I dont know anything about the different kinds of lights.
I'm going to be using a 1000 watt honda or a 1500 watt coleman generator when I cant use the honda.

What would be the best light setup at a reasonable price for these small generators?

Thanks FE's!


-Cash

There are some new kind of lights that put out more light with lower wattage bulbs

Try searching on bowfishingworld.com I think that is where I saw it.

I started out runnin 2 500w halogens w/a 1000w generator. Last spring I bought 4 150w HPS lights & run 'em on the same gen.

Halos are cheap. $20 on the yellow stand at Home Depot.

HPS's are more, but you get a LOT more light on less wattage.

Here's what I bought

http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EPro ... E-HC1H151Z

The downside to HPS is the warm up time. Not too bad when you turn 'em on cold. Just a couple mins & they are burnin bright.

Let somebody, or a floppin ticked off gar bump the switch after they've been on for a while, & you're in the dark for 15 mins Ask me how I know.

Halogens come back on immediately.

Also on the HPS, for a small gen, you gotta turn em on one or two at the time. They draw a lot more at startup.

A couple halogen 500's are a good way to start out. They are light, easy to move around, and cheap to replace. Keep a couple spare bulbs handy. Most pull around 3.6 amps if I remember right, from the last ones I checked. They are easy to rig up/mount and can be taken on/off easy.
Halogens are all I used for a few years, til I tried some hps lights.
The hps lights are heavier and more expensive. They make more light with less draw on the generator. The ones I got have "fast start" ballasts, which instantly make light when turned on, then take maybe a minute to get to full brightness and peak efficiency. Alot of times, if by myself, I only needed one on the front of the bow for trolling around at night, plenty of light foward and to both sides. For quick,cheap and easy you can't beat the halogens, but if none of that matters, the hps are the way to go. Atlas brand are very popular, these are the ones I got, they work great:

Hey guys....

Pardon the DUMB question....

But in Texas what type fish can you harvest by bow ???

I saw a show where they were taking tilapia and gar - but are there any other legal fish you can take by bow in Texas ???

Man, I got all fired up after seein this thread. Went out this evenin' & got the generator goin', hooked up the lights & let it run for a while.

Gettin ready to go stick some fish.

Bout time to start stickin some GAR. I use the 500 watt lights, from home depot. have been told that the 350 watt put out the same light.

lThanks fellas.
I'm going to go with the HPS's bombdude posted. Me and White1 are working on the platform tomorrow.

bombdude- where do you bowfish?

on my rig i have 3-250 halo's
and 4-500 halo's

very bright but that 5500 genterator is a loud m'fer

Yall think 3 of these ( 1 front, 1 on each side ) will be sufficient light?

Lets see some pics of that new light rack and melted hydroturf

x2 on the ultra bulb... as for if three lights will be enough... it will work. you can bowfish with just a Q beam been there done that....

As for the lights... as stated above you can go with a 10.00 halogen fixture from walmart or lowes... I you plan on getting serious and travel in choppy water i would go with a kilarc fixture completely sealed unit with a heavy duty mounting bracket and stainless steal hardware.

Cash, did you ever get the lights hooked up? I have been running 4-5 halogens with Ultra 350 bulbs on a 2000 watt Honda. I have ran on a Coleman 1500 before but the Honda is the way to go because of noise. Before I got the halogens, I did it with a hardhat light and it worked fine. I still use my hardhat light to pinpoint fish for people up front. I do have halogens on both sides of the boat but I have a switch to turn them on and off on each side because of wattage requirements. Make sure you look at wattage and amperage of lights. I have contemplated some setups that work wattage wise but draw too many amps. I do want to switch to HPS to get more light, so I'm curious how your setup works.

I have only bowfished saltwater, so I don't know if freshwater is different. Shooting a limit of reds is a blast. I had a camp in Golden Meadow before Gustav took it, so we would just go behind the camp, shoot fish and get drunk. I will be back bowfishing soon when my new houseboat is finished.

Here is a short video my friend shot last year. It kinda blows being that it's 2:00 am and we've been fishing all day (meaning drinking beer all day). You can see how I still use the hardhat light for fish that don't want to stay still in the halogens. And yes, I know the music is gay. I didn't know the video was being shot and obviously I didn't notice what was on the radio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7sCapCpvY0

neat vid Wilson.

I just ordered my 5th light a couple days ago. I'll be lightin up the night.

Haven't heart from dphung in a while. He has the set up. His boat looks like a mini football stadium floatin on the lake.

I havent gotten hooked up just yet. The lights came in last week.
White1 welded the tabs on for the lights tonight.
And welded up some beer holders.
Hopefully gonna get it wired up and get at least one bow this coming week.

Well, I think I've just about maxed out my little 1000w genny. I got my new light in & rigged it up. That's a total of 5 150w HPS lights.

Tried turnin 'em on with 2 at first, & then 3. Well, the 3rd wouldn't come on until the others were totally runnin bright. After that, it worked fine. Ran it for bout 20 mins or so.

Now I gotta get everything else back in order.

might be able so find some but i bought a few extras a while ago. i hope they didnt discontinue them.

I bought mine before they were discontinued. Not sure if they have a replacement yet.

Been using halogen for about 8 years now. Got 12 lights on the deck. Few 500's mostly 300's. Using a 5500 gen. I will admit, it's noisy. The rig is in transition. I recently picked up the new PD 18X60 and will begin rigging it soon.

I'm heading out to Grand Isle this weekend to bowfish with my 4-5 350 Ultra's . Weather looks bad but I will try and remember to take some pictures of my ghetto rig.

Well the lights worked! Went to Dularge a couple weeks ago to do some trout fishing and brought my boat
along. Went out for a little while in the rain that Sat. night. Water was dirty and only saw this one red.
Shot a few gar. Like everybody said I now want more light! Think I'm going to mount 2 on each side of the poling
platform for the back of the boat since my friends are either too dumb to idle my boat around or too smart to
not be on the front shooting.

and White1 puts work before bowfishing.

#SIDE NOTE#

If you see something at Academy and you dont want to pay full price.... ask a manager how much he'll
discount it for whatever reason... Demo reel, torn up package, last years model, whatever.

Went to Academy in Slidell and saw last years PSE Kingfisher in a torn up package and missing 1 arrow.
Was priced the same ($140) as the new ones so I ask the manager how much and he says take 20% off. I
told him to keep it bc nobody would buy it for that price. 10 days later my padna goes in to the same
Academy and asks the same manager about the same bow. He gives it to him 50% off. So basically I got a
new Kingfisher combo for $70. Pretty good deal!

I thought that was a kid

Lets go tonight cash

Thats not a good picture Cash!

Is dat chit legal in LA ???

If not better delete that pic of a hook caught killer, that had to be put down with the bow and arrow
cause the .357 was empty from shortening the tilt cable...

Good fo you Cash and thanks fo the tip on the Sportin' Goods Sto !!!!

I kind of gittin' the cravin' fo some bow and arrow fishin' ...... just still a little timid on
the release !!!!!

CASH ME AND MY FRIEND CHASE IS GOING TO MOBILE BAY FRIDAY NIGHT SO IF YOU ARE GOING SAT NIGHT AROUND HERE LET ME KNOW, IM UP FOR ANOTHER TEAM WORK TRIP.

Im down. We'll figure it out towards the end of the work.