The truth about underwater cameras?

[Philo]

I am contemplating a aqua vu scout purchase (perhaps at the ice show this weekend). I have read all the posts, but cannot get a good handle on the true usefulness of underwater cameras (no particular brands - just cameras in general). I have read several comments like "they work well if the conditions are perfect" or "they don't work under dark ice", etc... What I am looking for is an unbiased truthful opinion. Are uderwater cameras worth the money, or are they just hype? Futhermore, are they less useful as the year progresses and the ice gets thicker? Anyone out there regret buying an underwater camera for ice fishing? Anyone out there think it was the best money they ever spent? I am asking the question as I am getting the vibe from the previous posts that they are useful, but only under a few limited circumstances. Please help!

(I have a flasher already (FL 18), so that is not an issue.)

[Dan Wood]

Cameras are an absolute blast to use ice fishing. I find myself having more fun on the ice, learning more about what is going on, and catching more fish.

Just keep in mind that at night they are very limited. I've found they can be somewhat limited during open water as well (that depends mainly on water clarity).

In relatively clear lakes summer/winter they will help you locate fish and structure. Most lakes are clear enough for the camera to be useful during the winter, but not all. I find the camera pretty useless at URL.

Deep water with snow cover, where you don't have light penetration also presents an issue. Muddy lakes/rivers such as URL present an obvious issue. If you fish relatively clear water though, they can be a huge help.

I think the most important thing for me is that if I see fish or really good cover in the area, I will stick it out until I figure out what they want. Or come back another time to the same area under different conditons... Without the camera, I may not have the patience and leave a good spot pre-maturely.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Philo- I will come straight out and say that I am on the Aqua-Vu Prostaff.. SO, I am not an unbiased opinion.. but I will be honest with you.

Underwater cameras are only as good as the conditions you put them in. Consider it scuba diving without getting wet. If used on Mille Lacs lake(very clear water) during the winter I have seen at least 20 feet with my camera. Could have been even further, but I know at least 20 feet. If you were to try and use an underwater camera in the mississippi in minneapolis you may only see 2 inches. If that even. As for using them at night, none of the cameras work great at night. Some do work better than others. Cmaeras with LED lights work much better than cameras with IR.. with that in mind, cameras with LED lights are much more expensive.

Underwater cameras are good tools to use for ice fishing. You can read the mood of the fish, see the exact botom content see the exact species of the fish, how tall the weeds are.. ect... even to some extent size of the fish. You would be surprised how many times you will drop your vex FL18 down and see a few on the screen, then drop the camera down and have a hard time counting all the fish.

I use mine to see the bottom content.. the mood of the fish, what lure actions seem to be exciting the fish. A flasher locator is a much better fishing tool... but for excitement and fun... expecially for kids.. the underwater camera is the way to go. FOr those who have childern, you can litteraly buy an extra half hour in just camera time alone. I have never once regretted getting a camera.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Dang Dan.. looks like I need to learn to type faster!...

[Stratosman]

I do not personally own one, but I have heard and witnessed that some fish are wary of them, then at other times they aren't bothered one bit by them. My bud has one and he uses it on occasion, but if I am using my Vex and he is just using the camera, I outfish him 2-1 every time. It seems he is wasting alot of time on set-up and is constantly adjusting the thing. If you already have a flasher and have extra $ to spend, then why not. But if you have neither, I would absolutely buy a good flasher first. It definately is way cool seeing a fish come to your bait and how it reacts to your presentation, and being able to adjust accordingly is a definate asset in helping catch more fish.

[Dan Wood]

Philo,

What type of fishing do you do? Will it be used for open/ice fishing? Are the lakes you fish relatively clear or do you fish URL and the muddy rivers? Water clarity should be your biggest concern with a camera. If the water is stained, the camera isn't going to do anything magical for you. At night in clear water you can generally see enough to get an idea of bottom content, but they are very limited at best.

Just for an idea, I've never had an issue in the winter with water clarity on any of the Metro lakes. I have had issues at URL and LOW. Lake of the Woods water clarity probably is on the edge of being acceptable for a camera, issues were partly due to snow and depth of the fish.

They are a lot of fun and a very good instructional tool. You will catch more fish too, I know I have...

[SteveWilson]

Exudedude

Have you ever trolled with one? I see that AquaView has an attachment for the cammera to attach to a downrigger. It could be fairly interesting to rig on on a downrigger and trail a line behind.

[Dan Thiem]

I would think that with the flasher you could find the fish then look at 'em wirh the camera.

If you want to see what the action underwater looks like, look back a few threads ago, them guys from out east Bob D and Blaine, they have some awesome footage of bass northerns, strippers, and even some sturgeon.

[Philo]

I will use it for ice fishing only, as I rarely fish soft water. (golf addiction). I generally fish east metro lakes with Forest getting a lot of my attention during the winter.

Dan - you noted problems on LOW. That was another issue I had, as I make at least two trips a year to LOW. What kind of viewing distance can I expect up there? (on average) Is it worth even bringing the camera along?

One more question. If I bought a camera like the scout, is it difficult to get the camera to point and stay in the right direction?

Thanks for the help, the responses have been very useful.

[MedicineMan]

Here are a few Aqua-Vu pics I have. These pics are from Medicine Lake (west metro).

[danny berg]

I think they are good for seeing what the bottom is really like and there is nothing like watching the sunnies take your bait, only to have them scamper off screen and all of a sudden, there is a big ol' musky staring at you... Also good for seeing what that structure really is, that shows up on the fish finder.

[The Grebe]

My opinion....they are fun, adds another dimension to the ice fishing...Vexilar, Aqua View, Gps, Walkie talkies, Atvs, snow mobiles, all the summer stuff and the rest of the winter stuff...it's great!

Who does'nt like to look down a fishing hole and see fish?

"I'm not going to look down that spear hole, there might be fish down there?"

If you can afford it and have room to store it, why not have some toys? Big kid toys, fishermen toys! Hey, allow yourself some pleasures!

[Fergus Mor McErc]

MedicineMan, I just bought an UW camera that has a video out jack. How do you take those pictures (camcorder? portable VCR?) and then how do you get them into your computer? Are there USB ports involved? I hope not, my computer is ancient.

Thanks for any help.

[eyeshole]

I agree with all these posts. Sometimes you see great and others you cant see anything. Sometimes it seams as though it is spooking the fish other times you watch that sunfish or crappie suck your bait in and spit it out 4 times in three seconds and your bobber never flinches. So if you got the cash for it buy it. You wont regret it. If the baby needs new shoes you can live without.

[Blaine]

It's been a busy day... I just saw this post. You have been given some great advice. The camera is a lot of fun to use while ice fishing and can be used to help you find the areas that fish look for. I have used mine at over 100 feet of water at night and even in nasty water, I have been able to just fine...

I have a ton of videos on my HSOforum. Some were taken under the ice, some in salt water and others just screwing around out on the river. You can see some of them here

[Dan Wood]

Philo,

LOW is marginal for a camera. I used mine some, but we were fishing 30+' my last couple trips out there... It is worth brining up there, but you won't benefit as much as you would on a clearer lake. If your fishing shallower you may be okay. Light penetration at 30' isn't very good with snow cover.

"Aiming" the camera is something the manufacturers have been working on improving. That is one area you'll benefit in with a higher end camera. The VS560 and some of other brand higher units have directional indicators and such to help with this. It is difficult with the other units but can be done, just takes some tinkering..

[Captain B.R.K]

My have 2 picks against the UW camera's:

1. The time it takes to wrap the cord up when you are

starting/finishing fishing in deep water.

2. The cord gaining memory and not being able to keep the

camera in the same plane as the lure. The times I have

used a camera- I have had to hold the cord with my foot

or jimmy rig it so I could see my lure.

I don't own one, but the number of times that I have fished with one- those are my 2 picks against cameras.

Testimony to the camera- used it on URL and Rainy River- too stained of water to see anything. Used it on Mille Lacs and could see (like Exudedude said) at least 20 ft.

[BradB]

I too would like to know how Medicine Man captured those images. I've been researching a way to capture video onto a laptop from a camera, and I believe I have a solution. But I'd be interested to see how he did it.

Please let us know.

[P Gottshall]

Exudedude,

I also plan to get a camera, & have been considering the Scout, but my buddy at Gander Mountain said I should consider the ZT, as the "Spectral Response" lighting gives a much better picture with plankton & etc in the water.

Is this true? Is it worth $100 more?

Thanks,

Paul

[psegriz]

Didn't read everyones post but 4 yrs ago I's contemplating the same thing. I rented one 1st and never did get one. I've always angled through a spear hole except in one of my perms. I learned alot doing it that way. I intended to use it for mostly night fishing. I did see fish but they had to be within a couple feet which is fine as I had it above my jig facing down. It's frustrating watching crappies all night long looking at your jig in chinese firing squad fashion and not getting them to bite. I am in the process of reconsidering my original consideration. Going to rent one again with LEDs instead of IR and who knows maybe I'll end up with one? That is my advice is to rent one after you've figured out what you'd want to use it for and lakes you'd be on. It cost about $20 bucks to rent one for a day and if you decide to buy one at the same place they'll usually give you credit of the rental. It's cheaper to spend twenty and find out you don't like it than to buy one.

[IaFisherman]

Hook your video camera to your aqua vu, then when you get home hook you video cam up to your computer and dowload your footage. Most camcorders use a firewire connection, so your pc will need have a firewire port.

[Fergus Mor McErc]

Thanks IaFisherman for the photo tip.

BradB...What's the solution to getting photos into your computer you came up with?

[BradB]

Fergus,

First of all, I haven't tried this yet as I don't have either the device, or the camera. But in the next several weeks I will, and I plan to post a full report on the equipment - expert information forum.

I plan to use a TV capture device called the WinTV-USB. This will plug into my camera, the new Aqua Vu SV-100 that they haven't shipped quite yet, on the video out port. The other end will plug into my USB 1.1 port on the computer. (they do have a different product for computers that have USB 2.0, the WinTV-USB2).

This device will capture the analog (NTSC) video feed and digitize it. It is designed for watching TV on your laptop, but it will also convert any video source including those from a camera. You don't need a video camera to convert with it. It is also much cheaper than buying a video camera, as it costs less than $70.

You can both watch the video on your laptop screen (which I plan to do, for the larger monitor) and record the feed as an AVI file.

As I said, I haven't tried it and I will be reporting on how it works. I believe you need to have a reasonably speedy computer and the appropriate USB port.

[Fergus Mor McErc]

Thanks Brad,...sounds workable and inexpensive. I wish I had a laptop; that will be pretty neat to capture the photos to your computer right out there on the ice.

[PikeTipper]

Do you mean you can record from your camera with this device without hooking up a camera to it too? If so how much memory does it have for recording? What is the power source?