Do fish see black light?

[jamwerx]

then they can definately look up at a black sky and see a bright glowing purple light that signifies things are out of the ordinary and bigger fish shut down.

They could just as easily look up and see a big dark shape(aka boat) going across as well, would almost make sense that the bottom of boats would be better painted white for night fishing.

I don't use a black light at night but if I did I would mount in on the inside of the boat so the main glow wouldn't be visible below. I would think that most fish would see them enough though that they should be pretty acclimated to them.

Scientific reasonings or not if you aren't catching fish I would just change your technique(s) since there are people on both side of the fence but the fact is people still catch fish at night with black lights visible to the fish, it just depends on how anal you want to be about the lights or how much you want to use that as an excuse when you don't catch fish

[Fishin is life]

If we're going to get scientific....and since sound travels faster and farther through water than does light...shouldn't we shut our depthfinders and gps's off....i mean after all that ping that its sending to the bottom should shut fish down the same as light does.....i don't use any kind of light fishing after dark but theres no science behind it.....just personal preferance....fishing after dark is pretty simple....if youre around active fish, you're going to catch em.....

[AndyG]

If we're going to get scientific....and since sound travels faster and farther through water than does light...shouldn't we shut our depthfinders and gps's off....i mean after all that ping that its sending to the bottom should shut fish down the same as light does.....i don't use any kind of light fishing after dark but theres no science behind it.....just personal preferance....fishing after dark is pretty simple....if youre around active fish, you're going to catch em.....

Theres a difference between going fishing to catch a few keepers and going fishing to get one bite. That difference is turning the sonar off and dimming the lights.

[sglass]

I have a moonlight LED on a 19 1/2 foot boat and only use one even with two poeple in the boat. Yes they are bright for a blacklight but thats why I bought mine, just to have one, waterproff sealed unit that will last a long time and be bright enough to only use one at night. I put it about a third of the way down the boat and try and point it away from the water if I can. In normal lakes with a bit of stain there is not much difference at all. In clear lakes I did find you have to back away from the bank a ways to get bit. The floating lights attract baitfish, thats why the crappie guys use em. I used to hang two lanterns from my old boat and wear out crappie and trout in Jackson Co. after dark. I am sure it affects the bite somewhat but I have seen waaaaayyyyy too many big bass weighed in over the past 10 years in central KY after dark from guys who do use em. Id say get you one that will last a long time, that is a sealed unit and has the option of a white light (switch on and off seperate from the blacklights) to see whats on the bank or for cleaning gunk off your lure or re-tying baits without holding a flashlight.

[kygorski]

Boone since your're recently retired, and have a lot of disposable income, you will worry about blacklights, and probably lose sleep over them, so go for it!In a couple of years, if you remember where you put them, you'll wonder why you bought them. Science is a wonderfull thing, all kind of good things to learn, but later in life you'll fall back on one simple rule of life KISS.I know from sad experience that it works.

[Mean Morone]

Thanks for posting this Boone. I tell you what, I have been struggling with the light issue for a long time. My buddy and I were going to get a black light because we do alot of night fishing. The issues we have in fishing for stripers and smallmouths is it seems that they like the darkest banks. For that reason we have shied away from lights. Last fall we ran into a guy that was fishing at night that had this reversible light. It was a black light on one side and a florescent light on the other side. We thought he used the black light while fishing until he took us out in his boat. He didn't use the black light at all but used the florescent light. He aimed that thing right on the bank. We could see every rock on the bank. One thing that was nice is we could see shad right next to the boat all the way to the bank. I had no confidence at all but it didn't take long for him to set the hook on a small striper. He was marking fish on the fish finder also. So now I have no clue as to what is the best approach at night. We will probably continue doing what we do.