Night Boat lights

[Lon371]

 I am picking up a 16' semi V aluminum boat soon(hopefully). Will be fishing small lakes. Mostly electric motor lakes. The boat is bare. Nothing but bench seats and motors.
 
 Will be using poles. Have some cat poles and others.
 
 I want to get into crappie and catfishing. I have been away from fishing for a while, aside from a little Bass fishing. 
 
 Looking for night light setup ideas. Something low wattage needless to say. Any and all suggestions welcome.
 
Thanks
Lonny

[Dixiejack]

Are you talking about night fishing for crappie?  Been doing in the spring for 30 or more years.  Hang a Coleman lantern about 4' off each side of my jon boat and fish with minnows around the lanterns.  Never came home empty handed but twice, but that another tale.

[Lon371]

Thank you sir. I bought a 16' semi v 44" bottom. Wood on the benches are 2x12 and weigh about 50lbs (feel like it anyway) . The foam is rotten, also water logged. The bench aluminum is broken. The more I looked at this boat, the more I regretted it. Then again i like to tinker with stuff. So the benchs are going away, building front and rear decks. Mounting a swivel seat in the rear, not decided on the front seat yet. May just throw a lawn chair up there. Running wire for the front and rear lights, and trolling motor. Going to put a false floor in the center section. For a 16' boat it is pretty light. Adding the plywood will add a few pounds. Will only be used on small lakes(electric only) Most of the time it will be the wife and I.
 
 How are the Led lanterns vs coleman fuel type. Will they be to bright and draw in a bunch more bugs?
 
 Anyone built their own live well? May just carry an old cooler instead. Don't really have the funds to dump in buying a livewell and setting it up. Been looking at some guys builds where they make them out of a variety things.
 
 Here is what i have. It has a triangle bench in the very front, and 3 full benches. Came with a 35lb troller, 18 horse outboard(needs minor work) and trailer for $500
 

[Old Syko]

All we ever used was a coleman lantern with a metal reflector/shade mounted to the engine cover.  The shade blocked enough light to keep you from going blind and keep the bugs away from your head plus intensified the light on the down side.  Never tried anything battery powered.  We were catfishin at night on the Ohio.  To fish Cumberland for stripers we used a 100 qt. or bigger cooler with a DC aerator and circulation pump as a live well and thought it couldn't be beat.  A lot of guys who had live wells did the same thing.  Now we used a bigger boat for safety where we were fishin but the concept is all the same.


I think ya done good.  Even if you had a NEW boat you would change it to make it yours so why not save some money in the process?  Your going to want PADDED seats both front and rear I assure you.  If you use swivel seats, keep them short.  Low center of gravity is real important since around here, as you know, wind and weather can get on top of you before you realize it and some of these little lakes get unbelievably rough before you can get to the bank.  Been there done that ya might say and more than once.  Keep everything as light as you can to allow for more gear and don't overdo it on the gear and you'll be much happier.