The Best Flounder Light: 4 Things to Look For
A flounder gigging light can truly make or break a flounder gigging trip. They’re among the most important flounder gigging supplies next to a flounder gig. There are many flounder gigging lights to choose from, so we’re going to break down the 4 most important features to look for in a flounder light.
1.) BRIGHTNESS
Flounder are found lying on the sea floor, usually covered in sand or doing their best to blend into their surrounding environment. Utilizing a light that is capable of penetrating through the water and illuminating the bottom is extremely important. Utilizing high brightness flounder gigging lights are some of the most important features there are, but when optimized with the correct color tone for the current water conditions it can be a true game changer.
2.) COLOR TONE
The tide may be rolling in, it may be rolling out, or the wind may or may not be blowing. These are only a few example of how water conditions in one spot can change from one night to the next. The ability for your lights to adjust to these changing conditions is VERY IMPORTANT.
A cool white flounder gigging light will perform very well in clear water. However, if you use a cool white light in muddy water it will make it very difficult to see regardless of the brightness because you’ll be lighting up all the dirt particles mixed in the water column. A simple way to envision this is if you turn your high beams “brights” on while you’re driving on a clear night, you’ll light up everything around you. If you do the same in fog, it makes it worse because you light up the fog and then you can’t even see.
A warm white flounder gigging light will perform very well in muddy water. However, when compared to a cool white light in clear water, it does not perform quite as well. The warm white light will do a great job of penetrating through the dirt particles floating in muddy water and illuminating the bottom. The warm white color does not reflect off the dirt particles like the cool white color does, making it easier to see.
The BEST flounder light will be capable of account for these two features. The Swamp Eye Submersible is a great example of a flounder light that can adjust from cool white to warm white, or even have a hybrid combination of these two gigging supplies.
Swamp Eye Submersible Lights come in 3 different color tone settings:
Swamp Eye Submersible - 2000k Warm White: Great for areas of muddy water, especially along the gulf coast.
Swamp Eye Submersible - 6000k Cool White: Great for areas of clearer water, especially South Florida and the Florida Keys.
Swamp Eye Submersible - Adjustable: Great all around light, but you will find the solid color lights more beneficial if you are primarily in clear or muddy water and your water clarity isn't changing.
3.) DURABILITY
Flounder lights are typically run underwater, in saltwater. Saltwater alone will do damage to many lights, causing a variety of problems including rust, corrosion, electrolysis and more. Combine that with running lights underwater and running into oyster shell and sand bars and you’ve got the perfect storm to do significant damage to your gigging supplies.
The best fix we’ve seen is a light that is manufactured to handle the harsh corrosive properties of saltwater but also strong enough to take a beating from hitting oyster shell and sand bars. Addressing these two problems is no cake walk, but the Swamp Eye Submersible was engineered with this environment in mind. These guys literally took a sledge hammer to the light to make sure it could take a beating underwater. After running on commercial fishermen’s boats for several continuous years of day after day usage, these gigging supplies held up to saltwater’s corrosive properties like a champ.
4.) SIZE
Whether you are gigging from a boat or wading and gigging, bulky lights can be cumbersome and take up too much deck space. Small, compact lights that are easy to mount on a flounder gig pole or take up minimal space on the front of your boat are typically the best ones to consider.
Thanks for reading along and if you haven’t already, sign up to our blog to learn more and hear about new products before they’re released!
Good luck gigging!
Want to talk flounder lights? Contact us!
Outrigger Outdoors
Hi Roger – I encourage you to check out our mounting ideas pages:
Mounting ideas for Swamp Eye Submersibles: https://outriggeroutdoors.com/blogs/flounder-gigging/mounting-ideas-for-your-swamp-eye-submersible-light
Mounting ideas for Mini Swamp Eye Submersibles: https://outriggeroutdoors.com/blogs/flounder-gigging/mounting-ideas-for-your-mini-swamp-eye-submersible-flounder-gigging-bowfishing-light
Mounting ideas for Swamp Eye Light Bars: https://outriggeroutdoors.com/blogs/bowfishing/mounting-ideas-for-your-swamp-eye-bowfishing-light-bars
Roger Allen
Ive just purchased e swamp eye lights. I would like to see ideas of how to mount the lights. I have been using PVC and made brackets. I would like to see other ideas .