Originally Posted by
kc
Well I am sure I am going to step in it with this one but I have night fished for 30+ years and I believe in common sense when using lights. I generally do not have my lights on when I am fishing but always when underway. The reason I do not like my lights on when fishing is I don't want to give away my presense to the fish I am chasing. Night time is stealth time and lights on are not stealth. Plus on a dark night having the lights on makes it more difficult for my vision to adjust and be able to have any depth perception for casting.
That said part of the regulation you quoted was "in an area where other boats navigate" is a key distinction. Most of the time when I am fishing up in a creek or along a bank I will only turn on my lights as another boat approaches from a distance. This lets them know I am on the bank and surely will alert them to divert a collision as well. Close in on a bank there is little chance of a collision anyway and that is where the stealth gets most compromised. But if I am 50 yards out on a main lake point - then yes I leave my lights on because I am in an area where other boats commonly navigate and can come at you from different directions. But most of the time you do not have to leave your lights on to avoid collisions. I mean look at the reg for manually propelled boats "Manually propelled vessels shall carry a white light to display in sufficient time to avoid a collision" - isnt' that saying turn a light on when you hear or see another boat approaching. Lighten up people (pardon the pun) and use some common sense...
kc
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