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Long Range Visibility of LED's

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Hi all,

would like to make small marker bouys to indicate the location of baits placed in the water when carp fishing. At times these baits can be up to 700m away from the bank.

I was wondering, if the LED is mounted vertically (you can't gaurantee it will always face the bank) which Red LED would have a visible flash to the naked eye when 700m away?

I was hoping to get away 1 one max 2 AA batteries as the power source.


Cheers
Andrew
 
You need 4 wide-angle (90 degrees) LEDs to shine all around. They will be bright enough to see at 700m only at night. Two AA alkaline cells will blink the LEDs for a few hours with the LEDs dimming over the time.
 
In bright sunlight or at night?
 
Andrew, if you are possibly willing to use 2 AA cells, you would likely be stacking them end to end, wouldn't you? And they would also require extra bouyancy to keep them afloat. The extra bouyancy could result in reduced bite detection, since we are dealing with crafty little (or not-so-little) buggers. ;)

Or are these purely for indicationg a pre-baited position? You couldn't possibly cast this distance.

Anyway, how about using just 1 AA cell and a Joule Thief circuit, which would be smaller and would require less buoyancy, along with a water clear red LED inserted into a piece of Bic pen tube and filled with clear epoxy? The Bic pen body is faceted and should provide all-round visibility.

HTH.
 
You can buy blinking red LED's pretty cheap, can wire a handful of them pointed at different directions to a couple of AA batteries and seal the whole thing up, should be visible for a pretty good distance at night. The different blinking rate of each LED (which will become caotic over time) will add to the ability to see it as it'll sparkle. Blinking LED's use very little current.
 
If you want to avoid flashing light down just put a plastic disc underneath the LED's it'll shield the light from going straight down. 2 AA batteries will last quiet a bit longer than a joule thief on 1 and creating enough bouancy to float 2AA batteries should be trivial, a small block of wood. In fact the block of wood itself could be your bouy, just make it a disc about 6 inches in diameter and mount the LED's very close to the base in the middle, mount the batteries in a sealed container on a hollow rod about 6-8 inchs long underneath the disc to keep the bouy righted, might as well put the battery weight to use.
 
Very good points there Sceadwian, I think we need Andrew to clarify whether the intention is to simply use the device as a standalone unit to mark a pre-baited spot, in order to return to it and place a bait, or use it as a night-float attached to the line..

The European carp fishing scene is quite a high tech sport... The use of electronic bite indicators is rife and one of the lastest additions is the use of radio-controlled bait-boats, which are often used to carry a load of loose offererings, along with the baited hook, some very long distances on large waters. Add to this a depth sounder for feature location and GPS for repeatability and the fish aren't really getting the upper hand anymore. :D

If the intention is to have the device attached to the line and dropped over the side of a boat, then return to the bank to fish, the device really needs to be quite close to neutral-bouyancy to aid in bite detection.

On the other hand, if it's just for marking purposes, the size isn't really that important...could be an advantage, since fish tend to congregate around a 'feature'.
 
Morning thanks for the replies.

The "marker" will be used purely to indicate where the bait was dropped. We take the lines out with a boat and fishfinder. We use this to locate what we think is an ideal spot and then secure the "marker" in position by means of dropping a heavy weight which is attached via a line to the marker in question. We then drop the bait at the same point and offer a little additional feed (couple of handfuls to increase the scent and to entice the fish). The purpose of the marker is to be able to return to the same spot in order to drop in the same position and to add more feed to what remains.

Two AA's would be ideal as it will offer some stability as well as ensure that the marker is vertical in the water if ther is a little slack in the line or if the marker is accidently moved a foot or so by a fish swimming into the line.

A lot of the guys use ~ 40mm PVC plumbing pipe as the housing which means up D sized batteries could be used. Could even use 4 x C cells! The marker my mate has made are 40mm diameter and about 400mm long, plenty of room to muck around in.

Cheers
Andrew

PS: My fishing mentor says he thinks the lights will chase the fish away? I will use Red and will have to shield them as suggested. Will probably need the narrowest angle in the LED in order to avoid to much light dispersion. That's why I was hoping to get away with a 10mm LED shining up vertically. That would require one shiels only.

Often the resolution on a GPS (mine at least) is not sufficient for the job.
 
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What happens to carp you catch? Where I grew up they were a nuisance fish. They eat about anything (bottom feeders), bony, and smelled horrible. Only talked to a few people who admitted to ever cooking them. Just trying to imagine intentionally catching them, mostly we tried to avoid them. Don't think the carp would be bothered by the lights, since they feed off the bottom (check the position of their mouth sometime)...
 
We release them as we are only targetting the largest of the carp, Specimen Angling it is called. We only want the largest specimens at least 40lbs plus.

I have caught enough to know where their mouths are! Carp have peripheral vision. Go down 5m and look up, it's amazing how the visibility differes as to when you look down into a lake.

There is a reason they grow to 40/50lb plus ..... thay are very canny as they have been caught before. and are hugely suspicious. It is not uncommon to have a bait in the water for 3 days before you get a run.
 
What happens to carp you catch?
They get treated with great respect and are released after being photographed & weighed, once they have recovered from the fight.

Where I grew up they were a nuisance fish.
Unfortunately, a lot of countries see them as nuisance fish due to their large appetite and abundance in waters where other species are the main target. Bass waters for example...

They eat about anything (bottom feeders), bony, and smelled horrible.

I'll agree with the first statement, but I can think of worse smelling fish to catch - Bream for instance....the slime gets on everything.

Only talked to a few people who admitted to ever cooking them.

Quite popular in Eastern Europe as a catch for the table. They were originally bred, and introduced into waters by monks, as a source of food.

Just trying to imagine intentionally catching them, mostly we tried to avoid them.

Oooh Harvey, the larger specimens over here actually have names and are actively pursued individually.

Don't think the carp would be bothered by the lights, since they feed off the bottom (check the position of their mouth sometime)...

Although primarily bottom feeders, some fantastic summer sport can be enjoyed by getting them to take floating baits from the surface. Since they're so crafty though, they usually end up hoovering all the free offerings and leave the one bait with the hook attached.
 
Ah you understand Mickster

Indeed I do Andrew. :D

You've probably watched them when surface fishing, eyeing the baits then 'washing' them with a swish of the tail to see which baits move most naturally.....or heading straight for your hooked bait only to turn away at the very last moment. Normally the smaller ones though - not had a monster off the surface yet.
 
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