Can any Marcum OVS 560 Owners help me with this?

[Mongro02]

I have a OVS 560 and I've heard that the camera underwater will scare away the fish?

I have been able to use it and seen panfish, croppies and perch fine. But never any predator fish: Pike, Walleyes, etc...

I have also noticed a couple of times, I will see a school of fish on my flasher, put my camera down and they seem to all be gone. Pull up the camera and they seem to come back. Not sure if it's the camera or not.

I'm just curious if anyone has noticed if the camera will affect the fish or not.

Also, does the light spook the fish at night or in deeper water?

Thanks for any help.

[Corey Bechtold]

This is a good topic. I feel that is always depends on the mood of the fish. I have had the camera down and had fish swim right up to it and bump it with their noses. I guess they were curious that day. One time I lowered the camera down and before i reached the bottom I started to see the back of a good fish, I lowered it the last 6 inches to find a Pike staring right back at me. He simply backed away, gave it one more good look and then slowly swam away. As for Walleyes, I watched a good fish swim right up to the camera and his eye was right on the camera! The fish was slowly swimming by the camera and I watched the whole body go by and right when the camera was at his tail it bumped her and then she bolted sending the camera whirling around. I then pulled up the camera, started fishing, and caught that fish about 30 seconds later. She was about 26". I said "Nice to meet you" and sent her back on her way. Cameras are something new to the fish, maybe they will shy away from cameras in a few years but sometimes I think that fish are just like the people at the State Fair, always trying to get on TV.

Good Luck,

Corey Bechtold

[Dan Wood]

yea that is a tough one... sort of like the do fish see fishing line topic..

I think it just depends on the conditions. How spooky the fish are, how clear the water is, etc. I'm sure without any doubt that it will spook fish under certain conditions. I still think I gain more by having the camera down, even if the occasional fish is spooked. I watch and catch eyes, bass, pike, etc. with the camera down all of the time. Most don't pay any attention to it at all. I do keep it about 4' away from my bait most of the time. If I can in real clear water I'll back it up a little further yet. You can also rig it viewing down if your really concerned about it.

One thing you don't want to do is move it up and down very much. Once you get it down and settled, most fish seem to be fine with it. Of course you never know the fish that see it from a distance and don't come in, but it sure hasn't hurt my catch rate (infact it has helped quite a bit).

[ChuckN]

I've seen this very same behavior. Some lakes the fish are just plain spooked by cameras. I move to another lake and they don't even care. It is strange.

Crappies and gills are never bothered by the camera, but walleyes mostly are for me.

[Dave]

Went out tonight with my VS560 and the gills didn't care if the light was on. Had fish in view the whole time. I had the 560 set so I could pan back and forth watching two lines. It didn't seem to bother them.

[Catchemfast]

I don't own an underwater camera yet, but have done extensive research on them. One question comes to mind, does your camera have a color and black and white option? I have quite a few friends that work at outdoor stores and they all report the same opinion. They all tell me that the cameras perform the best when they are i black and white mode. I have heard numerous stories of fish being spooked by the color lights. Also, I have heard many stories of the fish never being spooked when the camera is in the black and white mode. Try it and see what happens. Then reply and share the info.

[Mongro02]

Thanks for all your inputs...

I will have to use it more to see if it does affect the fish or not.

I did use it last night on Bald Eagle and just as I was about to drop the camera on the bottom...saw a huge Northern swim right by and away...First One.