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Head torches and swim disturbance

Kevin Brown

Kevin Brown

Senior Member & Supporter
So as a kid i was always taught to keep any form of light off the water , and I still use this advice 50 years on , but with todays mega high powered head torch’s it seems most stretches of river look like something from the blitz in east end London circa 1940 , I’ve talked to a few seasoned barbel/chub anglers about this and all they say is “no it doesn’t really matter“, usually while blanking ?! But I guess they must catch something after dark or just not cottoned on or maybe it doesn’t matter .
The only time I use one is for baiting up looking for things in the dark etc and always keep the beam away from the water directly in front of me .
I’d love to hear some thoughts on this from members after all we wait all day for darkness only to light the whole river up after dark !
 
I definitely wouldn’t switch one on while fishing.On landing a fish yes,to help unhooking as the swim is disturbed anyway.And when packing up.I wouldn’t want to fish places which were lit up like that.
As I was also brought up the old fashioned way,I remember reading that Dick Walker wouldn’t even take a white handkerchief with him on the bank,in case it alerted the fish to his presence.
 
I always try not to turn my torch on in the dark apart from landing a fish and use a small torch directed away from the water if I need to do any small tasks like rebaiting. I even turn down the lighting on my phone.

Having said that I have lost count of the number of times I have had my torch on at the brightest setting while packing up but left a rod in the water then seen it rip off.

Regarding clothing, I fished a local spot a few years back and a couple of lads were in my preferred swim which was a hot spot in a narrow and shallow back water, both wearing white T shirts. I fished the swim above making a stealthy approach to the waters edge and blanked while they caught a number of barbel. Is is possible that the white T shirts were actually less visible against a bright sky than my regulation drab green?
 
There was an interesting piece in a recent carp mag about ‘lamping’.

Two anglers walking round low stock pits in the dark and shining a strong light into the water to locate the fish. Once they found them they had their best winter results ever.

Sunsequent to that Ive thought about using similar tactics to locate big chub in marginal snags…….

In my teens I tench fished with strong torches shining on floats only 1 - 2 rod lengths from the bank. The tench didn’t care. There could have been a dozen people doing similar and we all caught fish. And the water was less than 5 ft deep……

Re colours and sky…Try going fly fishing in New Zealand - the capital of the world for trout stalking in super clear water. The guides won’t let you fish with anything but a pale-mid green fly line.
 
I've watched barbel feeding in a marginal spot by torch light - didn't put them off.

I'm fishing another stretch next to a busy road, used by HGV's and they come down their at night with massive amounts of lights on - which hit the water as they come over the bridge. Catch fish regardless there. So it may be that in some quieter places, miles from anywhere it would have a greater negative effect.
 
I fished in darkness, usually alone. I rarely used a headtorch on white, preferring red light only, "if I had to", and red seemed to keep the mozzies away. I guess it depends where you fish, it is amazing the ambient light in a populated region, far from houses but you can still see the water and movement.

I hate the search-light brigade, but then I was not keen on other anglers in my vicinity anyway - call me anti-social and miserable if you like, I won't disagree :p
 
Tim Marks said:
Sunsequent to that Ive thought about using similar tactics to locate big chub in marginal snags…….

In my teens I tench fished with strong torches shining on floats only 1 - 2 rod lengths from the bank. The tench didn’t care. There could have been a dozen people doing similar and we all caught fish. And the water was less than 5 ft deep……
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We did exactly the same as kids, we used to get them big square batteries with the springs on top, courtesy of any roadworks. 😁
;)
 
Jim Ufton said:
What if your red/green colourblind???? Like a lot of the male population, wich is why all of my wagglers are yellow or black,,,
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Well, as far as I know, there is no green light head torch?

And even for colourblind, the red light can still bright things up? No?
 
As I’ve been using a cheap eBay headtorch I’ll look into one with a red/green light option then I’ll have the best of both worlds !
 
Kevin Brown said:
As I’ve been using a cheap eBay headtorch I’ll look into one with a red/green light option then I’ll have the best of both worlds !
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Kevin,
The Ridgemonkey 150 is plenty powerful enough, has a green light option and a bit more budget friendly than the 300. BEWARE thou’ can be turned on in tackle bag very easily, it has two switches! and being rechargeable if it flattens the battery without you being aware you are buggered! I keep mine in a small plastic box to stop accidentally switching on…..I’ve been there🤣
Regards
Bill
 
Bill Walford said:
Kevin,
The Ridgemonkey 150 is plenty powerful enough, has a green light option and a bit more budget friendly than the 300. BEWARE thou’ can be turned on in tackle bag very easily, it has two switches! and being rechargeable if it flattens the battery without you being aware you are buggered! I keep mine in a small plastic box to stop accidentally switching on…..I’ve been there🤣
Regards
Bill
Click to expand...
 
Bill Walford said:
Kevin,
The Ridgemonkey 150 is plenty powerful enough, has a green light option and a bit more budget friendly than the 300. BEWARE thou’ can be turned on in tackle bag very easily, it has two switches! and being rechargeable if it flattens the battery without you being aware you are buggered! I keep mine in a small plastic box to stop accidentally switching on…..I’ve been there🤣
Regards
Bill
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Thanks Bill i was just looking at one , I usually keep mine in a EVA pouch 👍
 
I have one of the Ridgemonkey models, but we're talking about the effects on fish, rather than humans, are we not?
How do we know that green or red light is less visible to fish than white light? It seems a spurious assumption to make.

Surely the best advice would be to use light (any light) sparingly, i.e. only when necessary.
 
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