Russ - I use a 4 ft sinking light about 1 ft below surface. On a good night minnows and shad will be so thick in light they actually make the light move. Crappies will normally start to rise and take jig or minnows right on the surface to 15-18 ft down. It varies greatly according to time of year , weather and amount of wind. I believe when fishing right in the circle of light color of jig doesn't matter as much as profile. On the edges of the light and where its dark, I prefer a dark color for the contrast. Crappies have good night vision but walleyes have great night vision. Bluegills and perch have poor night vision and I rarely catch them at night. Sometimes the bigger gills will come right in on the light ,perch never. some guys like luminous jigs but its easy to overdo the luminous bit.
Chartreuse , all black , and real dark colors seem to work for me at night. Must remember though that certain lakes can be an entity all to themselves.
Air brush problem is solved for right now. Actually should not use the word airbrush. More like a glass etcher with a low psi 6-10 psi compressor. Something just a little stronger than the air bubblers for keeping minnows. I suck at the sprinkle method with a brush and the air gun gives me more control. Seems to be faster for me anyway.
By the way contrary to some of the ads that you see. Night light do NOT draw fish in from all over the lake. If it were that easy I would never get skunked. What they will do is draw them in if you set up close to them. For instance a brushpile that is loaded with crappie but so snaggy you can't hardly fish it. Go out at night and set up within 20 ft of it or so. Give the light a 1/2 hour or so. First requirement is to see if you attract minnows. If you do then you have a chance to attract the crappie. By setting up close to the snag the abundant food supply ( will usually attract crappie ). I like a green light others like blue and some prefer just plain white.
I prefer night fishing because its normally so much more quiet than daytime fishing. Also not as crowded and like to admire the sunsets and sunrises.
