Have/do any of you guys use those long green floruesent tubes that are submersible? I was thinking of getting one for squid fishing. I normally use a large IC or halogen but getting power to where I need it is getting harder and harder. Also there is a lot of reflection. I was thinking of getting one of these tubes and toting a car battery to power it.
Do you think it will work for squid?

I use a Brinkmann Q-Beam starfire II attached to my battery when fishing the canyons. It is super bright, and very compact, and must be submersed. The only draw back was I had to buy duplex wire to lengthen the terminals. I spliced posi and neg wires , crimping battery clips at the end. I used 30' of wire to extend the reach to 38' from battery source, so I could also hang it from the dock in spring to squid fish(my pier is quite high off the water, and the floaters aren't in yet). It draws the squid in real nice to the light, and no reflection either. I have no experience with the green tubes, but these tubes don't appear to me to be all that bright.

Yeah I came across that one. I was looking into a hydro-glow or one similar. I like the idea of keeping the light below the surface. The reflection is huge otherwise. I have been usinga 500 watt halogen 110 volt aimed down at the surface. It works but I am afraid of it getting dunked and frying some guy (like me) standing on the dock.
The 12 volt tube lights that go in the water look interesting. They say they can be used for sb fishing but that seems to go against the no-lights rule. I may give it try this spring. I bet if you toss in a little chum and keep that light on you can really draw in some squid

Sandy,
I have one of the hydroglows, but we only use it in the canyon and even then I still run 4 300 watt halogens to light the water. I think the hydroglows do work, but they need some additonal lighting, by themselves I don't think they are enough.

yeah, u need a power source for that. i say that it works not too shabby. i fished down the cape with three people who used it to catch some squids.

They say they can be used for sb fishing but that seems to go against the no-lights rule.

I think light on the water is a matter of degree and may be totally false. My very first experience surf fishing was to drive onto the beach, face the vehicle toward the water with the lights on (so we could see) and cast pencil poppers. For the next half hour we caught bass after bass until someone came along and told us the "rule". Dutifully, we turned off the headlights and the bite stopped.

Then there's the time that a buddy of mine convinced the caretaker at a ferry dock to turn on the lights to create a shadow line. Within minutes of turning on the lights we were pulling bass from the new shadow line.

This is tough to square with the "rule". Although I try to keep light to a bare minimum (red only) while doing anything outdoors at nigh in order to preserve my night vision:eyes: . I also dim my lights when driving on the beach to preserve others' vision; to not irritate anyone :nailem: ; and just in case the rule is true.;)

I don't think it is the light itself that spooks the fish ,but if it is steady or not. For instance the lights on a bridge are constant and the fish are acclimated to that. However if the water is pitch black and then you flash a bright light through it from a fishing light , or headlights moving , it will be quite a startling contrast in the water. Oh , and by the way the [I]Lantern People[I] :nailem: should know that walking back and forth in front of a lantern that lights up the rocks like Gillette Stadium is just like sending a semifore messeage to the fish that says "Go Away!" Geeze I HATE that when they come up on your quiet liitle fishing spot at night and then set up a frigging camp....but I digress.

I agree with the constant vs. sudden on/off theory. As I kid I use to fish with my Dad for bass at night under bridges. We would tie up to the bridge and work the shadow line. At time he would hang a coleman lantern off the back of the boat. He made a jig that attached to the cleat to canterliver the lantern well off the stern. We would drift small blackfish , choggies and eels back thru the shadows cast by the bridge lights. You would be surprised what lurks in those shadows. Once hooked up, you pray they swim away from the pilings or your screwed.

I plan on ordering one of these hydroglows and will get deep discharge battery to lug out to the dock. I might give it a try near the islands some night.

Sandy,
One think to keep in mind on the hydroglows, they are very delicate. We did a group buy on them last year on Noreast and probably 40% of them came from the factory already broken. Several guys have also reported breaking them since they got them. If you can't "baby" them, they may not be the right light for you.