Originally Posted by
Moose1am
I recently have been reading about fishing for crappie at night in this forum. So I finally broke down and purchased a quartz type DC powered 250,000Million Candle Powered Light. I have not had a chance to use it yet. I hate bugs and I need to get me one of those black lights to use in the boat. I also will have to get a new battery to power all this new stuff. I will most likely have to get one of the optima type yellow top batteries for this extra stuff. Either than or I may get one of those portable charger units that come with the power inverter built into the unit itself. That way I can watch TV if the fishing gets boring LOL. Those portable charger units come in different styles. Some come with a power inverter that provides AC power off the lead acid batteries. Some have buillt in lights and air pumps. All have a DC power outlet where you can plug in a cigarette lighter like plug to get DC power for your stuff. I saw Jerry Blake using one last November at the TeeZur Crappie Fishing tournament. He was using it to power his DC electric Filet knife and it appeared to get the job done. And if your boat battery or truck battery ever needs a jump start these things come with built in jumper cables too. For $100.00 it's a good thing to have around especially for night fishing trips. I need one that can power the black night and my sinking fishing attractor light.
I think there is a article about night fishing for crappie in the Crappie World Summer Special Issue this year.
I have the Brinkman Starfire II light for my boat now.
I also purchased one of those coleman propane lanterns (regular size) and then one of the coleman small portable propane lanterns. I took them over to the fishing lake and got them going and man the bugs came from miles around. I covered my entire body with DEEP WOODS OFF and it paid off. The mosquitoes buzzed around me and one got inside my truck while I was trying to read the instructions on how to put the lantern together. I was trying to read by the dome light and swat at that darn mosquito at the same time. LOL I finally got the lantern put together and I think that the mosquito finally flew out of my truck cab. There is nothing more annoying than having a tiny mosquito buzzing around your head when trying to read a manual.
When I get setup to finally do some night fishing I will report back on my experience. I do know that I will have lots of bug spray along with me or I won't go out at night. One of my neighbors went to the doctor complaining of paralysis in her arms and that is one of the sympthoms of West Nile Virus which is carried by mosquitos in this USA these days. Where I fish there are lots of Wild Canada Geese and they provide another way for the Virus to spread between birds, mosquitoes and mankind. I would imagine that any warm blooded animal can be bitten by the mosquitoes and harbor the virus.
Hey Moose--here's a tip that will help keep some of the bugs off ya. Make sure ya got everything ready to go when ya get to your spot. All your rods tied up and mounts for the lights ready etc. I realize this suggestion might be hard to follow for a guy that goes to the lake and tries to assemble a lantern by the truck domelight... but it'll help. Get set up at dusk while there is enough grey light to see what you're doin. By the time it gets dark and the bugs really come out you'll have your baitlites out and the bugs will be hoverin around them. They should provide enough lite for ya to see your rodtips adequatly and do what ya gotta do in the boat, like locate a malt based beverage and an opener. If ya need more lite in the boat to tie on another hook or somethin just turn on the boat lite long enough to handle the task and then turn it off. I carolina rig my rods and snell leaders so that all I have to do in case of a breakoff is put another leader on the snap swivel instead of tying another hook. Its faster and I can turn the lite off sooner. Having said all this...take the DEET! If the lite ya got really is 250,000 Million candle power bugs shouldn't be a problem. They'll just spontaneously combust when they get within 20'....
One taste of the bait
is worth the pain of the hook
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