# Underwater Camera - Lessons Learned



## duckaddict (Dec 31, 2007)

I just wanted to pose a question for those of you who own and fish cosistently with underwater cameras. What is the biggest thing that you have learned from using it? 

I haven't ever fished with one but do fish with a finder and more recently a flasher. I am always amazed to see the amount of fish that come through that don't bite unless I do the opposite of whatever I am doing at the time they come through. The biggest lesson I learned when I started ice fishing with a finder was that I was fishing completely blind before. Now I know when and where I need to be at certain times of the day at certain lakes during certain times of the season.


----------



## mzshooter (Apr 8, 2008)

Bye the best one you can afford, and don't expect it to work in murky water. Even in clear water they are pretty limited. *Don't bye one if your friend has one..*


----------



## STEVO (Sep 13, 2007)

I bought one last year & have loved it ever since. It doesnt do much to help with the fishing, but it is kind of fun to watch your lure on the camera & to see how the fish react to it. One word of advice tho. Dont look at the camera when you are trying to decide when to set the hook. 9 out of 10 times you will set it too soon just by watching the fish with the lure in its mouth. It works great on shallower lakes. I have tried it down at fishlake a few times, it works great down to about 60 feet then it gets pretty dark quickly. Aquaview sells a light that you can mount on the bottom where the trolling weight would typically go that works pretty well. Its awesome to see the 20-30lb macs swim around your jig. **** things wont bite tho :lol: . I have had several fish attack my camera, kinda cool to see. If your really into it, you can actually buy a recorder that you can link into the camera.(Havent done that one yet)


----------



## americanforkdude (Sep 13, 2007)

Stevo, what does the light do? Does it just give you a better visual depth on what you can see.


----------



## STEVO (Sep 13, 2007)

Yea it is just basically a waterproof mini mag light . It adds a little bit of light, but its still pretty dark at those deeper depths. I think It was only about 20 bucks. It was cheap so I decided to give it a try. You can tell a pretty big difference with it.

Here is the link to the page on their website. the light is the second item down.

http://www.aquavu.com/Products/Accessories/

Also if your using it for ice fishing, Get the ice pod thing that holds it up for you. Its much easier to use to adjust the camera. Ive tried just looping the wire around stuff to set the depth, But its best to just fork out the 15 bucks for the pod. When you are adjusting the camera, you only twist the cord just a titch, and it can sometimes move your camera alot.


----------



## McFishin (Dec 24, 2007)

I bought one a couple of years ago. They are a lot of fun to use but I like my flasher better. 
I did learn a lot about bait presentation by watching the reaction of the fish. The best thing about the camera is that my kids have a ball with it. The biggest suprise to me is how many fish there are that are NOT biting. Ive seen as many as 8-10 perch milling around or just lying on the bottom competely ignoring my bait. The camera is fun but kind of a novelty, the newness wears off after a while. My suggestion is to buy a flasher, and use the rest of the money you saved to finance an extra fishing trip or two.


----------



## ICEMAN2 (Dec 5, 2008)

I am just the opposite, I DON'T fish without one, I acutally use both the flasher and my camera, you learn a ton watching the reactions of the fish, jigging techniques, what they like and don't like, plus many fish suck the bait into there mouth and you never even know it. You would be suprised how many hits you get and never even know it. You can see it happen on the camera and catch many more fish. You can watch how they react to different lures, colors, etc. Besides that, when the fishing is slow, its just as fun to watch what goes on down there, I do use my flasher to fish the entire column, but it isn't a good day on the ice without my camera, I have fished a few times without it and I sit there and wonder what is goind on down there, boring!!!! My advice, get one, use it, enjoy it, and learn from it.


----------



## dubob (Sep 8, 2007)

We took a little trip down to Cabelas yesterday and left a whole lot poorer than when we went in. One of the items bought was the Cabelas Advanced Anglers Panning Camera. It has a camera that pans 360 degrees with a touch of the remote buttons; no cable turning. It has a 7" screen, 65 ft cable, and infrared lighting on demand. I'll post reports during the season on how it is performing. The first use will be right after Christmas - Friday or Saturday or both. :mrgreen:


----------



## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

dubob said:


> We took a little trip down to Cabelas yesterday and left a whole lot poorer than when we went in. One of the items bought was the Cabelas Advanced Anglers Panning Camera. It has a camera that pans 360 degrees with a touch of the remote buttons; no cable turning. It has a 7" screen, 65 ft cable, and infrared lighting on demand. I'll post reports during the season on how it is performing. The first use will be right after Christmas - Friday or Saturday or both. :mrgreen:


Looking forward to hearing your experince with it!


----------



## lunkerhunter2 (Nov 3, 2007)

ICEMAN2 said:


> I am just the opposite, I DON'T fish without one, I acutally use both the flasher and my camera, you learn a ton watching the reactions of the fish, jigging techniques, what they like and don't like, plus many fish suck the bait into there mouth and you never even know it. You would be suprised how many hits you get and never even know it. You can see it happen on the camera and catch many more fish. You can watch how they react to different lures, colors, etc. Besides that, when the fishing is slow, its just as fun to watch what goes on down there, I do use my flasher to fish the entire column, but it isn't a good day on the ice without my camera, I have fished a few times without it and I sit there and wonder what is goind on down there, boring!!!! My advice, get one, use it, enjoy it, and learn from it.


One question, when you use the flasher witht he camera already down, doesn't it show on your flasher? That is what i have been worried about. I bought a camera this spring and can't wait to use it.


----------



## ICEMAN2 (Dec 5, 2008)

Yes it does show the camera, but it also shows my jig, and fish through the column, so its easy to identify what is what.


----------

