How to Wire Lights for a Fishing Boat

Two kinds of fishing boats must display specialized lights at night: commercial boats fishing with heavy lines that are several miles long, equipped with many hooks, and trawlers. The lights the boat must display at night are dependent on its length and method of fishing. Because neither of these fishing methods works well with a sailing vessel, the navigation rules do not address sailing vessels used for fishing directly, but include rules for all fishing vessels.

Things You'll Need

  • Combination light
  • Screwdriver
  • Silver-bearing, rosin-core solder
  • Soldering iron
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Instructions

  1. Navigation Lights

    • 1

      Carry a flashlight, if your boat is less than 7-meters-long. If your vessel is more than 7-meters-long but less than 20-meters-long, secure the combination light on the bow of vessel, using the screws provided with the light and a screwdriver.

    • 2

      Solder the power lead -- the red wire with an inline fuse at its end -- to one of the end posts of the light switch on the dash, using silver-bearing, rosin-core solder and a soldering iron.

    • 3

      Crimp a spade terminal onto the pre-stripped end of the combination light's black ground lead. Loosen a screw on the boat's common ground and slide the spade terminal of the light's black ground lead under the screw on the common ground. Tighten the screw.

    Lights Required for Fishing

    • 4

      Strip 1/2 inch of insulation from both ends of a length black wire, long enough to reach from the top of the boat's mast to the boat's common ground. Crimp a male bullet terminal onto one end of the wire and a spade terminal to the other end of the wire, using a wire crimper. Crimp a female bullet terminal to the black ground wire of a double-vertical navigation light fixture.

    • 5

      Crimp a male bullet connector on the red, fused lead from the double-vertical navigation light fixture. Strip 1/2 inch of insulation from both ends of a length of red, stranded-copper wire. Crimp a female bullet connector to one end of the red wire. Solder the other end of the red wire to the remaining post of the fishing-light toggle switch. Push the male bullet terminal of the ground wire from the switch into the female bullet terminal of the black ground wire of the double-vertical fixture.

    • 6

      Mount the double-vertical fixture to the top of the boat's mast, using a screwdriver and the self-tapping screws supplied with the fixture. Push the bullet terminal of the red wire from the double-vertical fixture into the bullet terminal of the red wire from the switch. Loosen one of the screws on the common ground. Push the spade terminal under the screw. Tighten the screw. Push the bullet terminal of the black wire from the double-vertical fixture into the black wire from the boat's common ground.

    • 7

      Install a red lens in the upper light fixture, if you will be fishing with long line equipment. Install a green lens in the upper light fixture, if you will be fishing by trawling with a net. Install a white lens in both of the double-fixture lights if the boat will be fishing by any other means.