iowabucks
Member
I have always wanted to do some nightfishing for crappies. This year it's going to happen.
I found a thread on another fishing wesite that explained how to make an underwater green fluorescent fishing light. There is a company that makes one called the Green Monster, it retails for $190. You can build one for around $60.
It uses a 24" industrial green fluorescent bulb. F20T12/green
12 volt 18 watt ballast. Here.
I used schedual 40 clear PVC tubing over the bulb instead of tube protectors sold at the hardware stores. More expensive, but alot more protective. I didn't want to bust a bulb the first time it banged against the boat. The clear tubing is about $64 for a 10' piece, but i found an Ebay store that sold 2' sections for $15. Thats all i needed. Wire the ballast to the bulb using 14 gauge wire. Slide it all into the tube and seal it up real good with 100% silicone. I added an extra piece of tubing on the bottom to hold some weight, and a piece on top to cover the ballast. You want the bottom sunk and the top just floating out of the water. Some caps and connectors and your all set. Run about 15' of 14 gauge double conductor wire out the top to a couple battery clamps.
These only draw about 1.7 amps. I did a test with a smaller 12v 8Ah battery i had. After about 6 1/2 hours i pulled the plug on the test with the bulb no dimmer than when i started.
I bought a couple 48" padded level cases to help protect them. They fit perfectly.
Looking forward to my first night out with them, but it sounds like the fishing may be better during the dog days of summer.
I found a thread on another fishing wesite that explained how to make an underwater green fluorescent fishing light. There is a company that makes one called the Green Monster, it retails for $190. You can build one for around $60.
It uses a 24" industrial green fluorescent bulb. F20T12/green
12 volt 18 watt ballast. Here.
I used schedual 40 clear PVC tubing over the bulb instead of tube protectors sold at the hardware stores. More expensive, but alot more protective. I didn't want to bust a bulb the first time it banged against the boat. The clear tubing is about $64 for a 10' piece, but i found an Ebay store that sold 2' sections for $15. Thats all i needed. Wire the ballast to the bulb using 14 gauge wire. Slide it all into the tube and seal it up real good with 100% silicone. I added an extra piece of tubing on the bottom to hold some weight, and a piece on top to cover the ballast. You want the bottom sunk and the top just floating out of the water. Some caps and connectors and your all set. Run about 15' of 14 gauge double conductor wire out the top to a couple battery clamps.
These only draw about 1.7 amps. I did a test with a smaller 12v 8Ah battery i had. After about 6 1/2 hours i pulled the plug on the test with the bulb no dimmer than when i started.
I bought a couple 48" padded level cases to help protect them. They fit perfectly.
Looking forward to my first night out with them, but it sounds like the fishing may be better during the dog days of summer.