Anyone fish estuarys at night? How do u navigate as a lot of beacon are not lit up? Do u use a spotlight or rely on gps? I currently use a old spotty, was thinking of upgrading it as it's not very bright. Just throwing out for some suggestions.
It is a bit daunting at night the few times I have gone out it has been early morning not long before sun up I use the gps mainly but even a dolphin torch will pick up the reflectors on the markers from a far distance I have found trying to judge distance the hardest at night, slow and steady works for me.
It's not just the beacons that aren't lit - half the bloody boats out there aren't either!
I use my chartplotter and night vision as best I can going nice and slow, usually time it on a night with a bit of moon to help.
cheers Ryan
We use a spot light and have the beacon to beacon on our Lapps. It get us to where we need to be, but it can be slow going at night and in unfamiliar waterways.
A couple of weeks ago we went out in the arvo and had the hand held gps on.
It work really well on the way home at midnight. At every marker I put a waypoint in, it saved a lot of time and wil be utilizing it more often.
Darren
Good things come to those who bait
GPS + spotty + local knowledge + good vessel layout with respect to lighting ie - keeping the "in your face" type lighting to an absolute minimum so as to not rob you of your night vision. Moonlit nights definately make life easier. I have done away with my 12 volt spotty and now carry one of the new generation LED torches. Had to come home in the dark too many times after popping spotty globes. Just make sure you carry a spare set of batteries if you adopt this approach.
fished gippsland for 20 years using just spotlights. its handy having a fair few mounted around the boat now "flood that is. not spot" it should hit any decent object to reflect. gps helps a lot but arnt 100%. local knowlege is great
4g broadband radar will help most.....but understandable if you dont want to go that direction
Combine the 4G with a decent Flir system and you go anywhere in total darkness but my guess is a slight overkill for most estuary fishos.
What can you expect to pay for a decent flir system
That's a nice fish you caught... Do you mind if I use it for bait.
cheapest hand held. about 2200... cheapest mountable. about 10k
Like I said. Overkill. That said though, the guys that I did fit them for now wouldn't be without them
What about cheapest but effective radar setup. How much do you reckon
That's a nice fish you caught... Do you mind if I use it for bait.
This type of thread has come up before. Night vision can take a long walk off a short jetty when there is no moon and you are in a place like the Pin...its a big arsed remote controlled spotty for me so I can wreck the night vision for those guys with excellent night vision - you know the ones...tinny with no lights on. Its my pet hate. Its bloody dangerous. So now I wreck my own night vision for safety - I try my best not to shine the spotty on boats that are lit - the ones that are not lit get a fair bit of glare though.
In a perfect world a spotty would not be warranted, and lets face it, once its on your vision without it is stuffed for a long time.
Cheers
Boat: Seafarer Vagabond
Live: Great South East....love Moreton Bay fishing
Yup, there's some not too bright Lad's out there. I nearly cleaned up one many moons ago in his tender - using his lighter as a signalling device while rowing across the main body of the Pin. Not to mention the goons who sit in the channel at the top of Peel and in the Rainbow. One night we nearly cleaned one up in the middle of the channel in the Rainbow I would have gone straight through the middle of him.His reply to my verbal barage was "It's alright, we had seen you". Unfortunately you can't fix stupid.
Deliverying a yacht back from Mooloolaba to Sydney, we (2) were off Port Stephens in the wee hours moving along under sail at about 7-8 knots. I was on the bow with the boat on autopilot. My mate was off watch, so in a bunk. Saw a faint orange glow int he distance and then it stopped. Bit later, same. It was getting clearer and closer, then it dawned on me what it was - cigarette! Up and took off towards the helm but forgot to unleash the safety harness so was pulled off my feet. Quick unhook, run to the back, disengage the autohelm and spun the wheel hard, just as we run the dickheads boat down the side of us. If I didn't see him, I would have run straight over the top of him with about 10 tonne of yacht. I was running nav lights, but he had none on fishing 4-5nm out. Nearly killed the silly prick and gave him the serve of serves. Guess in this case, smoking SAVED his life.
I am so happy to wake up in the morning.
Beats the alternative!
I paid about 7K by memory & was the best money I have ever spent. No way would I cross Noosa bar of a night without it.Originally Posted by Nslfishing
Tony
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