While Green Light has gained a lot of popularity recently, millions of fish were caught with White Light before Green Light was made available to fishermen. The three basic colors of fishing lights and dock lights are green, white, and blue, and this is a question we are frequently asked. When projected on top of or below the water’s surface, ALL light will attract fish, but there are instances when one color is preferable to the others. Like you would alter the color of your lures if the fishing was slow, you might want to consider switching to a different light color if the bait fish aren’t collecting with the one you’re using.
What is the ideal color to use?
Due to their brightness and ability to draw fish from further out, white and green lights are the most frequently utilized colors to draw fish to boats, docks, and piers. The most common color of light we sell is green, which not only works well to draw in fish but also looks lovely at night, is easier on the eyes in the dark, and draws less insects than white light. Less intense than white light, blue light is frequently utilized in restaurant and resort areas for ambiance and aesthetic purposes. Green LEDs typically produce 90 lumens per watt, blue LEDs 30 lumens per watt, and white LEDs up to 110 lumens per watt.
The moonlight, sunlight, or artificial light shining onto the water just serves to initiate a natural food chain, which happens every day. Plankton, a microscopic organism that is a food source for baitfish, is attracted to the light. Plankton will gather around the light once they have, and baitfish and gamefish will soon follow. Learn more about how dock lights and fishing lights draw fish.
Any color of light will draw fish to your boat or dock, as was already mentioned, but green light has grown to be the most common hue around docks because it is less intense than white light and more aesthetically pleasant. All the colors in the color spectrum combine to form white light, which is brilliant but does not penetrate well through muck and algae particles in water. Fish can be seen more clearly while they are swimming around green light because it cuts through the water more effectively and causes less glare, similar to the effect of wearing polarized sunglasses. Additionally, white light tends to draw more bugs than green light, which may be rather irritating near water at night. It only means that Green light is easier on the eyes and penetrates murky water better, allowing for better vision. White light still attracts just as many fish. On the other side, if you are trying to illuminate above-water docks and structures, White light is far brighter than Green light and does a much better job of doing so. Green is the only color offered for all of our dock lights, and we recently added.
For fishing and shrimping, color can be more crucial. While Green is the most popular color for both fishing and shrimping, it’s always a good idea to test both colors if you are having a dull night. White is also a popular color for both sports. When comparing Green Light with White Light, we discovered that in the same body of water, Green Light draws “more” smaller baitfish whereas White Light draws “fewer” but much “bigger” baitfish. When fishing in various settings, altering the color of the lights is similar to changing the color of the lures.
You can use Green light, White light, or BOTH colors at once with our new Venus Dual Color fishing lights. But we recently unveiled our new Venus Green LED Fishing Light, which has quickly become a favorite for fishing, shrimping, and ice fishing, for the dedicated Green Light only fishermen! The secret to fishing at night is luring enough baitfish in close proximity to the light. The larger game fish will follow quickly after the baitfish as they start to shine. To determine which hue will attract the most baitfish, we advise using Green Light, White Light, and a blend of BOTH colors for roughly 30 minutes each.
Which color temperature should I choose?
Three popular ranges of white lights—Warm Light (2700K–3000K), Cool White (3000K–5000K), and Daylight—are used to quantify color temperature in Kelvin (K) (5500K-6500K). While the majority of the earlier halogen and incandescent bulbs were in the 3200K range, the more recent White LEDs now come in a spectrum from 3200K to 6500K. The whiter the light is, the higher the number, up until the 7000K level, where the hue begins to turn blue.
In general, lower color temperatures in the 2700K to 3000K range work best in heavily stained and muddy waters and mid-range color temperatures in the 5000K to 6000K range work best in moderately clear to clear water. You can find a lot of different articles and opinions about which color temperature is the best to use for gigging and bowfishing on the internet. Although 80% of our customers use 5000K lights, you might want to choose a lower color temperature if the water in your location is particularly discolored or murky.
Why darker colors are more effective in muddy water
Because the yellowish tint that the lights generate does not reflect off of the mud particles in the water as badly as the whiter, higher color temperatures do, lower color temperatures perform better in stained, unclean, and muddy waters, resulting in less glare in the water. When viewed side by side to lower temperature colors, higher color temperatures appear to be considerably whiter and brighter, but they also cause increased glare in stained water. The best analogy to use to illustrate why lower color temperatures perform better in stained water is to compare it to shining your bright lights in a thick fog. When you turn on bright lights in the fog, the reflection in your face is intense. Fog lights having a lower color temperature (more yellow) perform better at piercing the fog with less reflection.
It may be ideal for you to use a lower color temperature in the 2700K to 3000K range if you fish primarily in extremely stained or unclean waters. Just keep in mind that while they won’t appear as bright or as yellow when compared to lights with higher color temperatures, they should still offer improved visibility because there won’t be as much glare from reflection. The ideal color temperature range for fishing in mildly stained to clear water is from 5000K to 6000K.
With the help of sixty Venus LED fish lights, Alan created a flounder gigging setup, which he sent us some fantastic photos of. He was interested in learning which color temperature would be most useful to him, like many of our other customers. 3000K or 5000K. Three 3000K lights and three 5000K lights are shown side by side in the accompanying photographs, which may assist you in deciding which color is ideal for you. Although some of our customers who fish in much dirtier water like the lower color temperature, Alan said he preferred the 5000K color over the 3000K in the relatively clean water he was in. In spite of the fact that most of the lights we sell are 5000K and do function well in most seas, you can make your own judgment based on these images.
