Fishing Light Platform On A Whim

[Mike Tolbert]

I’m going back country camping and fishing on Lake Fontana this weekend and I’m pretty sure I’m a few weeks early for the fishing to be good so I thought I’d rig up a fishing light platform (Copying off of Zach’s original idea) using some left over materials around the house in hopes it will help bring in the fish. I’m not done yet, but it’s looking decent. It’s very light. I just need to mount the battery. I’ll probably use a spare milk crate I’ve got laying around to hold the battery.

As for this weekend, my buddy and I will probably fish Hazel creek during the day and use the fishing lights at night on Lake Fontana.

Here’s how the platform looks so far.

It’s nothing fancy, but I think it’ll work. Not bad for 30 minutes of work.

[Zach Matthews]

That’s awesome Mike. Let us know how it goes!

[Mike Tolbert]

Thanks Zach. I’ll post a report of the Fontana / Hazel Creek trip after this weekend.

I put a spare can of spray paint to the platform tonight so it doesn’t look as lame…

[Adam Maskew]

Out of curiosity why don’t you just use a sealed led light that runs off AA batteries rather than a 12v light that needs the bigger 12v battery?

Is it because of the burn length, beam focus or brightness?

Adam

[Mike Tolbert]

Adam, I just went with the cheap lights from Bass Pro. LED are more expensive, but I’m sure they would work. I’d go LED if I knew I’d be using them a lot.

[Mike Lewis]

I’m confused. What is this for?

Why is it made of 3/4″ insulation (aside from it is scrap material). Is it supposed to float? Independently?

I would imagine lifting it up from the handles with the battery would break the foam board.

[Mike Tolbert]

Mike, this is just something I rigged up with spare materials. The battery will not break the foam board when I sit it on top. I would never try to lift the foam board up by the handle with the battery attached. The foam board handle is actually used to attach a rope so I can pull it back to the boat. I plan on letting the platform float away from the boat to fish it from 20 – 30 feet away.

I think it will float. It is actually 2 pieces of 3/4 inch foam board stuck together, which should hold up the battery fine.

We’ll see if it works.

[Mike Tolbert]

Mike, the thought is that the lake will be calm when night fishing. I don’t think I would use it in choppy water because it is possible that it could break.

It’s nothing fancy or tough but it should get the job done.

Unfortunately, the weather is not looking to good for the weekend so I’m not sure these lights are going to help. Weather changes every hour but this system doesn’t look good so far.

[Brian Greer]

I just did an internet search for fishing lights.

Wow, they get pretty expensive for what they actually are. I would definitely do this as a DIY project.

Is there a certain wavelength or color that is best for this type of thing?

[Mike Lewis]

Good luck, always interesting to see some new ideas. The weather does look fairly poor for North GA this weekend.

[Author]

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