Lights on a hali rig ... just marketing or effective technique?

A

anorthernhunter

Active Member
I have seen and heard a lot of chatter about inserting glow sticks into a hali skirt or attaching a strobe (to mimic squid) to a hali rig ...

Has anyone has any success with this?

I assume that it doesn't make a really big difference or everyone would be using them, but the idea sounds
interesting and I thought I would put the question forward.

-Northern
 
i dont think i fish deep enough to warrant "lights" on a rig... some do fish deep holes where this may be an effective attractant..

i've never tried it.
 
Honestly I tried using the LED jigs Last year and it was a huge difference for me in my catch rates. I had 3 guys on the boat & we were drifting in ~230' of water. Each of us had a big hoochie with herring as bait. Not a word of a lie the LED caught 3-1 at a minimum. After 40min he switched up and did just as well as us.

This year that is all I plan on running. If your interested I can show you which were the most productive & what I have stocked up on this year
 
My experience is that the farther north along the coast you are the better glo anything works if you ever saw bioluminescent Needlefish spilling out of a Halibut's mouth you'd use something that glowed too.
 
trophywife said:
i dont think i fish deep enough to warrant "lights" on a rig... some do fish deep holes where this may be an effective attractant..

i've never tried it.
Click to expand...

guess i am willing to test it now!!
 
Depends what time of year, closer to Sept Oct hali go deep to spawn. In Sept off QCI we fished 300+ wish I had one of those, might have caught 2-300 pounders.
 
I've tried them. (and everything else)

Sometimes they work better, sometime not. No idea why or why not - no consistency.

Last year (2016) was a GREAT year for Halibut and Lings on my boat. The previous year (2015) Hali were very hard to come by. 2014 was another GREAT year for Halibut.
 
When I commie fished Hali's we were at 1500 ft; no lights, hook every 6 ft, 30 miles of gear. Lot's of times there was a fish on every hook. I'd try a light - just be sure to put it close to the hook.
 
I have been using and testing lights and LED lights for years. Always fascinated by them ever since I read a book by Beath on catching Hali's in Alaska. Some of his rigs had an AA battery and a light--I bought 3 but the problem was they were prone to leaking so I gave up. Then I discovered water activated LED's-started testing and playing with them in hoochy's, then cutting open Tomic plugs and eventually collaborated on quite a few LED light projects with Pirates Den. They work -but you have to put them into a viable lure and they do require care in storage to get Max life out of them.
Time moves on and Peter Cole runs an outfit called Lighthouse lures-he has worked diligently to get the best he can out of the LED lights. If you use his 9" LED white squid or the 7" Green squid with LED in combination with a spreader bar and herring, octo or belly you will be the Hi-liner among guys who don't use them! Plain and simple--they work!!
 
SeaWolf said:
Can you buy them in CR/Courtenay area? or is it mail order only?
Click to expand...


I have found Berrys Bait & Tackle to be the cheapest way to order them.
 
SeaWolf said:
Can you buy them in CR/Courtenay area? or is it mail order only?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that most tackle shops have them- Westview Marina in Tahsis does for sure-Gon fishin has stocked them-don't think CTC or Walmart. Harbour chandler had them a few weeks ago.
 
spring fever said:
I have been using and testing lights and LED lights for years. Always fascinated by them ever since I read a book by Beath on catching Hali's in Alaska. Some of his rigs had an AA battery and a light--I bought 3 but the problem was they were prone to leaking so I gave up. Then I discovered water activated LED's-started testing and playing with them in hoochy's, then cutting open Tomic plugs and eventually collaborated on quite a few LED light projects with Pirates Den. They work -but you have to put them into a viable lure and they do require care in storage to get Max life out of them.
Time moves on and Peter Cole runs an outfit called Lighthouse lures-he has worked diligently to get the best he can out of the LED lights. If you use his 9" LED white squid or the 7" Green squid with LED in combination with a spreader bar and herring, octo or belly you will be the Hi-liner among guys who don't use them! Plain and simple--they work!!
Click to expand...
A big thank you Spring Fever for all your posts on this over the years. I bought 9" LED white squid last year and used it off Esperenza. We got 3 halibut in a row trolling it at 225 feet in 350 feet of water. They came up off the bottom, I am convinced because of the light. One was just over 40, 25 and 12. My son put it down to 250 feet and we got a 24 lb Spring. I am definitely a believer now and will be trying jigging with them.

Haven't had as much luck with the smaller hoochies for salmon with LED. It seems like the light device makes it too big and impacts the action and appearance.
 
cohochinook said:
A big thank you Spring Fever for all your posts on this over the years. I bought 9" LED white squid last year and used it off Esperenza. We got 3 halibut in a row trolling it at 225 feet in 350 feet of water. They came up off the bottom, I am convinced because of the light. One was just over 40, 25 and 12. My son put it down to 250 feet and we got a 24 lb Spring. I am definitely a believer now and will be trying jigging with them. big hali squid are really not ment for trolling-rather off a spreader bar or some similar arrang

Haven't had as much luck with the smaller hoochies for salmon with LED. It seems like the light device makes it too big and impacts the action and appearance.
Click to expand...

The 9" LED white squid were really meant for use with bait off a spreader bar or some similar arrangement. To make the LED's work for salmon and trolling you need to put them into a hoochy such as a turd or similar sized one. They will fit into a cuttlefish hoochy with a little scent such as chovy paste for lubricant. Leader length is the same because the lights are neutrally buoyant --so whatever you usually use for that size hootchy is the ticket.
 
Question - when using the 9' LED squid trolling, wouldn't you have to troll them behind a flasher to impart some action on them otherwise wouldn't they just drag behind limply and without action?
 
anorthernhunter said:
Question - when using the 9' LED squid trolling, wouldn't you have to troll them behind a flasher to impart some action on them otherwise wouldn't they just drag behind limply and without action?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if that question was for me- The 9" LED lighted squid was never meant to be trolled---again use it with a spreader bar. The trolling hootchy's are totally different in design such as a turd or your normal cuttlefish and absolutely they need something to give them action whether it's a Jughead , Action head or a flasher. Different style LED hootchy altogether.
 
I Love Haida Gwaii said:
Honestly I tried using the LED jigs Last year and it was a huge difference for me in my catch rates. I had 3 guys on the boat & we were drifting in ~230' of water. Each of us had a big hoochie with herring as bait. Not a word of a lie the LED caught 3-1 at a minimum. After 40min he switched up and did just as well as us.

This year that is all I plan on running. If your interested I can show you which were the most productive & what I have stocked up on this year
Click to expand...

I've used various lights, but I find they don't last much beyond 2-3 uses and stop working. How long are they lasting for you?
 
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