Lighting for a bowfishing boat

[stevewills]

bout to buy a new boat and was wondering if anyone has any insight on what would be best for mostly lakes.figured i will go with halogens,im gonna mount under shooting deck,and i also need what size of generator...Gonna get a honda gen.since they are very quiet.....i havent got a boat picked out yet,but im probaly gonna get no less than a 18footer....any pics would be helpfull as well....

[lpcjon2]

I dont know if they sell them in your location, but some of the best bay and lake boats around my way are Carolina Skiff's. Flat bottom Fiberglass

[lpcjon2]

Check out BPS they have prices and descriptions of all the johnboats(aluminum). I had an 13ft JB for duck hunting and I had lights and decked the front third with 3/4 plywood.The best boat I ever owned.

[trick00]

As far as the generator size goes, you need to figure out how many lights you want first and add up the wattage. Example, A typical quartz halogen bulb burns 150 watts, 10 of those is 1500 watts. Personally I would oversize the generator at least 25% so with the above example I would recommend at least an 1875 watt generator. Hope this helps

[Tom Leemans]

Another thing on generators. If you want to quiet it down even more, route the exhaust (noise) into a stack going straight up, at least past your head level. It doesn't have to be permanently mounted, but you'd be surprised how quickly the sound dissipates when you send it skyward.

[Bel007]

Am I on the right website ?  

[gringol]

Another word on generators.  Honda makes some of the quietest generators I've ever heard.  They make a 5,000 watt generator that is so quiet you can sit next to it while it's running and have a normal conversation.  It makes about as much noise as a small new car at idle.  It's water-cooled, so it's heavy, but if you can afford it, you won't be disappointed.

[Stone Knife]

Originally posted by stevewills:
bout to buy a new boat and was wondering if anyone has any insight on what would be best for mostly lakes.figured i will go with halogens,im gonna mount under shooting deck,and i also need what size of generator...Gonna get a honda gen.since they are very quiet.....i havent got a boat picked out yet,but im probaly gonna get no less than a 18footer....any pics would be helpfull as well....

Depends on how many watts of light you use, you might want to consider using a combination of quartz and high pressure sodium, the sodium will give more light for less watts. you can size your Gen. accordingly. Don't over load your gen. ie if you have a 2000 watt gen it would be wise to have no more than 1500 watts on it. Also for the critic, this is a trad topic I myself enjoy bowfishing with my old Bear Grizzly as do many others.

[stevewills]

i use a trad bow to bowfish with,i dont use anything but recurves for any archery related outings...isnt bowfishing in terms bowhunting,stalk,make a good shot and retrieve game...huh

[ishoot4thrills]

Originally posted by Bel007:
Am I on the right website ?      

What's that supposed to mean????

I guess if you don't think bowfishing is trad enough for ya then, no, I reckon you aren't on the "right" website. Jeez!

And, stevewills, don't rule out using batteries for your power for the lights either. It just depends on how long you wanna stay out on the water at a time.

[Buxndiverdux]

With lights and generators, you are going to run out of amps before you run out of watts! Tons of guys over look that basic fact. Personally, I went with 4 High Pressure Soduim(HPF ballast) 150 watt lights. They put out double the lumens that a 500 watt halogen does and only draw 1.5 amps per light. I run these lights comfortably on a Honda EU2000i. Wisper quiet on the deck.  

[FerretWYO]

Do different lights make it easier to see fish or rays at night when shooting??

[Woodduck]

Originally posted by FerretWYO:
Do different lights make it easier to see fish or rays at night when shooting??

Underwater lights don't reflect the surface back to your eyes.

[owlbait]

 
16' SeaArk 3 work lights, 2000W gas generator. Lots of fun.

[owlbait]

That might be KHALVERSON's boat!

[stevewills]

i like the looks of those high sodium lights,looked at lots of generators and think im gonna get a 10,000watt gen,my question is how do you run them....

[ChuckC]

10,000 watt !  where ya gonna PUT it ?
ChuckC

[stevewills]

ya i really didnt pay attention to the weight they weigh over 300 lbs....think that much juice would be an overkill

[robtattoo]

I ran a mixture of 300 & 500W halogens on my first rig, hooked to a Champion 3500W genny.
The general rule of thumb is to keep your running watts to around 80% of the rated running watts of the generator.

Since I built my new boat, I've switched over to running HPS lights. I've got 8, 150W HPS on there & I get roughly 5 times the lumen output of Halogens, for 1/3 the watt consumption. I also have amps to spare by hooking up to the 20A RV socket of the generator. I still have enough power to run my 750W IOTA inverter to power the trolling motor, which increases my fishing time & lets me get away with not having to constantly charge batteries.

The initial expense can be a little daunting (around $70 per fixture, compared to $5 for halos) but the benefits far outweigh the cost.

Here she is in daylight.....

 
 
 

And a night-shot.....

 

Incedentaly, the $12 Walmart ropelights around the interior gunwales are THE best addition I've made! I have them switched separately from the fishing lights to make driving on the big motor easier, but for unhooking fish, de-tangling line & finding the beer I just dropped, they're amazing.

[robtattoo]

By the way, that's an 18' boat, 50" wide across the bottom of the transom. The deck is 6'x6' aluminum & only weighs 70lb. I do wish, however, that I hadn't put the fuel tank under the deck. A full tank really makes the boat plow water badly!