Submersible Neon Green Fish Light

I was just looking through the fishermans bible today(cabelas catalog) and ran across the ‘submersible neon green fish light’. Just curious if anybody can give me some feedback on how well they work(if at all). If so, what are the best practices and techniques used.

Well, they are not legal here in Minnesota. Check the regulations where you fish before buying one.

J.

This post kind of caught my eye. I pulled out my copy of the 2002 Minnesota Fishing Regulations and found this on page 28: “Using an artificial light to lure or attract fish, or to see fish when spearing, is unlawful. …” I am not sure what this submersible neon green fish light is but I wouldn’t invest in one until I was sure it was legal.

Com 15, does this law only pertain to fish spearing?
That’s the way it reads for me.

You cannot use them for fishing of spearing. See link to Mn DNR Regulations. (You will need Acrobat reader, see page 28)

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/fishing/2002_fishing.pdf

There is a lot of stuff Cabela’s sells that is illegal in Minnesota. Just make sure you can use it here before buying it!!

J.

Thanks guys for the information. I’m in southern Iowa, so I will check the state regulations. If it’s illegal in Minnesota, it makes me thank that the product works well, but it might take the challenge out of fishing.

I got to thinking about this question? How come it is legal to fish with an underwater camera that has lights? I guess it’s because you aren’t using them to lure or attract fish. If the DNR was going by the letter of the law it would seem that lighted underwater cameras would be illegal too.

good point com15 doesn’t seem like it makes any sense here on this way either they should just ban them both.

Hey Matt, Heb and I are in SE Iowa, Were do you reside?

Spinner Dave, I’m around the Osceola area. I went to Indian Hills and graduated in 1992. Grew up around Kirksville and Columbia MO. If you and Heb are in SE Iowa, are you close to Burlington?

What are you doing on a tractor in the middle of December? Feeding cows or working up the soil?

Matt,
20 miles north of Burlington.
And the folks put an “r” in there somewhere. Hreb-Rhbe-Breh???????????
There’s some good lakes around Osceola.
Dave puts that up there to make us think he’s working, I think.

Your going to have to blame Dave on your name. He started the incorrect spelling. There are several good lakes around Osceola. Three mile, twelve mile, little river, green valley, west lake, saylorville, big creek and badger. I’m trying to spend time traveling to the river. Do you guys get over around this area much?

Just spoke with Martin Conrad of the Department of Natural Resources in Des Moines. He said that there are no regulations to prevent the usage of submersible neon lights. He said he has never seen anyone try them, but would be interested on how well they work if I decide to try it.

I’ve got the light you’re talking about a couple years ago. Tried it a few times. Just doesn’t seem to work very good in our murky water over this way. Might work better in the cleaner waters of 3-mile and little river. If you get one and use it, have plenty of patience to let it do it’s stuff. And fish the outside perimeter of the light.
I’ll fish those lakes in the late spring-early summer and again in the winter if we get ice.

Herb,

For the outside parimeter, are you talking 2 feet, 3 feet etc?

Do you normally come over by yourself? What is your target fish for these lakes? Bass? Eyes? Crappie?

Crappie and walleye.
Kind of hard for me to describe. Take a flashlight and point it at something. Do this in the dark. You will see a ring of direct light on the object. Now, sort of look off to the side of the object. You’ll notice you can see other things lit up by the outer bounds of the flashlight beam.This is peripheral boundary. The same thing applies to the fish light, except the whole area out from the light would be peripheral since the fish light has no direct beam.The size of this area depends much on the clarity of the water and the depth you set the light.
I ussually set mine about 2 ft. deep and had a boundary of about 6 ft. across. I would use minnows on plain hooks under a slip bobber set about 1 1/2 to 3ft. I would pitch my rigs about 1 to 2 ft. outside of this boundary.
Confused yet? Me too!
I’ve only used it in open water and believe it or not, my best fishing with the light has been late november and early december on the river. Honest! Maybe because of the cleaner water.

Herb, Thanks for the advice. I believe I will order one and try it next spring in the nearby lakes.

I will let everyone know what kind of success I have.

Hey Matt , I really like to get over to 12 & 3 mile lakes . Our club usually gets over there and makes a weekend out of it . Sorry Herb for the name change . I might have to get the skinny from you if we go back this year. Can’t have to much info. As for the tractor , I think we finally have them put to bed for the winter.We farms quite a bit and on a dry year we do alot of extra deep tillage along with the fertilizer apps. Good to have another southern guy on the board. I live close to Donnellson Ia. Cya DV

Don’t let him fool ya guys…He sleeps with his tractor..right Dave? LOL!~!!

Getting back to fish lights, I have seen people use lanterns for crappies year-round at night. One guy I know even had a piece of metal conduit bent to hold the lantern on one end, and fit into the rod holder on the other. To do it, you have to either have some really good bug juice or really like getting tortured by mosquitos.

Another guy would set lanterns out on the ice and drill between them. I have tried this once but the success was less than stellar.

If you’re going to try it in summer, watch what you use to hang the lantern. Coleman gas lanterns put out enough heat to melt nylon rope.

when I lived in Iowa I used to fish crappies at night in the summer on Big Creek using a lantern…. I just lashed a pole over the water and hung the lantern on it….. so the boat was towards the edge of the light (and NOT the focus of the bugs!)…. it was amazing how many crappies I caught….. I would anchore on a weedline, on a point, with some brush in the area….. first the bugs, then the bait… then the crappies…… once the ball was rolling it never seemed to stop… it was just a matter of how MANY fish you wanted…..

Same thing here. Spent some time down on Lake Truman. One place we fished was on a dock that had a big light hanging out on it. Lots of crappies! Lots of fun!