night canoe-ing

[mainbutter]

mn boating pamphlet:

Quote:

 Non-motorized Boats (see illustration be-

low). All non-motorized watercraft, whether

underway or at anchor, must at least carry a

white lantern or flashlight. This light should

be strong enough so that other boats around

the horizon can see it at least two miles

away. The light must be displayed in suffi-

cient time to avoid a collision with another

watercraft.(Note: Canoes, sailboats etc. that

are operating under power must follow the

lighting rules for motorboats.)

So.. Anyone have any figures on lumens or anything for this "two miles" figure? Would a powerful LED headlamp count? how powerful of a hand flashlight? I'm going to give night bowfishing a try on a small lake.

[goblueM]

How would they even enforce it? Just have one that is dam bright (which you would for bowfishing anyways), and the regs with you. Can't imagine a CO giving you a tough time if he thought your light only went 1.9 miles instead of 2

[ted4887]

I'm guessing if they refer to having a white latern or flashlight, most of them will do. A high quality headlamp should be sufficient.

[aanderud]

You should be find if you have a decent headlamp. I know that my led headlamp is brighter than any of the all-around bow lights I've seen on boats.

[LightningBG]

What are you planning on bow fishing from, a canoe? Isn't that going to be pretty tippy standing up in?

[mainbutter]

I'm more than surprised with my canoe's stability. It's proven itself to be a great non-motorized platform for standing and fishing. I stand and cast flies all the time and have had it out bowfishing during the day (with less luck than I'd like, which is why I'm considering giving the nighttime a shot).

[LightningBG]

What kind of lights are you planning on using to see the fish?

I'm not trying to [PoorWordUsage] [PoorWordUsage] your idea, I've just never thought of a canoe as a bowfishing platform before.

On the other hand. I've never bowfished, but I've wanted to for a while and looked into it quite a bit.

[mainbutter]

Yup good question, looking into various possibilities. Plenty of people use flashlights you can mount on your bow. It may not be a 60,000 lumen system on a flat bottom barge-type boat, but it gets the job done.

[Jason_Gundersen]

keep in mind the light needs to be VERY bright to penetrate the water in murky muddy waters (carp water) takes a lot of light to see bottom... Trust me I stalk carp in the dark of night too