Underwater Ice Fishing Light - HomeMade

[Smelt-Lover]

Last year I went Ice fishing for Smelt and we used an underwater light. The guys that I went with brought along some homemade underwater fishing lights. We had a blast and caught around 250 in one night.

They were made out of head lights from a car.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to build one?

Thank you!

[William H Bonney]

Cabela's sells underwater lights,,, relatively cheap, if I remember correctly.

[jpollman]

I had a nice underwater light that came with a boat I bought a couple of years ago. It was real nice. It was just a cylinder with a cord on it. Just clamp it to a 12v battery and you're ready to go. It was only about 3/4 to 1" in diameter. It would be perfect for dropping down an ice hole. Can't remember who made it but I'm sure you could find one somewhere. If I figure it out, I'll post it here.

[jpollman]

Well, this isn't exactly it but it's REAL close. But this one is nicer because it's got a green shield too if you want to use it. Here's a link to their web site :

Underwater fishing lights

[WALLEYEvision]

Hey smelt-lover, I made one of those lights about five years ago. I use it for crappie fishing at night.

I made mine out of a small olive jar and used the "plug in style" replacement car headlamp as the light source. The lamp is placed through the lid to the jar then sealed with silcone to make it water tight. I use a 8 foot lenght of speaker wire to connect the lamp to a 12 volt battery from an old emergency light.

[Smelt-Lover]

The Underwater fishing lights (http://www.fishinglightsetc.com) are perfect....and what a great price.

I purchased a different one and it cost me $25 bones. I will prob purchase and see how good they are!

[Smelt-Lover]

WALLEYEvision - That is exactually what I was looking for. I was going to try the same design you mention.

Thank you!

[jpollman]

Oh by the way......

Welcome aboard Smelt-Lover ! Glad to have ya here. You've found a GREAT source for icefishing info in the state of Michigan.

[Steven Arend]

WALLEYEvision
how did that light work for crappie? Are crappie drawn to the light or are they looking for bait fish around the llight?

[scottyhoover]

I am also wondering if this will increase my crappie count. It is easy enough to catch them at 5am when they turn the feed switch on....but will the light make a difference I've always wanted to find out.

[Frantz]

Smelt lover welcome aboard. Interesting to see a smelt lover on here after visiting Pilgrim Village in Cadillac today. You should give the owner a cvall up there, he has some AWSOME smelt rigs he just got in. They consist of about 12 hooks offset that run on a line about 3.5 feet in length with a permenant bait attached to each hook. He checked with the DNR on it and it seems to be quite legal if used soley for smelt on a designated Smelt fishery.

[WALLEYEvision]

Smelt-lover -

Glad I could help! If you have any questions on the build just let me know.

Steve A. -

The light worked great on the crappie especially when the ice was too thick to get any decent light penetration from my lantern. It also seemed to work better just under the ice than it did lowering it deeper into the hole.

[WALLEYEvision]

Steve A. - sorry forgot to answer your question.

I would guess that the crappie were attracted to the light, because I did not pick up any baitfish on my graph.

Also, the action seemed to pick up within minutes after submersing the light.

[Steven Arend]

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to make one of those lights and give it a try

[Bucktail Butch]

WALLEYEvision,
How did you get your light to sink down? I didn't see anything about that, did I just miss it? The car headlight bulb ought to be a lot brighter than the commercially produced smelt lights.
Butch