Fishing with Lights OFF!!

[coombro]

Seems to me I have seen boats on cumberland with what appeared to me as headlites built on the boat. Guess it may be agaisnst the law cause you don't see them that often. Wouldn't really put the lite where you need it Would it?

[coachjoe]

I fish a lot at night and there is no excuse for not having the lights on. I have caught many big fish at night and always had the lights on. Make the fine big enough and maybe some people would get some sense!

[Duayne]

Many boats have what are called docking lights. They are there to assist while docking. They are legal to have if used for the intended purpose. Many, including me, have used them at times at night to help watch for floaters. The key to using them safely is to make sure to turn them off as soon as you see a boat in front of you. I've passed water patrol once in the no wake zone where they could see I had them on but turned them off as soon as I saw the docks (not even knowing water patrol was waiting) in front of me and they didn't stopped me. On the other hand, I know of a case where someone didn't turn them off, and while water patrol didn't give them a ticket (as they certainly could have) they got stopped and got yelled at.

As for when to keep at least an anchor light on, I don't thing there is a magic distance from the shore that detirmines if its a navigation area or not. If I am anywhere in an area where boats can plane, at least the anchor light is on, and I usually leave them all on if I am moving at all. If its back in a cove I can see turning them off but I usually just leave them on regardless. If leaving the light on costs me some fish, and I seriousy wonder if it ever has, so be it. Its just not that big enough of a deal where its worth risking the safety of me or someone else. There is a reason people get tickets for not having them on.

[Rudypoo4444]

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

Yeah, this makes a lot of sense because catching a fish is far more important than safety. Those durn bass are just too smart to be caught with a boat light on.

The way I look at it, I'm leaving my lights on so some drunk boater doesn't come along and smack into me. An accident can happen anywhere, even "one cast away" from shore.

[DJD]

I agree with you 100%

[waterdog101]

I'm leaving my lights on so some drunk boater doesn't come along and smack into me. An accident can happen anywhere, even "one cast away" from shore.[/QUOTE]

now that would be a wreck, that would make headlines. fisherman drinking while boating { which is against the law } runs over another boat that is fishing one cast from shore with no lights on { which is against the law } a wreck that didn't have to happen, if only that nut fishing so close to the bank, would have had his lights on. that drunk wouldn't have smacked into him.

[Rudypoo4444]

I'm leaving my lights on so some drunk boater doesn't come along and smack into me. An accident can happen anywhere, even "one cast away" from shore.

now that would be a wreck, that would make headlines. fisherman drinking while boating { which is against the law } runs over another boat that is fishing one cast from shore with no lights on { which is against the law } a wreck that didn't have to happen, if only that nut fishing so close to the bank, would have had his lights on. that drunk wouldn't have smacked into him.[/QUOTE]


I'll try and type it S-L-O-W-E-R for you. Keeping your lights on to avoid an accident makes better sense than fishing with them off and not being seen, just because you are afraid of spooking some of these CIA bass that KC is after.

Lets get real here. I have seen guys tear off lower units in the daytime by running to close to shore, over a point they didn't know was there. Your chances are much better to have an accident like that in the dark. Maybe you are Captian Kirk of the Kentucky waters and never make a mistake, but if you have boated in KY at all, you would see that is not always the case.

Better to be safe now, than sorry later....

[RICHYD4U]

I was on Nolin the other night, and it was getting dark....this guy in a boat with two women was sitting right on the backside of a point in this cove with absolutely no lights on. I could barely see them from were I was at, mainly because I was looking at them with a little light reflecting of the water...otherwise, you couldn't see them at all. Sure enough, a guy comes ripping out of the cove and takes that corner and missed them by a few feet! CRAZY!!! People that don't put their lights on their boat, I fear, may not have any lights on upstairs either! lol!

-Rich

[Col Forbin]

I fished at night last night, and very few boats had thier lights on. Of course, it was a bright full moon and you had pretty good visibility. However, there were quite a few boats on main lake ledges with no lights on that would turn them on when I was motoring to them. I just don't get that out on the main lake. My motor isn't that loud, so I would be within 100 yards of them when they turned them on. I was running on plane, but just fast enough to stay there - and I still had to drop off plane several times. Good thing I didn't have a quiter 4 stroke, I probably would have gotten much closer before they heard me.

I leave my lights on most of the time at night (especially on the main lake, or in bays). The only excepetion - I will flip them off if I am back in a pocket bay.

[dac244]

Here is a different take if you are running and hit somebody with no lights on don't that mean that you couldn't see where you was going in the first place? There is a certain amount of danger involved on both sides of the issue.

[kydonky]

Here is a different take if you are running and hit somebody with no lights on don't that mean that you couldn't see where you was going in the first place? There is a certain amount of danger involved on both sides of the issue.

If you are in navigation channel or navigtable waters the person with lights off is the cause of the misshap. Remember, boats do not have brakes, some houseboats may take several hundred feet to stop. Can you imagine anchoring in a channel on the Ohio with a 15 barge pusher bearing down on you. You with no lights and your motor does not start!!

Get real. Go to the Kentucky fish and wildlife website, click on education, click on safe boating link and take the course. Learn the rules of the road.

Visablilty is decreased at night, lights on "both" vessels allow you to see each other!!! They also tell you the position of the other boat. You see a red light you know the other boat is approching from your right (because you see his left side) If you see red and green you know the other boat is approching you head on. A white light only means the other boat is anchored or is running in front of you in the same direction.

Course take an hour tops to actually learn the rules. Stop guessing and learn how to opperate a boat.

[dac244]

If you are in navigation channel or navigtable waters the person with lights off is the cause of the misshap. Remember, boats do not have brakes, some houseboats may take several hundred feet to stop. Can you imagine anchoring in a channel on the Ohio with a 15 barge pusher bearing down on you. You with no lights and your motor does not start!!

Get real. Go to the Kentucky fish and wildlife website, click on education, click on safe boating link and take the course. Learn the rules of the road.

Visablilty is decreased at night, lights on "both" vessels allow you to see each other!!! They also tell you the position of the other boat. You see a red light you know the other boat is approching from your right (because you see his left side) If you see red and green you know the other boat is approching you head on. A white light only means the other boat is anchored or is running in front of you in the same direction.

Course take an hour tops to actually learn the rules. Stop guessing and learn how to opperate a boat.

I know the rules you missed my point what type lights doe's a floating log or a stump have on it?