Duck Boat Lighting 101: Define Your Goal
When it comes to duck boat lighting, it's crucial to define your goals. Sometimes, hunters need less light to avoid spooking game. Flashlights or clip-on lights might be perfect for such situations. However, during foul weather or tricky navigation, having more robust lighting becomes essential. Here's a good rule to remember:
- It's easy to turn off lights you don't want.
- It's impossible to turn on lights you don't have.
For the ultimate duck boat lighting setup, go with more lights you can turn on and off as you want them instead of fewer lights that might leave you needing a light you haven't installed yet.
Duck Boat Light Bar Options
The main purpose of a light bar on a duck boat or a jon boat is for driving. When it's time to pilot the boat from the dock to your hunting or fishing spot, you need good headlights for visibility. That's where light bars come in. They are plenty bright enough to light up a big area and they have good throw distance for maximum forward visibility.
For optimal bow lighting, consider using a single light bar, multiple bow light bars, or a combination of light bars and spotlights. A 20-inch marine series light bar from Black Oak LED provides broad and intense illumination, ideal for open waters. For smaller setups or additional lighting, the 4-inch double row LED light bar offers a compact yet powerful solution.
Duck Boat Interior Lighting Kit
What do you do in the small hours before dawn? You've got your boat in position and it's time to rig your decoys, raise the duck blinds, and get your gear sorted. Trying to do all of that with one hand while holding a flashlight gets annoying fast. Little clamp on lights don't light up the whole area and can hinder your work.
Effective interior lighting can make tasks like rigging decoys or organizing gear much easier. The Black Oak LED marine flush mount spreader lights are excellent for illuminating large areas without harsh glare. Additionally, RGB accent lights with a dimmer controller provide customizable lighting levels, perfect for maintaining night vision.
Duck Boat LED Light for Docking
Smart boat owners know docking can be stressful if you can't see. Who knows what kind of junk is littered around the boat ramp? A small light bar or pod light mounted to or near your motor will give you all the light you need for reversing and navigating at the dock.
Docking lights are crucial for safe navigation in low-light conditions. Many hunters recommend mounting a smaller light, such as a 4" pod light, near the motor for easier reversing and maneuvering at the dock.
Duck Boat Navigation Lights
While Black Oak LED primarily focuses on task and floodlighting, navigation lights are essential for safety. A standard white nav light, such as this one, combined with RGB accent lights from Black Oak LED, can meet the requirements for red (port) and green (starboard) running lights, ensuring compliance with maritime regulations.
Black Oak LED Duck Boat Light Setup
Let's show you some great lights from Black Oak LED that will give you the complete setup. Why choose Black Oak LED? Our lights are super durable, waterproof and weatherproof, and made to be ultra bright. Our top features include:
- Two stage Hydrex seal lock: Keep out all the water with this double gasket. We've tested it in extreme conditions, given them a beating, and still they don't let water in or fail.
- 4x stronger with Dynamax housing: With our heavy duty Dynamax housing, each light is built to withstand the harshest beating possible. We made sure to do extensive testing before releasing our lights to the public. Our testing included multiple hits with a baseball bat, throwing the light into the air, and using the light bar as a ramp for our truck.
- 360° Ceramic Protection against UV, Salt Water & Corrosion: To keep up with the harsh marine environment, we created a ceramic coating for our lights. Baricoat ceramic coating was designed as a 3 part protection from UV, saltwater, and corrosion.
Our light bars and lights are so good we back them with a lifetime warranty. If you find any defects in our products, we'll sort it out for you.
Main Duck Boat Light Bars
For the main bow-mounted lights, Black Oak LED offers robust options:
- 20-Inch Marine Series: Provides intense, wide-reaching illumination ideal for open waters and long-distance visibility. Key features include a durable, weather-resistant design, high lumen output for maximum brightness, and efficient heat management to extend the lifespan.
- 4-Inch Double Row LED Light Bar: Compact yet powerful, perfect for adding supplementary lighting to specific areas. Benefits include low power consumption, easy mounting options, and a rugged construction that withstands harsh marine environments.
These are the biggest and smallest lights we suggest. You could go with single row lights in 6", 10", or 20" versions. A 10" double row light is also a very popular choice.
Hunting Duck Boat Light Setup
For stationary setups and duck blinds, consider RGB marine accent lights with a controller:
- Marine Accent Light: Offers customizable lighting to suit any layout and size, ensuring optimal illumination without disrupting the hunt.
- RGB Controller: Allows precise control over lighting intensity and color, enhancing both functionality and aesthetics.
These lights are the perfect size for area lighting inside your boat. They aren't going to blind you or ruin your night vision. When you set them up with the controller, you can choose the color and intensity of the light to match your needs.
Auxiliary Duck Boat Lighting Ideas
Bow lights for piloting and interior lights for gear setup are pretty basic for duck boats. To really complete your setup, go for a few extras. These will improve the functions of your boat as the ultimate hunting and fishing platform.
- Docking Lights: Mounted near the motor for better visibility during docking and reversing.
- Clamp-on Pod Light: Flexible task lighting that can be easily repositioned as needed.
- 7" Round Spotlight: Ideal for long-distance illumination in open water.
- Underwater Lights: Perfect for fishing, these lights enhance visibility underwater, attracting fish to your location.
There are even more options available on our website. You can check out different light packages and combinations to create a customized lighting rig for your boat.
How to Install Duck Boat LED Lights
Adding lights is really easy. Our wiring harnesses and installation brackets make this is simple as possible. Even adding extras like more lights, a second battery, and controllers doesn't complicate things too much.
Best of all, if you want a little help or recommendations, just give us a call. Our team is always ready to help.
Use Brackets for Installation Below the Bow
Installing lights using brackets is simpler and requires fewer modifications to the boat. Brackets allow for secure mounting without the need for large holes, ensuring a stable and reliable setup.
Consider a Duck Boat Light Bar Housing Build
Building a housing for your light bars can protect them from impacts during navigation. This precaution helps preserve the integrity of your lights, even though Black Oak LED lights are designed to withstand harsh conditions. We don't sell housings due to the highly customized nature of them. But a little fabrication and welding will get it done for you.
Add Small Lights for Duck Boat Hunting Time
Strategically placing small lights inside the boat can enhance visibility without disturbing the surrounding area. Use waterproof connectors and ensure all connections are secure and well-insulated.
It's a good idea to do a test run with these. Some tape will hold them in position while you wire them up and check their locations. Once they are set like you want, simply drill holes for the lights and mount them permanently.
Install a Second Battery for More Power
Running your lights off a dedicated second battery can prevent draining your main battery. This additional power source can be charged at home or via the boat's motor, ensuring consistent performance.
You can charge the secondary battery in three ways:
- Run it from your main motor. Check the alternator output for your motor to gauge how much charge it will give you compared to what you will be using with your lights.
- Charge at home. You can compare your light setup's draw to the amp hours stored in your battery. If you use a big enough battery, you can probably get by with a single charge from home.
- Run a generator. This is probably the most expensive option. However, if you already have a genny on board then hooking up your secondary battery or lights directly to the generator should be fine.
Tidy Up Your Wires and Switches
Keeping your wiring organized reduces the risk of damage and makes troubleshooting easier. Use cable ties and waterproof connectors to secure wires and place switches in easily accessible locations.
Tips for Success
Based on community insights, here are a few expert tips:
- Use adjustable mounts. All our mounting brackets are adjustable. A quick lossening of the stainless steel bolt means you can angle the lights for better visibililty if the conditions change.
- Add camo to be sure. Our lights come in white or black exterior options. You could get yours hydro dipped in camo patterns to blend in even more.
- Label your wires. You won't be wiring up a massive data center, but adding labels or color coding your wires will make finding a problem much easier if you are ever troubleshooting a problem.
That's all we've got for you just now. Add some lights to your duck boat or jon boat and build your ultimate sportsman's hunting and fishing platform.
