I'm goin to the coast tonight and I want to pick up a new lantern. I haven't had alot of luck with propane (not enough light).

Are there any really bright propane lights on the market? My family has one of the coleman white fuel lanterns that works pretty well, but ease of propane is nice.

You don't have enough time to rig one but under water lights running off a car battery are so much better. You can rig up an inner tube for the battery and can flounder all night without getting burned.
If you are lucky you will still have enough juice to start your truck.

Agree with Sunchaser...oh man...flounder gigging is some of the most fun I've ever had down at Port A.

Academy sells a battery operated flounder light made from PVC and a waterproof bulb for about $40. They are way better than any lantern. Or you can make one like this guy:
http://www.thejump.net/fishing/flounder-gigging-rig/flounder-gigging-rig.htm

Then all you need is a motorcycle battery, a backpack, a flounder gig and a stringer.

With a lantern you would also need a handle/shield to direct the light away from your eyes. They get hot and heavy real quick.

for a temporary fix... put aluminum foil covering the back half of the lantern on the inside of the glass. the light reflects off of the aluminum foil and easily doubles your view out the front half. the more on the back side you cover, the more directed/brighter the light out the front side. i use this when crappie fishing at night, and it wasnt allowing me to see a bobber 5 ft from shore... i did this and i could cast out about 20 ft.

The foil trick works great, I'm just looking for a second latern.

I tried rigging up my own car headlight "lantern". It worked great while the battery was charged but lugging around a car battery got old quick. I didn't realize that pre-made electric lights were sold at Academy. I'll have to swing by today.

Another key benefit....other than getting burned and weight....is that you can see so much better with them especially if there is a ripple on the surface.

Depending on your access the best thing to build them out of is aluminum....it's so much lighter.
I use 4" light weight irrigation pipe(I just walk out into a field...disconnect a 20' section and you have a lifetime supply) and cut out 6" sections for the body. You can get a 12 volt 4" diameter halogen landscape light at Lowes for $4 or so. Each wire will be screw connected....I think it is referred to as Par 36. A smooth bulb surface is better than a patterned one. You will need to cut a small notch in the front of the 6" body for the bulb to fit flush.

I use a 4-5' piece of 1 1/4" alum for the handle welded on at an angle. Drill a couple of holes for the wire to come thru prior to welding. Connect and run the wiring up thru the handle. I use electrical tape to seal around the bulb. I pour in a little melted Gulf Wax...let it cure...add more until you cover the holes the wires went thru. If you try and make one pour it will melt thru your electrical tape seal. After it dries I add about 1/2" of that pliable black stuff....if you don't the Gulf Wax will shrink sitting in storage allowing water to get to the connection....after awhile.

You need a spare or two as a burned out bulb is not quick to be fixed.

The PVC version is going to be a lot heavier and you will be carrying it thru the night....the type that I described will tend to float in a few feet of water. Either is so much better than the Coleman route. If you are alone I never found a place to set a lantern if I gigged a big one.

[This message has been edited by sunchaser (edited 4/25/2008 3:17p).]

i use a high-dollar waterproof light on a stick and one of those little kiddo rafts from walmart to carry the battery and cooler. you've got to go with the waterproof, underwater light or else you're battling awful glare all night.

This guy has a sweet rig:

http://www.thejump.net/fishing/flounder-gigging-rig/flounder-gigging-rig.htm

I've heard of the ones at Academy, but never find any when I go to the one in Galveston. I'd really like to pick one up.

Is anyone willing to divulge a few good areas (EDIT: in around the rockport area)? I go floundering almost every time I go to rockport during the summer months but I can probably count the number of fish I've gigged on one hand.

I normally try the sides of the road between Port A and A. pass (great for netting crabs at night but no flounder!). I've only tried the ski basin in Rockport once.

If the sand road is dry enough, I might drive back and try brown & root flats (the superflats???) or whatever the area is called.

[This message has been edited by moses1084ever (edited 4/25/2008 3:34p).]

The League City Super Academy has them. NASA Parkway at I-45.

moses...wish I could help...but I'm not from that area, and I've only been down to go flounder gigging three times. I do remember we used a boat to get where we were going though. Not accessible on foot. We were between Aransas Pass and Port Aransas...on some of the little islands/sandbars out there.

Just bought the pre-made electric light for $39.99 at Academy (183 and Duval in Austin)

Thanks for the tip guys!

Good luck.

The only times I have been were on boats. We had rigged up some lights on the front of the boat that stuck out a little ways. Gave us plenty of light. I don't know where we were though.... It has been quite a while since the last time we went. Probly about 5 years.

Moses108... When did you live in Moses? I lived there for a couple years(05 & 06). In rooms 219 & 304

uhhh for 2 years starting my sophomore year which was fall '03.

Ive been gigging out on a boat with a guide from Rockport. I think the guy's name was Capt. Red

TIME TO HIT THE ROAD.

The light I bought is the BIGGEST PIECE of CRAP. The light filament burned out after no more than 30 minutes of use. The seal around the bulb leaked water. To make it worse, I had already gigged one flounder and stepped on another!

Guys....I think the flounder gigging this time of year is pretty lousy. I have always heard Nove, Dec, Jan were the best.

That's why you need to seal it with something like Gulf Wax.......It will totaly isolate all the connections from water. It is a pain to replace a burned out bulb but you will get a normal bulb life. The only problem with the way I described is storage in a hot place between trips.

That sucks, Moses. Academy should let you swap it out for a new one, then try some extra silicone or the gulf wax trick.

I have 2 propane lanterns and I hate gigging with them. Next time I get serious about going, I'm going to buy a 6 D-cell diving light and zip-tie it to a piece of PVC with a 90-degree joint in it as a handle. You can get the diving lights for about $40-50 and they last 3-4 hours. Just tether it to your belt and you can drop it in the water when you gig one. Wear a headlamp if you need to see your hands after that. I'm all about carrying the least amount of weight possible out there. If I ever get a boat, I'm seriously considering rigging it for gigging. I think I'd do that a heck of a lot more than trout trips just due to the fact that I love to eat flounder a whole lot more.

I don't have a picture of the aluminum ones. This is a photo of the ones we have rigged out of pvc.....I don't like the overkill of the other pvc type on this thread. This one will be lighter than that one. You need the 45 degree elbow in order to get the proper bottom angle. The "T" makes it user friendly.

I built a light from scratch yesterday and was able to take it out last night.

Gigged 2 nice flatties in the ski basin and then my lawnmower battery ran outta juice!

Yeah, the floundering sucks this time of year, no one attempt to go out ;-)

Thanks Trident, I'll go up there and check them out.

ttt