Aqua Vu Micro "Minnesota Rig"

[DTro]

I didn't know what else to call it. The Minnesota Rig had a nice ring.

Caught them one after another. I think this setup would work very well in situations like a tournament (if they are allowed) when every bite counts.

It sure was fun, I know that.

[CaptainMusky]

That's pretty sweet! Love how they kept attacking the camera

[BartmanMN]

That's cool. I love when the crappie eats the camera.

[Stringerless!]

Nice work !

[clayton08]

Nice dtro now leave the crappies alone and catch those cats.

[dfeste]

Nice video. That was cool to watch.

[DTro]

Nice dtro now leave the crappies alone and catch those cats.

Cats are next on my list with this rig!

[clayton08]

That would be pretty awesome....Just gotta get one of those cat reels mounted on there should be able to reel up the aqua view line with those....

[Will]

Fantastic! Way to think outside of the box.

[DTro]

I've racked my brain trying to think of a way to actually reel the cable line. but with the other end connected to the camera, I don't think its possible. I'll just take it up like fly line and let it coil up on the ice. I was in about 10ft of water for this, so it will be interesting to see a bigger fish in deeper water.

[walleye44]

That was a cool video. The Aqua VU micro plus is an awesome camera!

[clayton08]

Yeah it would be pretty hard to do it so it would reel up. As you said theres two ways it would be bringing in line. Its a pretty good idea tho, the video was cool and makes for finicky fish to be easy targets. I will be waiting for the kitty videos.

[creepworm]

Do you have any idea how much weight the camera cable on a micro is supposed to support? I really like this idea for perch but would be real nervous of a large pike coming in hot and biting before I could get the jig away from it.

[DTro]

Its rated at 22lbs

[MN BassFisher]

Good thinking there Dtro!

[Duffman]

Well, what do you know, that thing is useful for more than just retrieving keys from the bottom of the lake.

Great footage Dtro!

[SalmonSlayer]

Other than the seizure inducing scenes when it's flopping about on the ice, that was awesome

[FishGUY]

Thats pretty cool!

[Fred_Bear]

Do you have any idea how much weight the camera cable on a micro is supposed to support? I really like this idea for perch but would be real nervous of a large pike coming in hot and biting before I could get the jig away from it.

If a big fish grabs the jig, the mono will be the weak link and break so no need to worry about the camera cable.

A big toothy critter eating the camera is what would cause damage.

Super cool idea DTro!

[bee]

You could have a regular rod set up. Lower the camera and jig down. Have very lite line attached to the jig and camera so it will break loose and real in with the other rod.

[CaptainMusky]

You could have a regular rod set up. Lower the camera and jig down. Have very lite line attached to the jig and camera so it will break loose and real in with the other rod.

I was thinking along these lines as well. Perhaps use a regular rod and reel setup, have a bobber stop roughly a foot above your jig then run your line through the clip on that camera. The camera would get pulled down the hole (well I suppose its heavier than the jig anyway so that doesnt matter) and when a fish bites you just reel in the line like normal with no potential damage to the camera cable.

Either way, that is cool as heck.

[DTro]

Yeah, I’m sure there could be several improvements on the “design”.    I thought about it for a couple of days and literally whipped this up last night when I stumbled upon that old Flip mount while searching for something totally unrelated.  I was like “Hey that would work perfect for what I was thinking of doing!”

 

I think adding a second of anything just defeats the purpose really.  In that case you might as well just drop the camera down like normal.  The whole idea was to make it self-sustaining and simple and to add a little “video game” spice to it.

 

Another cool side benefit is that I can slip the side viewing clip on to the camera and run around to different holes scouting with this “rod” plus it folds up and fits in my rod bag. 

 

Honestly, with some sort of easy deployment and retrieve, this thing would be GOLD!

[DTro]

Rev 1.1

Added improved deployment:

[CAMAN]

Dtro, do you mind losing half your depth and only being able to go down 25 feet or so?

Lay your cable out and fold it in half so your camera and screen are next to each other and the bend is on the other side of the room. Take a bait caster or fly reel and feed the loop end of the cable into where the line normally comes out and place the loop of the cable on the spool and fasten it somehow (ziptie, electrical tape, etc). Now reel in, the two sides of the cable should lay next to each other. When you let out the line the camera side will go down the hole and the side going to the monitor will fall to the floor. I believe they should stay relatively untangled and if the cable doesn't come off smoothly just grab the cable that is going to the monitor and pull it off like fly line, the camera side will go out with it.

Does that make sense? I can sketch something up if you need it.

[DTro]

Yes that makes sense. I just wonder how well it go back on and off after a while?

I might have to give it a try. Not sure about an upside down baitcaster though. I bet an inline/fly reel might work though...