Night time kayak fishing?

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Moda
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Night time kayak fishing?

Post by Moda »

I was wanting to know if you would have to have a light on your kayak when fishing at night, If so what kind of light?

Thanks for your help
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Crusader
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Re: Night time kayak fishing?

Post by Crusader »

Well, for starters, after sunset (and before sunrise) you HAVE to have a 360 light or you will be fined (or killed, as happened to one guy not so long ago). Law is rather specific on how that light should look like -- check related info in related places.

In terms of other light sources: headlamp, LED strip glued to the hull (crappie fishing/etc), floating lamp (that beams light down), even front mounted gigging lights -- take your pick.
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Neumie
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Re: Night time kayak fishing?

Post by Neumie »

Moda wrote:I was wanting to know if you would have to have a light on your kayak when fishing at night, If so what kind of light?

Thanks for your help
You need a 360 degree white light any time you're on the water between sunset and sunrise. Make sure it's tall enough so your head/body doesn't block it from any angle.

A headlamp is good as well.
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Re: Night time kayak fishing?

Post by SWFinatic »

I know it's a pain to carry a bunch of extra gear on a kayak but IMO most 360 lights alone are far from adequate other than making you legal. From a boaters perspective in the dark it's really hard to see one small white light and know it's a kayak especially when there's background lighting from street lights, business, etc. These lights reflect off the water and make it hard to identify a kayak light. I recommend carrying a handheld spot light in addition to having the 360 light. When you hear a boat coming you can briefly shine your light at them until they know you're there. A headlamp is also good to have for a number of reasons. I have green LED's on one of my yaks that also helps.
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Ron Mc
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Re: Night time kayak fishing?

Post by Ron Mc »

quoted myself from another thread - two products that do everything you need, a 360 light and a great headlamp
Ron Mc wrote:obviously, anyone who already has a 12v system, KB's trail is probably the best to follow

considering light output, battery size and life, LED is without doubt the way to go on a stand-alone stern light - simply bang for buck with buck including weight you need to haul. Canny's light ought to go 100+ hours on AAA batteries.
I'm going to 5v USB on everything I possibly can. A 24 A-h Li-ion battery pack/ portable charger weighs about 10 oz. and will charge a week's worth of hand-held electronics.
It's only a matter of time until marine electronics figure this out and move forward with 5v systems, and away from car batteries.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MT ... UTF8&psc=1

From a decade ago, have one of the old Scotty flashlight-battery kayak stern lights - the only good thing about it is the way it mounts - it won't keep a battery using its tungsten-filament incandescent bulb, and it's about as bright as a lightning-bug.

showing a commercial LED kayak stern light that's similar to Canny's great idea, last mod on my Kestrel was replacing two of the stern-netting tiedown panheads with the M5 eye bolts I had for the trolley front end.
Image
This lets me easily attach my Kayalite to the boat
Image
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003G ... UTF8&psc=1

also, here's the kayalite rigged to stand on a milk crate
Image
In theory, the headlight alone makes you legal, but the 360-lite is smart, and the combo is unbeatable for ease and effective.
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impulse
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Re: Night time kayak fishing?

Post by impulse »

All vessels including motorboats, canoes, paddle craft, kayaks, punts, rowboats,
rubber rafts, or other vessels when not at dock must have and exhibit at least one
bright light, lantern or flashlight visible all around the horizon from sunset to sunrise
in all weather and during restricted visibility.


Source: https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwd ... 0_0001.pdf

That TPWD rule differs from USCG regulations that only require kayaks to have a light at the ready. Staying on the water in Sea Isle, I'd say that about 2/3 of the kayakers who fish in our lights display no lights. Which is bad for several reasons. 1) It's illegal and they could be fined. 2) It's dangerous because there are a lot of high speed boats whizzing by right outside the canal. 3) A lot of the neighbors are justifiably suspicious that anyone with no lights is up to no good, since there are occasional thefts of kayaks and other goodies.

Edit: I'd add that I'm surprised that more waders don't get wiped out because I've seen so many of them in the water 100+ yards away from their boats, with absolutely no lights to keep shallow running boats from plowing into them. I'm forecasting some tragic results unless some rules are passed for waders to display lights after dark.
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Ron Mc
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Re: Night time kayak fishing?

Post by Ron Mc »

impulse wrote:...
Edit: I'd add that I'm surprised that more waders don't get wiped out because I've seen so many of them in the water 100+ yards away from their boats, with absolutely no lights to keep shallow running boats from plowing into them. I'm forecasting some tragic results unless some rules are passed for waders to display lights after dark.
We were runing St Jo shore across Aransas Bay one morning at the crack of dawn, saw ahead what I thought were crab trap floats, and made a hard sweep toward deeper water in the last seconds. There were waders with barely their shoulders above the water. Really stupid. They too had to cross Aransas Bay in a power boat, beach it, and choose to wade that far from shore and that f'n deep in barely daylight. To find Fence Lake, I always split the heading to Long Reef, turn down the shore and look for the cut at the fence. Someone running straight across the bay wouldn't have seen them at all with the sunrise in their face.
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Re: Night time kayak fishing?

Post by shoffer »

impulse wrote:Staying on the water in Sea Isle, I'd say that about 2/3 of the kayakers who fish in our lights display no lights. Which is bad for several reasons. 1) It's illegal and they could be fined. 2) It's dangerous because there are a lot of high speed boats whizzing by right outside the canal. 3) A lot of the neighbors are justifiably suspicious that anyone with no lights is up to no good, since there are occasional thefts of kayaks and other goodies.


Hi, Impulse. Thanks for chiming in.

We fish Sea Isle quite a bit. So first, thanks for leaving your lights on and being a great neighbor.

Second, you are right. On the weekends, especially holiday weekends, there can be copious boat traffic. We try to limit our outings to weekdays for that very reason. I always wondered if homeowners were suspicious with yaks traveling down their canals, but I have never seen a 360 light be suggested as a way to dispel that suspicion. So thanks for that suggestion. I will keep mine on at all times so as not to make your neighbors nervous, even though it is pretty bright.
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Re: Night time kayak fishing?

Post by Ron Mc »

This thread has been idle too long.
A tip about night-time fishing. Constant casting will send the fish looking for the next light.
Best to watch the surface action for active feeding - jumping bait, slashes, and focus cast to the action.
The more stealth you use, the more fish you'll catch.
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