For so many of us, the first silvery light of dawn has always meant the beginning of the fishing day. However, with the current advancements in LED lighting, many anglers are taking advantage of beating the summer heat by using these small, efficient lighting sources.
Many companies make small “cap” lights that clip to the bill of a ball cap to allow anglers the needed lighting to change lures in the dark, or even peel out the occasional backlash. These small lights provide brilliant white light to a narrow field of view in sufficient quantities to get the job done without spooking the fish.
Another huge advancement has been the creation of LED flounder, or “gigging” lights. Oznium.com has created a series of super bright LEDs that are sealed to marine specs for flounder gigging. The lights come with sealed electrical leads in waterproof housings and are threaded to easily screw onto standard PVC fittings available at any hardware store. Angler Mac Jank, of Victoria, Texas, worked with Oznium’s team to create a system (the Oznium Eclipse Spot/Flood) that anglers can quickly build (DIY) a light, portable, bright (up to 50W), and long lasting “gigging” light that can be used all year, not just the fall.
Gigging brings out a primal sense in the cool still darkness of the night that is unsurpassed, and almost forgotten as we’ve ventured away from our organic hunter-gatherer roots. If you have kids this is a great way to kick-start an entirely new realm of experience in the outdoors. Girls as well as boys easily take to the sport; a pre-dawn gigging trip in shallow, clear bay waters will be filled with giggles and squeals as a whole host of baitfish, fish, shrimp and even squid can be viewed close up (within arms length) and watched with almost no sense to flee from the lights. Mac finds the green spectrum of color to be more calming to both the fish and forage in the 50w, and the warm white, as well as the green, is more popular in the 20w.
The lights are built to be placed underwater, which is a benefit compared to old light systems held above the water. The underwater placement has no glare and one can see the fish better because of it. Minute shadows, bottom textures and even fish features or empty flounder beds are more distinctive from this lighting direction. Empty beds are like finding a fossil, many reveal features as small as fine bones and gill plates when they are fresh.
Take a kid on a new adventure or find a gigging captain in your area, or even build your own with Oznium lights. Include this as part of the experience of educating your kids in making something with their hands and going on a predawn adventure into the still of the dark night. End it with a really good breakfast and a nap and you’ve got a memory that will last forever.
Photo by Don Dearing
Adventures After Dark
CAM – STAFF