Thread: nightfishing with a generator

has anyone ever used a small low db generator on a boat to night fish;
i've seen them on pontoons and was wandering if the noise and vibrations
would help or hurt fishing ;i've heard mixed reveiws any help?

just bought onr for my pontoon boat . have herd the same .trumpdriver has one on his little yat . maby he can give us his answer . i plann using mine to keep the batterys charge if needed and emergency . had a man tell me he was catching fish off adock and when a pontoon pulled up they quit bitting and after they left they started again . i think in clear water to much light will drive them deeper . i was fishing around a spring where people wer using lightede corks . they said with light they would not bite .

I have a 950 watt that I use in a monark aluminum boat. It sits right on the floow of the boat. I love it. I run 2 lights with 50 watt floddlight bulbs shining over the side and I have a tall pole mounted in the front of the boat facing down inside with a 50 watt which really lights up the inside of the boat for baiting hooks etc. I still have enough power left to run a small fan or heater and also a coffee pot. They have actually drawn so much baitfish before I had to cut them off and let the bait spread out so the fish would actually bite again. I have also found that if you are not gettting hits under the lights fish just oputside the light in the shawdows. They will sometimes hide out there waiting on a stay shad.

If you have some buddies that want to go let them tie up to the front or back of your boat, hand them the extension cord and a couple of clamp on lights and everybody gets to fish:D Good luck

Get a Honda EU1000i. Sounds like a refrigerator running.

I have one that my husband bought me for Christmas. I've used it now half dozen times or so.

There are pros and cons to them, I believe. Mine is a 1100 watt small inexpensive generator.

Pros:

1- No batteries to run dead
2- plenty of power to run plenty of lights/coffee maker/etc
3- portable and easy to manage
4- Came with 2 year total replacement warranty
5- Economical
6- Takes just a little over the space of one battery

Cons:

1- Noise. The inexpensive ones are louder than say the Honda U1000. With
the Honda, we could talk and not be bothered by the noise. With
el cheapo, you won't be enjoying conversation between fishing
buddies.
This is not a problem for me. I fish alone most of the time.

2- Exhaust- Mainly making sure your exhaust isn't near something that it will
melt. You also want the outlet pointed away from anyone
fishing. The heat off of it can actually feel good on a chilly
night.

3- Mixing fuel- I don't see this as a con, but some might. For me it's easier
than dragging the charger around to the batteries.

There are nights that I would like the peace and quiet that the batteries gave. But the expense of them makes the using the generator tolerable.


Good luck!

My dad is actually considering one of the smaller Honda units right now for his pontoon boat. We do a lot of night fishing, and typically run two lanterns with two 12v DC bulbs for our lights (plus two submersible). He's hoping the generator will allow him to do away with lanterns, but I've never minded them. I just can't justify the cost of the Honda, especially considering I can use a battery for 2+ seasons. Also, they make an adapter to refill 1lb propane cylinders, which means propane will be cheaper.

I'm pretty sure he'll end up with the Honda, so I'll let you know how it works out in his pontoon boat.

I've had one experience with a generator. My dad and I were night fishing under one of the bridges in Yellow Jacket on WP, and we had our own battery powered lights out. Fishing was okay. Few crappie here and there. About midnight, a pontoon pulls up and ties off on a piling about 30 yards away from us. He cranks up his generator and WOW!!! Lights everywhere. In 30 minutes he has a whirlpool of shad around his boat...and around our boat. He's got hybrids busting them within 10 yards of his pontoon. We started slamming the crappie around our boat. We went ahead and turned our lights off, because there was plenty from his pontoon. That was hands down the best night we ever had on West Point. He created his own food chain and feeding frenzy. If I had a pontoon, I'd run a generator.

this is my genirator . made a cover for it with pockets to put the acc in .


http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...age/genirator/

I have used the small Honda 1000 with a 400 watt sodium light. This was purchased for striper fishing and catching blueback herring. It has done well for both, and it is as quiet as they come. I also used it for night fishing for crappie three times last month. I caught fish each time and had loads of bait underneath. However, I took some advice and bought a couple starfire II's to try. I've only made one trip with them but had tons of bait and caught plenty of crappie. I really liked the quiet compared to the generator hum.
This lets me know that either light setup will work, but I can't say that one is better than another. But I do know that a clip on battery light is much, much, much cheaper than a generator and sodium light!

William

Originally Posted by anchorpuller

I have one that my husband bought me for Christmas

Now if some crappie wives would just take a cue from him and buy us stuff like that:D

reckon what ya gonna git fer mama day!!!

I use the starfires. I have used 2 all night and still were very bright on one trolling battery. I just picked up 2 lawn mower batteries to use on each.. I'll let yall know when I try them out.. I have only been around 1 generator. It was on a toon under a bridge. Very loud. I was on the otherside of the cement from them and still couldn't hear myself fish. It made me very anxious, like a panic attack.. they had microwave, coffee pot and TV but it was noisey. I just left after a little while.
One of those quiet types might be easier for me to fish with.