ok as some of you know i have a 14 foot v-bottom i am setting up for bowfishing. i have done some reasearch and the biggest generator i am going to put in it is 2500 watts. i am just wondering what lights i should use. i know running my generator at 80% will put out 2000 watts. so should i go out and get 8 250 watt lights or should i use 6 300 watt lights. i will be shooting 2 people some times but due to some unforeseen circumstances i will be shooting alone a lot. so which should i go with. i will post pictures in a little while. i have to take them and clean it up a little. i am in the process of painting it and installing my deck. but once i get that done i am going to install the lights and generator and make a test run but until then i am just dreaaming. so thanks in advance.



William

'sticker, I'm a fan of the 225 watt GE ultra bulbs. They cost as much or more than the fixtures. The nice thing is that they last a long time, put out enough light, lightweight, instant start-upand are easy on the genny.

Smart to run at 80%.
Heard good things about the ultras.
They should be good for the DesPlaines River since it's pretty clear.
If you get out on very muddy water like the Fox Riveroften, you mayhave better luck withthe brighter bulbs to penetrate as much as possible.

Also, since you're starting from scratch with your first night rig, and if your genny has two outputs, plan to divide up the lights equally between the two circuits.

my only other question is, should i use the 6 or 8 lights?

Use as many as you want. Just add up the total Watts and stay under 2,000, the way you plan to.

Since you plan to be by yourself or have one other shooter you won't need to light up the water all around the boat. You can probably get by with 6 lights, but then you can use brighter bulbs. I find that many boats do great with 4 lights up front, and 2 down the left side. Not many right handed shooters take shots to the right side of the boat. Use 8 if you want to go all around, or 6 for just the front and 1 side.

Don't overload the cheap generators. They have durability issues and will not run for more than a few outings at 100%. Better to buy a bigger genny, or use fewer total Watts (80% of rating).

thanks a lot guys i am going to use 6 lights. i will keep ya updated and if any of you are ever up this way let me know if ya want to go shoot some carp.

Bill, we have switches on our lights. When we run with a smaller genny this allows us to turn different lights on depending on which shoreline we're running. It also allows us to turn off certain lights when we pass a boat or people on the shoreline. No sense blinding people.

My boat was set up with switches for each light. Made it really nice for all the reasons Christine mentioned. I always left one light on with the genny running when I'd load my boat at night too. Especially down there on the DesPlaines. I was running 8 300 watt lights, which was plenty of light. I'll miss that boat. You'll be happy with whatever route you go with.

Do not know if you have your genny yet? If know Menards has a very nice 3500 Watt WEN Generator under $300.00 Several of us have them and have had no problems at all.

one other question. how high above the side of the boat should i have the lights?