# Smelt (underwater) Light



## UltimateOutdoorsman (Sep 13, 2001)

Anyone know where to buy one or how to make one?


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## neil duffey (Feb 22, 2004)

curiouse, what are they used for, when, and why? im going to try for em this year... would love to know if they are needed.


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## naterade (Nov 30, 2008)

There was just a post the other day about making one with an LED automobile reverse lamp.


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## naterade (Nov 30, 2008)

IH772 posted in the 'improvements/inventions' thread here:

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120812&page=9


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## Quack Wacker (Dec 20, 2006)

Gander Mountain sells them as well as Dicks Sporting Goods. Some guys use an actual car head light bulb and put it in a mason jar and then use GE Silicone to seal it up.


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

From Cabelas. Seen this one in use and it's pretty bright and seemed to work fine.........beats trying to jury rig one.......

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...-box.jsp.form1&Go.x=19&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1


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## mdad (Dec 4, 2007)

they are used to attract fresh water shrimp at night. the smelt come to eat the shrimp. I come to eat the smelt. They are absolutely neccessary for smelt fishing at night. They also come in handy for fishing trout at night in the summer(hint).


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## krt (Nov 5, 2001)

Quack Wacker said:


> Gander Mountain sells them as well as Dicks Sporting Goods. Some guys use an actual car head light bulb and put it in a mason jar and then use GE Silicone to seal it up.


Better yet, you could use DAP silicone made by Dow Corning.


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## Burksee (Jan 15, 2003)

From Wally-eye's post:










I have the same one pictured in Cabelas above, but got it at Higgins Lake Sport and Party Store. Barnical Bill, M-S.com member and all around really nice guy!  

Neil, Using a light attracts the small planktin type erchins that the smelt feed on. I guess you could kinda consider it "baiting"! LOL! :yikes:

You gotta get up to Higgins the middle of Feb to the first week of March, or ice out. Thats when it really gets going good!


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

neil duffey said:


> curiouse, what are they used for, when, and why? im going to try for em this year... would love to know if they are needed.




Neil, they're used for enticing smelt up towards the surface so you can catch them. Crystal Lake smelt town is really funny looking after dark. ALL the ice in about a 3 to 4 acre area is glowing a greenish whiteish color.....funniest thing you ever seen.........what is remarkable is to be fishing 20 foot away from one of the lights for a couple of hours and then they turn the light off, its like WTH, unreal how much light comes up out of the hole.......:lol: Funny as heck when there's 50 lights blazing under water in a 4 or 5 acre area. I always wondered what it would look like flying overhead in a small plane, must be a sight.,..

The light attracts, to the top of the water column all the bugs and microbes etc that smelt eat and naturally all the herds of smelt follow..

Best one I seen was a guy that had a waterproof RV light on the end of a 10 ft pole.......hooked to a regular 12 volt car battery and dropped down the hole it lite up a 50 foot circle...........:lol:

Oh ya it DOES bring in the smelt so you can catch them on hook and line, tiny jigs and wax worms or perch minnow heads work just fine.......


Dan


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## Burksee (Jan 15, 2003)

krt said:


> Better yet, you could use DAP silicone made by Dow Corning.


I've seen guys float an actual old style glass headlamp. Seal the terminals and make sure you put it in the water before you turn it on! Hot glass and cold water could make for some excitement in the shanty! :yikes:


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## ih772 (Jan 28, 2003)

naterade said:


> IH772 posted in the 'improvements/inventions' thread here:
> 
> http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120812&page=9



One nice thing about using LED's is, you can run it for a couple nights off a 7 AH battery.

You can catch smelt without a light in the water. One of the best nights I ever had I was a few hundred yards away from anyone with a underwater light. The only light came off my lantern and went through a thick layer of white ice.


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## Burksee (Jan 15, 2003)

Here's a "buy it already built" old style sealed beam headlamp style! 










Its also available from Cabelas! 

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...=froogle&cm_pla=0250709&cm_ite=0002035010277a


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## paulywood (Sep 2, 2005)

Sometimes it's better if you're on the edge of the light. I like to keep the battery in the shanty and stretch the light out aways from the shanty and then drop it in the water there. I have 2 of the lights that were posted. One from Gander and one from Higgin's Lake Bait when I forgot mine.


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

Burksee said:


> Here's a "buy it already built" old style sealed beam headlamp style!
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Burksee:

Those work but I think that one floats. I've always understood it that the farther down in the water column the light is the better the smelt will bite. Don't know for sure but that's what I heard.........that first link will drop the light about 14 ft or so..

Dan


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## paulywood (Sep 2, 2005)

That's funny, I've always heard the opposite. Keep the light up toward the top of the water column to draw the smelt up.


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## UltimateOutdoorsman (Sep 13, 2001)

Burksee said:


> From Wally-eye's post:


Do you run that off a motorcycle battery or a car battery?


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

UltimateOutdoorsman said:


> Do you run that off a motorcycle battery or a car battery?



All the ones I seen were run off a car battery.....guys hauled them out on their quads or sleds...

I plan on getting that same light although I'm going to try a garden tractor size battery first to see how long it lasts........


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## jerryk (Feb 18, 2008)

Are those lights good for anything besides smelt?

I have one but never thought of using it in the winter.


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## UltimateOutdoorsman (Sep 13, 2001)

wally-eye said:


> going to try a garden tractor size battery first to see how long it lasts........


Yeah Id rather not have to drag out a car battery with all my gear.


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