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Bowfishing Lights????

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    Bowfishing Lights????

    I did a search, most of the threads were from years ago so I wanted to get an updated opinion. I don't currently have a generator but I'm trying to decide what kind of lights to use on my new boat for bowfishing. I've heard using the LED's can be a lot easier by just using batteries and not needing a generator, but I also saw that they may not be the best option for dirtier bayou waters.

    Any suggestions on lights and the cheapest place I can pick some up?

    #2
    Lights and "cheap" dont go together. The best lights for off color water are metal halides. Halogens second and LED way down the list. Clear water....LEDs are great and easy to use.

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      #3
      What about HPS? I'm a fan of HPS in any color water due to the way they make fish "glow"..

      As far as LED's I did a test on my rig out in lake whitney with a few of the warm white colored Led's and to be honest I wasn't that blown away. There was a huge lack in light compared to a HPS light.. I know several guys that run LEDs and love them but as far as personal experience I can't help a whole lot.

      There is another forum out on the interweb that could provide you with more readings/discussions you could read in one year.

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        #4
        Originally posted by GarGuy View Post
        Lights and "cheap" dont go together. The best lights for off color water are metal halides. Halogens second and LED way down the list. Clear water....LEDs are great and easy to use.
        Shouldn't you be fishing?!?!?!

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          #5
          Originally posted by GarGuy View Post
          Lights and "cheap" dont go together. The best lights for off color water are metal halides. Halogens second and LED way down the list. Clear water....LEDs are great and easy to use.
          I understand they probably won't be cheap, just looking for the best place to get the best deal.

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            #6
            Originally posted by b.latiolais View Post
            I understand they probably won't be cheap, just looking for the best place to get the best deal.
            Glad you brought this up because my brother and I will be building a rack for the boat soon and was wondering the same thing.

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              #7
              Originally posted by b.latiolais View Post
              I understand they probably won't be cheap, just looking for the best place to get the best deal.
              seelite makes some of the best leds on the market for bowfishing purposes. Now if you want cheap you can easily google 50w warm white led lights and I'm sure they will come up for under 40$ on amazon... Not sure what the newest wattage people are running now but when I was watching the LED phenomenon 50 watters were the route to go with.

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                #8
                Yall heard much about tinting the LED's? I read somewhere that putting the yellow/amber tinting on the LED's can help with murky water. Anyone have experience with this?

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                  #9
                  Here's a thought though if you run with 4 400watt HPS or MH whatever your fancy may be your only pullin 1600 watts of power with a huuuuuuuuge output in lumens. It's suggested you don't run more than 50% (maybe 75%) of your max capacity on your generator so you could easily get a 300$ Champion generator from tractor supply, amazon, etc.

                  I would imagine to get good light coverage with leds you would need upwards of 10 50watt lights depending on your boat size. Then I would think you would need a minimum of four batteries to fish for 6 hours or more.

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                    #10
                    Not trying to be a cheap-o, just getting started in bowfishing and want to make sure I'm going to have time for all this before I get serious and dump a bunch of money into it. Thanks for the suggestion so far.

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by b.latiolais View Post
                      Yall heard much about tinting the LED's? I read somewhere that putting the yellow/amber tinting on the LED's can help with murky water. Anyone have experience with this?
                      Your going to lose light output.

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                        #12
                        I mean, for the money, I feel like something like this is worth a shot.

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                          #13
                          If you decide to go with a generator, look at the Ryobi Inverter. I've had one for almost 2 years now and am very happy with it. Not quite as quiet as the Honda, but at half the price. It will run my travel trailer A/C.

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                            #14
                            I run HPS lights on my boat. They have been the best option for me, but where I fish, the water is generally murkey to muddy. IF the water is clear, the HPS lights will light up fish deeper than you can shoot 'em. There is quite a bit to learn about them though. For the best efficiency, you need high power factor ballasts to minimize current requirements. What I wound up doing was putting 8 of the 75 watt lights on front of my boat and adding a 50uF capacitor to the line voltage to reduce the current draw. On back of the boat, I have 2 175 watt lights with HPF ballasts. I run all 10 lights and a 45 amp power inverter to run my troller all of of 2 of the Honda EU200i gennys running with the parallel cables. Once the lights are powered on and warmed up, one genny will run all the lights, but it won't start them. I've been wanting to try the LED's but just haven't gotten around to trying them.

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                              #15
                              Northern tool. Halogen square work lights. They're like 14 bucks a peice.

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