Fully dimmed sounder and gps and a spotless clean windscreen and it is surprizing just how much you can see including bloody idiots in Cockburn Sound anchored with absolutely no lighting whatever

Travel at a speed you can see as it is seldom, except on a new moon, too dark to see if you have reasonable vision

Oh yea and eat lots of carrots 'cos that was what they did in the war  

And when anchored I turn on fully dimmable under gunnell led lighting in blue 

 Hi josh 

I go out night fishing all the time best time to get  snapper I always go around the same area so I know it pretty we'll 

I always set the trail on my gps so I can follow it back and just take my time u never know what is in the water. I stay away from areas that  the swell picks up on last thing u want is to get tipped as u won't see it coming.

i would invest in some led lights so u can see what u are doing when out there 

hope this helps happy fishing

kingy

spotties/lightbar are pointless at sea but handy when pulling up to ramp in the dark.

 Agree fully with sunshine (apart from the bit about the carrots, that's a rumour started by the british to hide the fact that they'd developed radar).  Although one thing I learnt from my first boat is make sure that the all round white light is above and behind you. The most impportant thing is make sure you travel at a reasonable speed)  

set your sounder and gps to night mode (or dim it right down if it doesn't have that setting) i useally don't get crook but the screens lights whilst travelling makes me feel a bit quezzy ( set it back to normal just before sun up or it's difficault to see the screen and change the settings there after )

if you get crook i wouldn't bother you'll seriously regret it ;)

follow existing tracks and use torch/ spotty (careful not to blind any other poor bastard out there and if switching it back off it will take a few minutes for your eyes to adjust) if going through tight rockwall area's or area's with cray pots(rope around the prop will stop you real quick) , take it steady untill hitting open water(even then i usally only travel around 8kn when visability is shyt even with a track to follow) , use travelling lights whilst travelling and use stationary light whilst at ancor. have a spare battery , keep a look out for big boats/ships even during the day i've had to pull ancor and get out of there path ( auto pilot?)

wouldn't do it near places you get freak waves or in bad weather as 9/10 you can't see jack untill it's hits you

risk increase but so do the rewards

All good advice just keep your eyes and ears open for bloody idiots.

 I find the best way, especially if visiting unfamiliar ground, is to get there before the sun goes down and make sure your gps is tracking you and then you can follow it home!

especially around Dampier. Always best to track out in daylight. A safe path out is a safer path back. Note not a safe path back. Dim all lights. If you have used deck lights to fish, turn them off about 10minutes prior to leaving to allow night vision to maximize.

Drive to conditions, and then slow that further.

I use shooters glasses at night, not like sunnies but a yellow lens, and it appears to make things clearer. Also protects your eyes from the wind as I never look though a windsreen at night, always look over it.

Use a spotty only to check for anything sus, and then close one eye to save the night vision in that eye. Stay away from areas that have known objects. For example where we often fished off Dampier it was much quicker to get there traversing numerous cyclone moorings. Coming back late at night gave these a wide birth.

As mentioned with night vision you will be surprised at how much you can see. Driving at night with a full moon is (almost) like driving in daylight, but still my speed is always low just in case.

Hope these few tips help.

rely 100% on your GPS. Stay aware. Get a chart and get familiar with where your local areas nav lights are. Keep an eye out for idiots that do not seem to know or care about nav lights or thier purpose.

Happy fishing

Also do a search on here. This has been raised before and there was some great info.

I have done hundreds of hours of sailing at night. When sailing at night, we have lights from GPS, Plotter and navigation lights on the bow. That is all. We all carry head lamps, but only turn them on when doing something major. The biggest problem is when your light is on, and you turn to talk to them and blind them in the process. Personally i tilt mine down so the beam is just ahead of me, not straight out infront.

You will be amazed how much light you get from the atmosphere, the moon, and when in the metro area, from the surrounding lights.

Big lights on the deck/dash nearly blind your night vision, so when underway, i would suggest a steaming light ( that is either above your head (if on a centre console) and your bow lights placed out of your direct vision.

When you have a full moon, the amount of light that comes from it is enough to read a news paper from. I know it isnt always ideal for fishing but it gives you an idea how bright it is.

Finally, the night time is no time to be going full speed as a float, piece of rope, or other idiot with no lights on can change your night pretty quickly.

There is a reason that commercial vessels dont have a great deal of lighting in the bridge when they are underway, this is so they can actually see past the instruments.

Final suggestion is that on the boat, we installed LED RED lights. A couple of proper lights for when you are at anchor, or drifting are great. I see no problem with lighting yourself up like Subiaco oval, but when you are underway, try to keep the lights behind you or off.

 G'day mate,

                     Some good advice above, maybe also do your first night run or two reasonably close in on a bit of ground you are familiar with. 

Good luck with it

Completely relying on your GPS is not the best advice and is sure to see you with no legal standing with your insurance company if you have an incident. When you turn on your GPS there is that annoying thing that pops up every time to remind you not to rely on this device blah, blah, blah... Surprisingly no one has mentioned the safest way to travel and navigate at night is with Radar!

 Should never rely completely on a gps full stop day or night.  I wonder how many boaties on here carry paper charts, handheld compass, chart protrator, pencil, dividers and the skills to use them???

Before you even think of heading out, find out where and what lead lights and channel markers you have to use on your way out and back in, things look completely different at night and if your GPS fails you will need them and your compass to get back in safely

 Are a powered device and can fail any ANY tick of the clock, I know as it happened to me with no warning or degradation of performance of the unit until suddenly .........."no gps data" ......... Not something you want to occur at night or for that matter a long way offshore ......a yes I have charts and two compasses one fixed and one hand held