Tiny Flashlights

[Quent]

In Summer, I usually am on the water before sunrise or after sunset, so I use a tiny flashlight to find my way around and to tie on flies.

I've found the Photon II Microlight to be a good choice and have used it for three years. It only weighs 1/4 oz. and fits in my chest box. It comes with a single white, red, or blue LED. The watch batteries which power it last me about two seasons. Many backpackers carry this light because of its small size and light weight.

The Photon II is better than the Photon I (and twice as expensive), because it is brighter and also, in addition to a Momentary On switch, has a tiny ON-OFF switch as well.

The light comes with a keychain attachment and a tiny split ring. I take those off and replace them with a bread wrapper tie. One end of the tie attaches to the light and I form the other end into a hook shape.

I hang the light either from a safety pin attached to the underside of the bill of my fishing hat, or from the snap latches which secure the trays of the chest box. The second position is good because it aims the light directly into the tray and it doesn't carry much beyond the confines of the tray.

 

[springer1]

Gotta be careful to not shine the light directly in a fish's eyes if some light is needed to remove a hook at night. Modern flashlight bulbs are nothing like they were 15 years ago - even the small ones can cause damage - just try shining one in our own eyes for 5 sec and ..... errr, please don't.

 

[Quent]

I"m not a true night fisherman. If I were I'd use a headlamp or similar. I mostly rely on night vision for those first few (or last few) casts of the day, but it is nice to have some decent light for the trip to the car and for tying. This flashlight is lots better than relying on a cell phone for light.

 

[steveo27]

I use a singe double A battery Cree LED headlamp usually. Not sure the brand, but being a Cree LED, I trust it to not leave me in the dark. I aways carry a spare battery in my pack as well.

My back up flashlight is one of those cheapy 2$ LED lights from Harbor Freight. When I lose them, Im not sad.

 

[pcray1231]

For trips in and out, I carry a crazy powerful streamlight that takes those CR123 batteries. There's a low and a high setting. It's small for a handheld. The high setting is crazy powerful.

And then I have a small, dim light that clips onto a hat brim. This is for tying on flies and such in the dark.

 

[salmonoid]

I do my best to walk in and out from the stream in complete darkness. There's generally enough ambient light - from stars or the moon on clear nights, or from light pollution on cloudy nights that this is possible. Your eyes adapt amazingly well if you wait a few minutes. Part of it is just feeling like it is a bit more of a challenge to walk in complete darkness, without any assistance from light. And once you gain the confidence from doing it, you become all the more confident to continue to walk in the dark.

However, I almost always have a headlamp on me. And often times a small spotlight that I use to scope out a stream section for beasts after I'm done fishing it. Lights are often helpful to positively ID that porcupine or skunk that is rustling nearby, or that the animal that just snorted at you was actually a deer and not a bear, although lights also alert people that someone is streamside.