Glow jig charging station ideas

[Bill B]

PJ, if the ammo can is big enough, you could section it off and place 2  6volt batteries inside in series to achieve 12 volts for a 12 volt DC LED strip.....6 volt batteries and be pricy, but then you wouldn't have to reply on other power sources.  Bill

[jurelometer]

I was cleaning out my work locker and stumbled upon a possible new container to use.....plastic ammo can!

I can line the entire interior of the box with HVAC tape and run the light strip along the sides from the bottom to the top. Then put small hooks into the lid to hang the lures from....


Plus when not being used for lure charging i can store other fishing items in there....

Sounds like a winner.  Do the lures charge by sunlight?  If so, place them in the sun and when you are satisfied the have absorbed enough light wrap in aluminum foil and see if the will stay glowing until used at night.  Just a thought.  Dominick

Sunlight works  the best.  We just need to figure out how to make it available at night  


A foil wrap might help a little, but the problem is that the light is being emitted in a visible light wavelength (some sort of green in most cases), which does not charge the pigment as efficiently as UV-A, so energy is lost on every cycle.


A correction from earlier-   the correct measure of a UV light is NOT lumens but output watts.  This is sometimes hard to find, but from what I saw on the interwebs- figure something around 20% of input watts for output watts blacklight.   A typical single AA UV flashlight will output about 3 watts,  And you really do want to find 365  nm wavelength instead of 380-390 if you you can-  a lot more charging per watt.   It is worthwhile to try and find a product that lists watts (probably per foot or per roll) and wavelength.

A second correction- It looks like it is a combo thing for why glass mirrors don't reflect UV-A well-  A typical glass window blocks a bout 25% of the UV-A light that hits it, and then we have to deal with the reflective surface.  I think mirrors use silver which is great for reflecting all visible light waves evenly, but not so so good for UV-A.  Bottom line is the same- better off with foil.


And it looks like the make waterproof led blacklight strips- which is probably a good idea.  The clear plastic acrylic that does not block UV light is pretty expensive stuff, That is why UV flashlights don't have lenses to protect the bulbs.Those blacklight LED  in a tube products are probably using something that ends up blocking a lot of light

Sorry about the inaccuracies-  I am just a science fanboy and not trained in this stuff.  Just trying to work through it cause I think it is a fun project.

As for the ammo can- as noted before every time you double the the distance from the light to the surface- you cut the intensity down to a quarter.  That means you will need some combination of more lights, more power, and/or or a longer charging time.  And I assume that you will only want to charge one jig at a time, so the size should be a close to the jig as possible.

Another idea, is some sort of flexible or heat formable c -channel to protect the light strip;  wrap it of form it in a coil- something like the attached drawing.

I would hack something together first with some foil and cardboard to see if I was happy with the charging time, or if I needed more/better  lights or more power, or a smaller chamber. 

[pjstevko]

[/quote]

Sunlight works  the best.  We just need to figure out how to make it available at night  


A foil wrap might help a little, but the problem is that the light is being emitted in a visible light wavelength (some sort of green in most cases), which does not charge the pigment as efficiently as UV-A, so energy is lost on every cycle.


A correction from earlier-   the correct measure of a UV light is NOT lumens but output watts.  This is sometimes hard to find, but from what I saw on the interwebs- figure something around 20% of input watts for output watts blacklight.   A typical single AA UV flashlight will output about 3 watts,  And you really do want to find 365  nm wavelength instead of 380-390 if you you can-  a lot more charging per watt.   It is worthwhile to try and find a product that lists watts (probably per foot or per roll) and wavelength.

A second correction- It looks like it is a combo thing for why glass mirrors don't reflect UV-A well-  A typical glass window blocks a bout 25% of the UV-A light that hits it, and then we have to deal with the reflective surface.  I think mirrors use silver which is great for reflecting all visible light waves evenly, but not so so good for UV-A.  Bottom line is the same- better off with foil.


And it looks like the make waterproof led blacklight strips- which is probably a good idea.  The clear plastic acrylic that does not block UV light is pretty expensive stuff, That is why UV flashlights don't have lenses to protect the bulbs.Those blacklight LED  in a tube products are probably using something that ends up blocking a lot of light

Sorry about the inaccuracies-  I am just a science fanboy and not trained in this stuff.  Just trying to work through it cause I think it is a fun project.

As for the ammo can- as noted before every time you double the the distance from the light to the surface- you cut the intensity down to a quarter.  That means you will need some combination of more lights, more power, and/or or a longer charging time.  And I assume that you will only want to charge one jig at a time, so the size should be a close to the jig as possible.

Another idea, is some sort of flexible or heat formable c -channel to protect the light strip;  wrap it of form it in a coil- something like the attached drawing.

I would hack something together first with some foil and cardboard to see if I was happy with the charging time, or if I needed more/better  lights or more power, or a smaller chamber. 
[/quote]

I like the strip channel idea.....

Anyone have a 3D printer wanna make me one 

[jurelometer]

I like the strip channel idea.....

Anyone have a 3D printer wanna make me one 

If you can get a prototype going by strapping the lights to agfoil lined cardboard , I might be able to help.   Need to make sure that you get enough charging with your light setup .  Don't want to print a bunch of iterations.

BTW-  you need somebody that can do CAD design and has a printer.  I think I know a guy

[philaroman]

just a thought:
at the rate that miniaturization is progressing, maybe time/money is better spent on lures that actually light up
(gizmos that convert motion to enough current to light an LED are getting mighty small & cheap)
save the "stored" glow jigs for daytime, when charging is easy/efficient/free

[oldmanjoe]

 How about this      https://glowproducts.com/us/night-sports/fish-lights

[pjstevko]

I think I'll just make a 3" x 8" pvc tube first to see if it's worth refining it after an initial test....

[JK47]

I wouldn't worry about a glow lure. My last trip of the 2020 season on the Pacific Queen I landed 3 BFT on the Katy Perry (pink, silver, blue) Shimano 250gr in the middle of the night while hordes of fisherman were huddling around lights trying to charge their glow lures...

[jurelometer]

I wouldn't worry about a glow lure. My last trip of the 2020 season on the Pacific Queen I landed 3 BFT on the Katy Perry (pink, silver, blue) Shimano 250gr in the middle of the night while hordes of fisherman were huddling around lights trying to charge their glow lures...

Another shot of reality from Team Buzzkill

BTW:  I don't think  that Bluefin can't see pink . I can't remember reading about any  tuna species known to have color receptors (rods) beyond blue.   Single color vision means that that the ganglia  and portion of the brain that collect and interpret what they are seeing are going more or less monochrome with the additional single color vision used to enhance visual acuity when there is enough light present.   Which is not at night.    

It is possible that the hoard is doing you a favor by creating a glowing commotion.   There is a species of jellyfish that glows brightly when under attack.  The scientists think that this is a survival strategy  to attract a larger predator to eat whatever the is attacking the jellyfish.

I am not completely sold on glow myself.  But at least it is a difference that the fish can see.  On the other hand,  if your jig is working on the zone, and everyone else's is hanging out under a deck light, I know who I am going to put my money on.

-J

[pjstevko]

I'm not 100% certain that glow jigs give you an advantage or not either!

I just thought it'd be a cheap fun project.....

[JK47]

Also of note on the PQ, they only let the deck hands cast flat falls at night off the bow as we approach a school of BFT. They said they have had a few nasty accidents when passengers have attempted the same. Reason being as you approach the school you cast across the path of the boat, so you are the first lure into the zone and you can reel up and drop into the zone multiple times without having to reel all the way to the surface and reset. When you drop off the side or stern the drift scopes the lines out and you generally only get one shot to get down to the fish.

The crew went 5 for 5 when they cast off the bow during the night flat fall bite. The Captain said the deckhands are not there to fish, but to hook and hand off which they did. They were using and old non glowing Toro Tamer jig, and I asked which model it was. The deckhand said it didn't matter, what did was that you got into the zone quickly before the fish were spooked by a bunch of other lures...

[JK47]

I'm not 100% certain that glow jigs give you an advantage or not either!

I just thought it'd be a cheap fun project.....

I would rather bring fewer knick knacks and have more room in the vehicle for meat.

[pjstevko]

Well I started on the prototype today by lining a zip lock soup container with hvac tape. I also wrapped a tape measure around the outside of the container to get a general length measurement so I know what size led strip light to order.

Once the light strip arrives I'll line the inside of the container and see how it does.....

[gstours]

Hey fishee,  strike this.    I,m not sure if in my fisherys the glo really helps or if its just the human idea that what we think the fish think.
   Butt when i have a good fish or day using the luminous skirt or paint in the catch its normal to think it helped.
      When fishing halibut below 150 feet for the last ten years ive used a led light above my baits about 2 feet above and its my standard rig up.
Butt others on the same boat may outfish me and its humbling to think I dont need the light.    So really i,m not sure glow helps at all,  oar were they just darn lucky?
  A couple of years ago I posted a halibut rig with a led light in the large octipus skirt that also was glow pigmented,  It did not work.......
Butt maybe it would for other folk.    You wont know if you dont try different ideas.   Good Luck.   Like Sal used to say,   the proof is in the pudding.    I hope he,s having fun up there watching us mortals with our experiments!

[pjstevko]

I don't know if "glow" helps either but it's a cheap fun experiment!