really good when you don't want to interfere with you normal night vision.

[kiara_poltegerist]

hi there polyphonic. generally for my night fishing, i prefer to keep lights to a minimum; a small torch or something to bait up and to get tackle sorted out, coz like Ash said, the light kills your night vision. even with a dolphin, i doubt you'd be able to see very far ahead of you anyway. Some of our boys up at our monkey resort do use handheld lamps tho, but they're the type that need to be powered by a car or motorcycle battery. Those lights are a different story completely tho

dont leave home without your GPS tho, even with landmarks to take a fix on, drift is alot less noticeable at night, not to mention the hazards of running into sandbanks and whatnot that you'd have noted and usually noticed during the day.

running around should be quite ok as long as your nav lights are on i guess. good luck and have fun!

[Schultzy]

Jamie,

After spending many hundreds of hours on Awoonga at night let me try to enlighten you (pun intended)

I always have my nav lights on after dark, even when anchored. Stops dumb-ar5es running over you.

When trolling, even in very shallow water I have my stern light on as well. No, it doesn't scare the barra.

I troll by ambient light and the glow given off by the red and green nav lights mounted on my bow rails; no torch, head light or spotty on while trolling.

GPS is a godsend for Awoonga at night (and everywhere else). There are some low points that stick out a long way that have claimed boats in the dark.

Learn how to turn down the backlight on your sounder screen. Too bright and you won't be able to see past it.

Never run at speed without a spotty in your hand. I carry two of those cheap rechargable ones form the auto shops. Go for the 250,000 candle power rather than 500,000 or greater. The battery lasts longer on the smaller power version. I leave mine off but have it in hand, ready to light up the bank if I'm running close or to light up aforementioned dumb ar5es who insist on running without a stern light or worse with no lights at all.

I use an LED head light and a conventional torch for landing, unhooking fish. Sometimes also use the spotty for tracking a fish's progress through the sticks.

Hope this helps.

[Feral]

These lights I keep permanently in my boat. Spotlight for finding things at night, cost me under $20 on special at Big W.

and a 3LED wind up light to meet my general safety obligation (Signal device for night), got it for fathers day. Not a bad little torch really, 30 seconds of winding, gives 30 minutes of light. I wound it up 3 weeks ago and it still works when I switch it on.

[rayke1938]

As Shultzy says do NOT even concider running around without your riding and nav lights on at Awoonga ir any else.

It is amazing the number of people who troll up there without any lights on at all.

They get very indignant when you light them up with your spotty.

There are also a lot of drongos who get around up there full chat with no lights on so make certain your all round white light is truely all round.

Ie mounted up nice and high so that it is not obscured by someone standing in front of it.

Do not be afraid to shine your torch or spotty if someone is approaching you dont have to show it directly at them for them to be aware that you are there.IMO that it is better to cop a bit of a mouthfull rather than be run down.

Cheers

Ray

I have a led type white light that is still visible for a long way but doesnt dazzle me whilst driving.

Cheers

Ray

[Feral]

Yeah I am going to stick a second light up the front of my boat, before going to Awoonga. Currently my \"all round white\" is also my stern light, and is easily obscured by someone moving in the boat from the front.

[polyphonic]

Thanks heaps to every one who replied.

Might head out and get a little spottie like Ferals as I dont want to leave the Mrs without a torch while I'm away. As soon as I do the power will go and I will hear the abuse from Awoonga.:laugh:

Cheers.

[reef_raider]

you could just go all out and buy night vision equipment, e.g goggles... dads uncle in tasmania is certain there are still tasmanian tigers (thylacenes) out and regularly goes out looking with night vision goggles and a night vision video camera.

by the way, they have some evidence that convinced me but apparently not enough to make it a certainty that there still is some

[Feral]

Supercheap have rechargeable handheld spotlights on sale for $16.99, almost the same as mine above. 500,000 candlepower (just change to a smaller bulb if you want the battery to last longer)

[namyau]

gotta be careful - mine blew up - it doesnt work or charge anymore - dont know what happened and i cbf to exchange it cos it was so cheap and also cos i cant find the receipt -but yeah at that price its ok to break a few and not have a cry about it

[rayke1938]

Re navigation lights Whitworths have led port and starboard lights on special for $29.90 and 360 degree pole mounted all round lights for $34.90. These are a bargain and will reduce your battery consumption by around 90% which means you can leave them on all night without having to worry about having a flat battery in the morning.

Cheers

Ray

[Brian D]

Not that I can see at night but I use a head lamp. I got those that spot or flood. I also use fluro deck lights that light up boat work area. My anchor light is adjustable hight so this helps as well (good for squiding). My travel lights are standard. But like I say I can't see at night anymore so I do very little night fishing.:S

I like what Schultzy says about the GPS but I might add just make sure you use and trust your sounder. But above all do not travel too fast at night. Because my eyes are so bad I use \"instruments only\" at night. Scary thought but it's OK.

[Lozzel]

Brian , Scary all right :ohmy: I know I've been out in the DARK with you.

Now Where are those Markers.

[Brian D]

It's ok now Loz - New sounder and I learnt how to use the GPS:blush: :S .

Day light or night, land or sea I still get lost.:blush: :dry:

[Feral]

Brian, you probably have mild astigmatism, with Astigmatism your vision gets worse as the light fades. (Thats why I wear the \"coke bottles\", first sign I need a new glasses script - the night vision goes)

[Fisher_90]

I have astigmitsim, long sight goes blurry and night vision is generally allround sh*t