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Head torches

B

Brendon Mullins

Senior Member
For all you anglers fishing evening sessions in winter when you are turning up in the dark....

How much do you think light from night torches penetrate the water and spook fish?

If the river is up and coloured I can see it having minimal impact.

Not sure when its low and clear esp if you are fishing a small river and fishing close in.
 
I asked this a few years ago

Head torches and swim disturbance

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.co.uk
 
Cheap Energizer's or a more pricey Fennix have a low output red light mode that doesn't shine a lot of light on the water and potentially spook fish when fishing in the dark and can easily be switched up for landing a fish .
 
Barry Peck said:
I've never had a problem with my ridgemonkey head torch . Several settings on it and a very strong beam .. charges well and holds its charge .
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Apart from they turn themselves on all the time , despite mine being kept in a hard case
Although the green light is a big plus , leave it on low and it keeps the rats away
 
Like most people i try to limit shining my light across the water while I'm fishing but I noticed the other night while packing up and checking that I hadn't left any bank sticks that every time my light highlighted the shoals of bleak that the predators took full advantage and were smashing them aplenty. Very interesting to watch and might be worth a few casts with a lure for some close in action.
 
I tend to fish daylight just into dark and have always been very careful not to shine the beam from my headtorch across the water. However on a number of occasions when I have been packing up in the dark I have turned my torch on and started gathering my things together while leaving my rod fishing for a few more minutes and the bite has come.
I still wouldn't sit there with the torch on all the time though.
When I chub fish into dark I use a small torch that has a narrow beam which I have epoxied a threaded nut to and I mount this on a short bank stick which has a camera adaptor on, pointing up at the rod tip. I use different weight quiver tips and this saves me putting isotopes or starlights on each tip. Usefully some of the Drennan tips have luminous paint on which makes them stand out even more.
 
I often catch a barbel within 5 minutes of recasting in the dark - with the headtorch shining on the water for the cast. I used to be really careful not to make a lot of noise or disturbance but the amount of fish I've caught just after casting has made me think differently. I think that visual disturbance is more important in the daylight hours IMO.
 
This is an interesting topic.

When I’m fishing into dark I try to keep my head torch use to as minimal as possible, literally just when playing fish and re baiting (and even then I have my head down in my lap), I tend to cast blind as from fishing in the daylight light first, I tend to know where to be (even on York’s Derwent which is small intimate and plenty of trees) . I also like the fact that your eyes soon adjust to the darkness and it’s amazing how much light the isotope even gives.

Anyway despite all the above, a couple of years back, me and my friend had been fishing a yorks chalk stream that I can bait fish in winter, and due to long walk back to the car darkness had fallen and as the river is literally an aquarium it was amazing to shine the head torch into the crystal waters and see grayling, barbel, pike, trout, none of which spooked!! It made me think perhaps it really isn’t an issue after all, that said I’m still cautious, as it certainly can’t do any harm to keep the light to a minimum!

PS I use a ridge monkey head torch with loads of settlngs and it’s great value for money.
 
Thanks for the replies

I'm planning of evening fishing this winter so will be arriving in the dark so good to know I might not be reducing my chances when setting up using a torch
 
In days of old before the emergence of isotopes and battery floats anglers used to float fish at night with a torch beam across the water to see their floats so I think it may be a case of us worrying more than we need to. I think too much torch might cause more issue in giving a decent swim location away :)
 
The moon is quite bright at times and the fish are used to it, so I don’t think light is much of a problem when used moderately? In my opinion it’s the flashing strobe function that may well be a cause for concern? When cycling through the different functions therefore I would like a good lamp without this function 🤔 if anyone has any recommendations?
 
Dave Bartell said:
In days of old before the emergence of isotopes and battery floats anglers used to float fish at night with a torch beam across the water to see their floats so I think it may be a case of us worrying more than we need to. I think too much torch might cause more issue in giving a decent swim location away :)
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Yes, but where I fished we were always careful to have the lamp (usually off a bicycle) at water level, with the light shining across the surface and not down into the water. Heaven knows whether it made any difference, but it was an exciting way to fish!
 
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