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Posts: 86
Location: Illinois | Do headlamps scare the fish away?
Edited by TMuskyFisher 7/20/2018 6:04 PM
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Posts: 134
| Never caught one with one on, so it must scare them away. LOL |
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Posts: 770
| I would like to hear a response from anyone that says no |
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Posts: 1636
| While this is a different situation... Muskies that are not following lures do not seem to be bothered by light. It had gotten to the point where we were able to hover directly above a fish, stick a camera underwater, take a picture, and actually touch the fish. A spotlight was directly on the fish and the camera had a flash. Just one situation where we spotlit Muskies that did not appear to have any response to the light... unless the light caused them to freeze. |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | Blind Fish. |
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| i don't use light when im fishing during the night. but here is the situation,you can point light vs almost all the cold blooded reptile without a single trouble ,frog will not move,alligator,snake etc so why an animal less intelligent like a musky would be importunate by light. i have also point a super powerful spot at lot's of suckers,carp,pike with no reaction at all. so make your own conclusion. i turn light off for less biting insects,that's it |
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Posts: 343
| I do a lot of night fishing and fish with lights off. When I'm fighting a fish I've observed that when I get the fish in close to land it and turn on a light the fish goes crazy; so yes I believe lights do spook fish. |
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Posts: 1636
| supertrollr - 7/22/2018 11:03 AM i don't use light when im fishing during the night. but here is the situation,you can point light vs almost all the cold blooded reptile without a single trouble ,frog will not move,alligator,snake etc so why an animal less intelligent like a musky would be importunate by light. i have also point a super powerful spot at lot's of suckers,carp,pike with no reaction at all. so make your own conclusion. i turn light off for less biting insects,that's it
When animals are in a less active state... I have also experienced the same as far as there being no reaction when it comes to movement. "Freezing" may be a defensive reaction.
However, when a fish is following a lure... in a way... it is already letting it's guard down.
In both instances... the animal probably senses the light. However, an animal sitting motionless may remain motionless, or "freeze," to avoid being seen. A following fish is already moving... so, it may respond differently by trying to escape or avoid the light since it has already given up it's location - through movement.
I probably messed the above up... but, it makes sense to me. lol
One reason why fish such as Carp are not bothered by light... whether they are moving or not... could be due to the idea that they could be attracted to or used to light... as light can draw a food source. That or they simply do not sense/assume any threat from the light. Muskies might take in that sort of stimuli, differently. This is just an idea...
Edited by Reelwise 7/22/2018 1:33 PM
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Muskies have two types of cells in the retina of their eyes, rod, and cone. On a clock basis, at the same time each evening and early morning, those cells adjust position and become primary in the vision process.
Cone cells are what are employed during light periods from dawn to dusk. These allow the fish to deal with higher levels of light, and allow for color perception. Rod cells are many times more sensitive to light and allow the muskie to see very well indeed in near darkness. Around an hour or so before dusk, when most of the light is bouncing off the surface of the water due to sun angle anyway, the cones recede and rods extend. the opposite begins to happen before dawn.
When fully extended, rod cells allow then fish to see much better that we do at night. Hit the muskie with bright light, and it will be instantly light blinded. The more direct and powerful the light, the better chance, if the fish isn't already moving, it will lock up as it is totally blinded by the light level.
A less direct or powerful light source will cause the muskie to hit the bricks and exit to avoid the retina 'burn'. Each time the reaction may be different due to how much and how light hits the muskies retinas.
Try allowing your eyesight to adjust to darkness and hit them with a bright light. Your pupils adjust quickly to screen out too much light, and you will still be temporarily blinded. Mammals and other land based critters tend to freeze, probably because a eons of evolution have shown running while blinded headlong in any direction on land can and probably will result in running into, or tripping over something.
A muskie's eyes don't have the pupil adjustment like us and many other land critters, and no eyelids, so the full force of any artificial light slams straight into the eye temporarily 'burning' the highly light sensitive rod cells in use. That's what causes the reaction you see.
Fish are drawn to light as many water simple organisms are drawn/activated by light and baitfish are drawn to those. Crappie lights are used in the South at night a lot. Far less direct/more diffused, the fish hang on the perimeter of the light and one can fill a bucket pretty quickly. Any direct, bright light will blind those fish immediately. We used to spear carp on Bangs Lake in Illinois, and two Coleman lanterns with aluminum shields mounted on the back of the lens provided the light. The carp would run just ahead of the light, so a 12' pole turned out to be perfect. It was really rare to have one freeze up, but I do remember a couple.
One thing for sure, muskies are sight feeders, and won't be able to see anything when hit with a bright light after dusk. |
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Posts: 1636
| You gotta make it so we can "like" individual posts, Steve. That was good.
Now that Steve explained in detail that Muskies are pretty much blinded by the light... why do you guys think they react differently to light in some situations versus others?
Seems like the fish that are surprised by light will freeze... (better safe than sorry)
...while the active fish already on the move... may be spooked or appear to try and get away...
It is kind of like if you are hiding in a bush versus out in the open. Even if there is attention being given to your location... you might still be safe and go un-noticed... especially if you did nothing to attract attention. So, staying put might be the best for survival.
If you are out in the open and someone shines a light on you... and you performed an action that may have attracted that attention... you could be in trouble - so, an attempt to get away may be the best option.
I understand that fish may not be able to think of it like this... but, every animal is coded to react to certain things... and it is amazing how most of the time... there is a specific reason as to why they react the way they do - regardless of intellectual capabilities.
Interested to read your thoughts on the above, imaginary thinking 
Edited by Reelwise 7/22/2018 6:57 PM
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Posts: 68
| I don't fish with a light on. Even on the darkest nights your eyes will adjust pretty well and you're able see so well that you can even pick up follows at times if they are high enough in the water. I use a glow bead above my leader to avoid smashing my rod tip time after time. And like the guy above stated, they do sometimes get pretty crazy at the boat when you shine a light on them. I've had a couple that I don't think they even knew they were hooked and when we shined the light to net they went nuts. My 2 cents. |
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Posts: 2327
Location: Chisholm, MN | I heard that muskies love the light and if you hang spotlights over your boat, you will draw every muskie from miles away into a feeding frenzy!  |
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Posts: 526
| I’ve never caught one with the regular light on my headlamp on, but have caught one with the red light on... |
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Posts: 284
Location: Eagan, MN | I fish with the lights off for fear of spooking fish, improvement in my own night vision, and to keep the bugs down. With that said, I have fished with a very good fisherman who’s caught hundreds of muskies at night and he fishes with his stern light on all the time. It’s blinding to me, but he says he likes to see a fish follow and light has no impact on there aggressiveness at all. Both techniques - using light and no lights - obviously work. My theory why is that you simply don’t want anything to CHANGE in the environment when a fish is fixated on your lure and stalking your bait from behind at night. So, if the light is on as the fish is approaching the boat that’s not a change and shouldn’t spook the fish. Where I think we run into problems is when we shine a light on the fish when that light wasn’t already part of the environment and wasn’t expected; for example, from a headlamp or spotlight that suddenly gets directed at the fish that has come boatside. Notice most of the accounts of muskies going wild involves a light being shone on them suddenly during the fight. To avoid a light spooking fish, I think the key is to remain consistent in terms of your light source - or lack of a light source - throughout the cast and retrieve. Once a fish is hooked, suddenly shine a bright light on them if you want them to go crazy. Or keep them in darkness with no lights on if you want them to remain relatively calm. That’s been my experience. |
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Posts: 1023
Location: Lafayette, IN | sworrall - 7/23/2018 5:26 AM Muskies have two types of cells in the retina of their eyes, rod, and cone. On a clock basis, at the same time each evening and early morning, those cells adjust position and become primary in the vision process. Cone cells are what are employed during light periods from dawn to dusk. These allow the fish to deal with higher levels of light, and allow for color perception. Rod cells are many times more sensitive to light and allow the muskie to see very well indeed in near darkness. Around an hour or so before dusk, when most of the light is bouncing off the surface of the water due to sun angle anyway, the cones recede and rods extend. the opposite begins to happen before dawn. When fully extended, rod cells allow then fish to see much better that we do at night. Hit the muskie with bright light, and it will be instantly light blinded. The more direct and powerful the light, the better chance, if the fish isn't already moving, it will lock up as it is totally blinded by the light level. A less direct or powerful light source will cause the muskie to hit the bricks and exit to avoid the retina 'burn'. Each time the reaction may be different due to how much and how light hits the muskies retinas. Try allowing your eyesight to adjust to darkness and hit them with a bright light. Your pupils adjust quickly to screen out too much light, and you will still be temporarily blinded. Mammals and other land based critters tend to freeze, probably because a eons of evolution have shown running while blinded headlong in any direction on land can and probably will result in running into, or tripping over something. A muskie's eyes don't have the pupil adjustment like us and many other land critters, and no eyelids, so the full force of any artificial light slams straight into the eye temporarily 'burning' the highly light sensitive rod cells in use. That's what causes the reaction you see. Fish are drawn to light as many water simple organisms are drawn/activated by light and baitfish are drawn to those. Crappie lights are used in the South at night a lot. Far less direct/more diffused, the fish hang on the perimeter of the light and one can fill a bucket pretty quickly. Any direct, bright light will blind those fish immediately. We used to spear carp on Bangs Lake in Illinois, and two Coleman lanterns with aluminum shields mounted on the back of the lens provided the light. The carp would run just ahead of the light, so a 12' pole turned out to be perfect. It was really rare to have one freeze up, but I do remember a couple. One thing for sure, muskies are sight feeders, and won't be able to see anything when hit with a bright light after dusk. This is why I use a purple headlamp. So the muskies see me better in low light. "Here he comes!" |
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Posts: 1209
| A stationary light won't scare but if it turns on , moves or gains intensity faster than the fish is swimming it will |
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| steve did you know if pike eyes are different than the musky one ? |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | supertrollr - 8/2/2018 7:54 AM
steve did you know if pike eyes are different than the musky one ?
Very similar, yes. |
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| Just a comment: This was originally about head lamps, not stern lights. If you are out on the lake after dark, that stern light can be an important safety factor. Last summer I fished from dusk until a couple hours after dark on one of the lakes in the chain I live on. When leaving, I headed for a narrow channel out of the lake. When I got about a hundred yards away and was slowing, a boat suddenly turned on their stern light. Fortunately, I was going slowly and could avoid them. However, it is not a "no wake" zone and some fly through there. Another night I was sitting outside by the fire pit, listening to a west coast Brewers game. I knew there was a boat fishing along the shore line because I heard them talking and lures hitting the water close to shore. My neighbor was returning to his dock at a good clip and they were almost directly in front of his dock, about 100 feet out. They didn't get their stern light lit until he was very close, he had to swerve and slow abruptly. Had he hit them, they would have been at fault. |
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Location: MN | A white headlamp certainly spooks fish. A dim red headlamp doesn't seem to bother them. I've caught a few boat side with a red light on, some of which went around a few times.
A white sock over your stern light helps a lot but also keeps you and others safe. If you wear black socks, like me, plan ahead. |
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Posts: 2024
| I bought a clamp on light for the stern for use in night fishing so it can be used on the other side if casting by the boat one. Remove the boat light, clamp on and turn it on, easy. Simply stupid to not have lights on at night. |
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| I am curios how the native Americans used torches to lure fish at night. The Lac du Flambeau tribe name is supposed to represent groups out on the lake with flaming torches. Not as bright a light, defused, not shining directly into the water like a headlamp made the difference I am guessing. |
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Posts: 3868
| Yes, most of the time. |
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Posts: 8782
| The headlamp itself? Probably not, but with it attached to your head and you moving about, I could see how they'd react to the movement. I don't fish at night much, but when I do I use a glow bead or even glow paint/tape on my lures so I can see them approaching the boat. You can pretty much tell where your lure is at by feel, but it helps to see it. That way you don't need any additional light. |
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