chillerman69 - 1/23/2012 4:16 PM Here's a biggie: at night, if your light(s) are not oscillating, the beam(s) of light will draw bugs to them, which will then draw bats and they will hit you or the boat. Constantly moving the hand held light in a left-right-left will not give the bugs time to congregate in the light beams and the bat kills will stop.
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Well ... I've never had that problem. It's hard for bugs to congregate at 20-30 mph. Perhaps I've missed something for the past 30 years ..... emoScratch
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I've probably spent more nights on the lake than days, and here's the bottom line: </p>
T&H Marine makes the best mount. It mounts on the rubrail and puts the light underneath the boat so it doesn't reflect back at you. Two screws through the rubrail and a hole drilled in the rubrail for the wires to pass through. Put it on a switch on the right hand side of your dash so it is easily handled when operating the boat. Or you can also put the switch on the starboard side near the seat. Either way, it needs to be accessible without having to look for it. These mounts can be had at most marine dealers. If you can't find them, let me know and I'll get you fixed up.</p>
Stan Sloan lights are the best lights. Do NOT use anything else. Automobile lights are not going to give you the concentrated and bright light that you're going to want and need. Automotive lights will die a quick death. The Sloan lights will last for YEARS. The bad thing is that they only come in pairs, and using more than one is overkill. But at the very least you'll have one for a spare, or to possibly sell to someone else. These are available in many locations online. Do a Google search.
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A handheld spotlight is a joke. Not only are you tying up one hand that you should be driving the boat with, but the light will reflect back at you and not give you the lighting that you need. And that's also just another plug and wire to either get tangled, trip over, or get pinched in a compartment lid and start a fire (seen that one done before). We're out at night, remember? Keep things organized and as simple as possible. Handheld lights are DANGEROUS in my opinion. If you own one, give it to someone that you don't like. </p>
We have ran these mount/light combinations for many, many years and they WORK. They never give a problem or burn out. Nothing else out there will do as good a job. As a side note, if you're antsy about drilling through your rubrail, you can forgo the mount altogether and simply mount the light on your trolling motor bracket. It isn't quite as good there because you can get a little light reflected back at you at times, but it is a workable solution if you want to go that way.</p>
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NOTICE THAT THE LIGHT IS MOUNTED FAR ENOUGH TO THE REAR TO AVOID POSSIBLY HANGING UP ON THE BOW STOP OR WINCH WHEN LOADING
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TWO SCREWS THROUGH THE RUBRAIL, AND A HOLE DRILLED FOR THE WIRE TO PASS THROUGH
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ANOTHER VIEW
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LOOKS GOOD MOUNTED IN THIS MANNER. WELL ... AS GOOD AS YOU CAN EXPECT FOR A HEADLIGHT ON A BASS BOAT.
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PACKAGING FOR T&H HEADLIGHT BRACKETS
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The glare that you get coming back off the boat carpet, hull, etc WILL blind you and effect your night vision. That's why I don't use them. A headlight mounted below the rail functions the same as your car headlights ... no glare back into your face. To protect your vision, you MUST get the light forward and (more importantly) below the front of the boat. A light source anywhere else just doesn't work as well. Tell you what ... the next time you're out after dark, get your partner to shine the light from anywhere in the boat. Even lying on the front deck will do. THEN, have them crawl up and hold the light well below the rubrail and in front of the boat. (do this sitting still, please!) I think you'll immediately see the huge difference in the manner in which it effects your sight.
