LED lighting from Clam

[iceman4]

Hello, I'm new to the site and am an avid ice fisherman. I am very seriously considering purchasing the new LED rope lighting for my fish trap pro. Has anyone out there purchased it yet? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[rod bender]

Welcome Iceman, As for the LED red lights from Clam, the jury is still out. I've been waiting for somebody to try them as well, but no members on this site, as far as I know have giving them a whirl.

[icedog]

The only problem I see with it is will it be bright enough to actually re-tie and watch your line in the tent? I haven't seen these LED rope lights yet, but have used other lighting methods in my tent; ie car dome lights, and gas lanterns. Have gone back to using one of the Coleman propane lanterns with ignitor built in. It is bright enough to see to re-tie and lights up the holes really well when set on the ice. Added bouns is it gives off heat too! There are some draw backs, but I think I am going to stick with the lantern for now.

icedog

[CNY Tim]

Well guys I kicked out the $30 for the Clam LED lights and from what I have heard on another site "Red" is the way to go. Unfortunately Reeds sent me the white lights and I had to return them. I hope they consider th $7 a paid for shipping back a mistake that they made. Well anyways I will let you know how I like them when I get the red lights. I have a light already and it's the HT Sonar Night Lite it's less than 20 dollars and is basically a telescopic dome light "just like you have in your car or truck" and I drilled through the soft pack and handle of my LX-3 to mount the light. The webbing pocket on the LX-3 is perfect for holding the extra cord and connectors and when the sun goes down I take my clips out of the bag and attach em to my battery and BAM I have a nice light that pivots and adjust 360 degrees so I can see the entire area in front of my trap well and plenty of light to try jigs. The reason I bought the red lights to try is so I can have full trap illumination without scaring the fish. The white light seemed to intense for me.

[rod bender]

Tim, I agree with you on the light most people use being too bright and scaring the fish, especially in clear or shallow water lakes. That's why I'm thinking about the RED LED light also. I think the old fasioned Coleman lantern that I and everybody love might be just a little bright, especially went set directly on the ice. Let us know how they work as soon as you get them. Thanks!

[hawkeye43]

one web page I was on had dimmer switches for rope lights, that might be a good way to go if they are too bright. I am putting in my order today.

[Finlander]

Ifinz your just fishing for crappies, then I would go with the white light as white light attracts the micro bugs (zooplankton) that crappies eat.

Attract the bugs = attracts the crappies.

Walleyes are spooked by white light, then go with the red!

Good Luck!

[rod bender]

Hawkeye, if you wouldn't mind, e-mail me with the site that you found them on. Thanks.

[email protected]

[rod bender]

CNY Tim, did you get the right lights yet? and How do they work. Worth the $30????

[hawkeye43]

hope you got my email sorry i mssed your post.

[Ears]

I saw the white lights today at Cabellas and they were not bad. It said they would run for 3 hrs on a vex battery. Thats not that long if you are using the vex on the same one. I wonder how long the red leds last.

[rod bender]

I'm guessing the Red LED lights will last much longer than that. Is there anybody out there that has them that can help us out?

[Matt Breuer]

I have the LED's in my shacks. I have white light in two portables and they work great. It's a really soft subtle light, actually softer than a lantern. They will be great for those romantic nights on the ice with the crappies!!!

Sorry I can't help you on the red lights, I would assume they are dimmer yet.

[Ed Carlson]

I designed and produced on ice rope lighting systems for 3 to 4 years now. For the past 5 years I tested many types of 12 V LED rope and found a big difference in quality as well as longevity.

What I found was PVC LED rope is a poor match in the cold. PVC expands and contracts excessively in the cold/heat causing shorts in the circuit and the circuit failed. The PVC also became brittle in deep cold again causing circuit failure, or cracks in the rope. For these reasons, I wrote off PVC as the best source of LED rope very early on.

As for color I found Amber/Red or yellow as the best colors for LED rope lighting. I used clear and it was a bit harsh for me and often messed up my night vision. I feel with the Amber or Yellow you experience less glare, and it results in less overall eye fatigue. I feel you gained optimum ambient lighting with the Amber or the Yellow. I also tested Blue and Green LED rope; they were sure pretty but poor ambient lighting.

The different configurations of LED lighting systems I sent out to several filed testers and angling industry media folks and pro’s where well received overall. Comments have been mostly good; if they did not prefer the lighting system, it was an all or nothing type deal. Some simply preferred a brighter bulb lighting or lantern system to the LED rope system. So far, I have had none fail due to circuit failure in the heat or in the cold.

It did not escape me, or surprise me, that others were fast to “Knock Off” my LED rope on ice lighting system. LED is an efficient as well as a user friendly lighting system for cold weather applications, if the materials used match the conditions properly.