Whether you’re looking to turn your backyard dock into a midnight fishing hotspot or gear up your boat for deep-water trolling, choosing the right lighting setup makes all the difference. This guide breaks down the science of underwater lights and helps you pick the exact colors, power sources, and placement for your dock or hull.
9,000 Years Of Using Light To Attract Fish
Early fishermen used lighted torches to attract fish. Today we use LED fishing lights for the same purpose. It’s an unfair advantage. But it’s one fishermen have been using to attract fish for over 9,000 years.
According to the book, The Role of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Human Nutrition – Volume II. (2011). (n.p.): EOLSS Publications, early fishermen used torches to attract fish. Today we use LED fishing lights for the same purpose.
How do you attract fish with light?
A migration, known as the diel vertical migration, takes place every night in oceans and lakes around the world. Zooplankton are tiny animal that lives deep underwater during the day. Phytoplankton are microscopic marine plant that lives near the surface of oceans and lakes. At night, zooplankton migrate to the surface to feed on phytoplankton.
This is where lights come in.
Lighting water at night creates a food chain. Because they are plants, phytoplankton gather around the light. It doesn’t take long before zooplankton show up to feed. Baitfish feed on zooplankton. When they see what’s going on, they move in for an easy meal. All the activity draws gamefish’s attention. They start gathering in the shadows just outside the light to wait for baitfish to get within striking range.
Choosing Underwater Lights for Docks: Timers, Photocells, and HID vs. LED
| Feature | Dock Setup | Boat Hull Setup |
| Primary Goal | Habitual attraction (creating a consistent daily feeding spot) | Mobile attraction (bringing light directly to active structures/deep water) |
| Power Source | AC House Current (Requires a transformer + photocell/timer) | 12V/24V DC Marine Battery System |
| Light Style | Submersible Drop Lights / Mounted Dock Lights | Surface-Mount or Thru-Hull Underwater Transom Lights |
| Best Water Depth | Shallow, Mid, Deep-depth | Shallow Structure, Gigging, or Deep-Sea |
There are two types of fishing lights for docks: above-water lights and underwater lights.
Originally, fishing lights were placed above the water. What started as a torch hung over the side of small boats evolved into post lights on docks hung over the water. These are effective but only cover a small area of water.
HID Underwater Lights
Underwater lights started as High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps placed in the water. These lights are bright, more energy-efficient than incandescent lights, and last several years.
Unfortunately, they can lose up to 70% of their light output over 10,000 hours and require a ballast that needs to be replaced every few years.
LED Underwater Lights
Newer underwater fishing lights use LEDs. LED lamps are extremely bright, energy-efficient, and long-lasting. LEDs do not need ballast. However, they do need a transformer to convert AC house current to the DC the lights use.
Fishing Lights for Docks
Fish aren’t smart, but they are creatures of habit. They know where their food source is and will return to it over and over.
To take advantage of this, dock lights should turn on every night. Using a timer to switch the light on and off at a set time is one way to do this. But a better option is to use a photocell.
Photocells connect directly to the power outlet. They switch power to the outlet on at dusk and off at dawn. That way your light shines all night no matter what time of year it is.
Selecting Hull-Mounted Lights for Boat Fishing: Shallow vs. Deep Sea
Do underwater boat lights attract fish? Yes, they do.
Fishing with LED lights from a boat is different from dock lights. Chiefly, a dock light stays in the same place all the time. Fish go to the light to find food. By contrast, boat fishing lights move all the time. You take the light to the fish.
Underwater boat lights can improve many types of fishing.
- Flounder gigging.
- Crappie fishing.
- Fishing structure such as bridges, brush piles, deep channels, and grass flats.
- Deepwater fishing in oceans and lakes.
How you fish, what you fish for, and your boat determine the underwater lights you need.
Shallow Water Fishing
For example, flounder gigging is done in shallow water from small boats. Underwater lights light up the bottom so you can see the fish. The lights should flood a wide area of the bottom with light to make finding fish easier.
Deep Sea Fishing
Deepwater fish rarely see a light at night. So when they do, curiosity takes over, and they move in to see what is going on.
Fishermen take advantage of this by attaching small lights to their line just above the bait. The fish swim up to see what the light is and find an easy meal.
Boat underwater lights attract fish in much the same way. Multiple high-power lights flood the water behind the boat. The light must be bright enough to attract fish from the deep below the surface.
What color is best for attracting fish?
The best color for attracting fish depends on whether you are fishing shallow nearshore waters or deep offshore water.
Water absorbs light at the red end of the visible light spectrum first. In other words, blue light penetrates water much further than red light. Because of this, shallow water fish see mostly the same colors as humans do. By contrast, fish that live in deep water see only blue light.
Shallow Water
Traditionally, green is said to be the best color for attracting fish in shallow water. But this is based on observations of early underwater lights that produced white light. The water appeared green because of phytoplankton swimming around them. Fishermen saw fish swimming through green water and thought the light was attracting them.
The reality is that the best light color depends on how clear the water is where you are fishing.
In clear water, blue is a popular choice. It makes the water look nice while still attracting marine life.
When fishing shallow/murky coastal water, choose Green or White. Green and white cut through turbid/green-tinted water best.
Deep Water
When fishing deep water, you need a light that penetrates as deep as possible. A deep blue color will do this best. When buying underwater boat lights for deepwater fishing, look for lights that are deep blue, blue, green, or white.
LED Fishing Lights for Docks and Boats
Docks and boats are both excellent places to mount fish-attracting lights. Dock fishing lights can be above or below the water. Boats use underwater lights to attract fish. Green, blue, and white are the best colors for attracting fish in shallow water. Deep blue, blue, and white are best for attracting deepwater fish.