LED Lights for night fishing from the kayak

So I'm seeing more and more posts about lighting for night fishing.  I installed SuperNovaFishingLights on one of my Hobie Pro Angler 14s last week.  I finally got around to taking a pic of the finished product.  I have two of their 20" blue LED strips on the outside of the bow to light banks.  These lights also have UV properties that will react with any of the Hi vis UV lines.  I have these lights rigged with a dimmer inline so that I can control their intensity.  Full strength is great for fishing by myself but it's nice to be able to reduce their power when fishing with others so that I don't blind everyone.  The dimmer has a very small IR remote control that's a little smaller than a credit card.  It can control intensity and also has a "mode" feature if you want to have a disco party out on the water!! LOL

For the inside cockpit lighting I used two of the Super Nova 4" red LED strips attached under the side mounting boards.  I cannot dim these but since I don't run them all the time it doesn't really matter, and when I do I want them bright so that I can tie knots, deal with fish, or whatever.

The Super Nova kits come with toggle switches.  I didn't want toggle switches as I figured I would just snap them off so I purchased a pair of red and blue LED lighted flush mount anti-vandal switches.  I mounted these in the side rail just below my depth finder and the rudder deployment handle.  The system works great and the install turned out pretty sweet.

My only piece of advise for those interested in installing LED lighting is to make sure you understand the power draw.   Most people are under the assumption that LED lights dont draw much power.  That's true for single lights.  However, when you get into LED strip lighting the power consumption can be pretty substantial depending on how many you install.  Super Nova recommends an 18aH battery for thier kayak kits.  This would need to be a separate battery from the one you use for your depth sounder if you plan on fishing for any substantial amount of time.  Your depth finder has minimum voltage requirements that are well above that of the LED light strips.  In order to power my Humminbird 859ci HD DI and my Super Nova LED lights for a full night of fishing (dusk till dawn) I am running two 22aH 12v SLA batteries.  This is still overkill for what I need but I'd rather have too much power than not enough.  For most trips I'll just run a single battery with everything hooked to it since the LED strips won't be used unless I'm night fishing.

Will the lights attract BIG fish? 

I guess we'll find out Sonny!! 

 Badass

Really, really nice.  I just don't know if I can muster the courage to drill through the outside hull to mount them up!

Great setup and even better info! Thanks for sharing that.
This is the first time I've heard of "anti-vandal" switches, but they look slick.

I sealed the holes inside and out with silicone.  The holes are so small anyway that I'm not sure it would be a significant amount of water coming in anyway.   They are well above the water line too so even if the silicone came loose it would only allow a trickle to come in.

Curious what the actual amp draw is on these lights.  Instructions state a 5amp fuse which is about the maximum amperage of the 22ga wire they use.

I have not tested it but the website shows the basic kit (just two 20" strips) draw about 1 amp per hour.

Moth magnets. 
Seriously, I try to get by with as little light as possible for that very reason.
Also, it's easier to see at night (navigate) with your eyes dilated to the ambient light around you.
Just have a kill switch for when you start to feel like a porch light on a hot summers eve.

I have not tested it but the website shows the basic kit (just two 20" strips) draw about 1 amp per hour.

Sounds about right.  Question the need for an 18ah battery.  Guessing you planned on running it 8-10 hours continuous?

Loos like it throws light ~5' or so?

I have them rigged to switches so that I can turn them on and off as needed.  Places like Clear Lake, my primary night fishing destination, don't require lighting as there is plenty of ambient light out to see by.  However, I've fished Lake Sonoma a few times when it was overcast and it's so dark out there that I've actually run head long into trees while pedaling and my lures seem to spend as much time on the bank as they do in the water!! LOL

My night trips tend to be marathon events.  I like to launch at around 6pm and usually fish until 10am or so.  On those trips I will really test the capacity of my batteries!!

Sonoma can be dark!

Almost forgot the other part of your question......

Last night I only stayed on the pond long enough to get the pic above.  It wasn't quite completely dark yet and there was still a good bit of light on the horizon.  When I got within 20' or so of the bank I could already see the blue light illuminating the grass at the waters edge.  I'm sure in complete darkness it would be even better.  I'm very interested to see what that effective distance really is on a black night!  It's for sure better than nothing though!! LOL

Really good to know!  Thanks for the info.