It Was a Cold and Rainy White Night
by Brad Wiegmann

Once again, I stayed out too late fishing. The over cast evening had triggered a topwater feeding frenzy that lasted until it was dark. As darkness surrounded me, so did the cold rain. Great, I thought, now I have to drive the boat back in the rainy, moonless night to the ramp. After arriving at the boat ramp, I saw the parking lot and ramp light were out. At this point, most anglers would have been cursing up a storm, but not me.

Walking up to the pickup truck in the complete darkness, I knew it would be a challenge to back up and see where the ramp was and back down it. My pickup truck’s backup tail lights would deliver little assistance and not having any street lights only complicated the situation. Fortunately, weeks earlier I had installed a White Night rear lighting system. Reaching down to the 3-way toggle switch, I turned it to manual on and flooded the parking lot with light.  Problem solved, it produced 80-feet of reversed lighting, so I could easily see to back down the ramp, load my boat on the trailer, and see to strap down my boat, gear, and transom saver.

White Night's patent rear lighting system for recreational vehicles, sport utility vehicles, and pickups trucks is not your everyday backup towing lights. White Night was designed and is built by anglers who were confronted with the same situations you find yourself in. No lights for backing up into the garage, boat ramp, parking lots, campgrounds…you name it. The White Night is controlled by a toggle switch located on the back side of the unit. The three position switch can be turned to automatically activating when your ignition switch is on and the vehicle is put into reverse for normal operation, the center position turns the unit completely off, or to the other position where the light is manually controlled and on until you move it back to the off position.

White Night comes in four different models to fit a variety of hitches manufactured depending on which vehicle you own. It fits all vehicles with Class 1 thru 4 hitch as well as direct mounting to any step bumper. The #4199 Fixed Mount units require 3/4-inches of clearance from the bottom of the bumper to the top of the hitch receiver tube and will fit most SUV's and pickup trucks with a 2-inch hitch receiver. The #4198 Insert Mount Unit has a 2-inch insert mount and slides into the hitch tube. It is secured with a hitch pin, can be adjusted up and down, and must be taken off whenever towing. The #4197 Insert Mount Light unit has a 1-1/4 inch tube insert mount and slides into the hitch tube. It is secured with a hitch pin, can be adjusted up and down, and must be taken off whenever towing. The #4196 Step Bumper Mount Light unit is for vehicles with a step type rear bumper without a receiver type hitch. It mounts to the bottom of the bumper and can be secured by bolting or attaching to a trailer ball. Overall installing is easy but some of the units due require some minor modifications and kits are available for certain models. A complete list of kits and what White Night unit fits your vehicle can be found at their website www.WhiteNight.com or by calling (888) 884-7637.

Each White Night unit comes with two H-3, 55 watt, high output halogen lamps that produce 80 to 90-feet of reverse lighting and when installed correctly can be submerged in freshwater without fear of failure. Replacement bulbs are available from supercenters and auto part stores. Each unit is built with high impact ABS plastic casing angled to cast an 80-foot spread of light.

Rearward illumination systems like White Night for your vehicle make sense for anglers who stay out past sunset and get to the boat ramp before the sunrises. It only makes sense; you have headlights to see driving forward in the dark, why not backing up. Who knows when you could be out on a cold and rainy night?

Brad Wiegmann is a full time fishing guide on Beaver lake and Lake SWEPCO in Northwest Arkansas. Brad guides for Largemouth, Spotted, Smallmouth, Stripers and White Bass. He is also a free-lance writer who's weekly column "Speaking of Fishing" appears weekly in several local newspapers. You may also see him doing seminars, working outdoor shows or featured in outdoor magazines such as BASSMASTER Magazine, Outdoor life and Arkansas Sportsman. He also fishes the FLW Tour, Stren and local open tournaments. He is currently on the Pro staff, promotional staff and guide programs of numerous tackle manufactures, lure companies, and fishing related companies. You can contact him at (479) 756-5279, at bwiegmann@cox.net or visit his website at www.bradwiegmann.com for more information.