aqua view camera

[1MOFISH]

help needed wife secretly got me an underwater camera for a gift tried to use it could bearly see anything.  It was a sunny day, did use the shield, tried to adjust contrast, could only pick out one small perch.  Any suggestions?
Mofish

[OTIS]

I find that mine works a thousand times better in my shanty than it does out doors.

[icy mike]

send it to me and I'll see if I can get it work for you.  I'll return it to you no later than May 2007

Icy Mike

[1MOFISH]

thankx mac will try that thinkin about lettin. icymike tweak it for me what do ya think    mofish

[Van_Cleaver]

I have an Aqua Vu camera, and it is just plain hard to see the screen on a sunny day. Try setting it so you can look down into it, with your back to the sun, thus keeping the screen in the shade. Some people hunch over them with a dark towel draped over thier head and necks, further blocking the sun ray. Good luck with it!

[1MOFISH]

thankx i probally wouldn.t have bought one myself been a poke and pray fisherman but it will keep the girlz occupied    mofish

[rondog]

I purchased a SV series with the remote tri-pod  last winter and got about the same results. If there was any sun at all it was tough to see the screen unless you got right down on the hood which was kinda hard to fish that way.I dont fish in a shanty and I move around alot, it was a real pain to use and without the motorized tri-pod it's tough to get direction of the camera right.If you try to use the same hole your jigging in you get tangled in the camera cable so your drilling twice the holes plus the extra weight to carry.When I did set it up I was doing more watching then catch en.
I'll stick with my VEX
 8) 8)

[Strike Lead]

Last year I flew out to Devils Lake and hung out with the Mitchell Guide service for a week. Part of the trip was an Aqua View for the week. We used the Aqua view for about an hour when someone exclaimed......."I can't see very good with this thing". We broke out the Vex's and started slaying walleye.

The guide said that the rent a lot of them to people who want to "play". He said none of his guys use those things because they tend to waste time and spook fish.

They're nice when you want to know what keeps setting off marks on a Vex but....I'd thank the wife and trade that thing in on a good flasher.

[tumbleweed]

I've been curious about those cameras. Are they just for viewing fish or can you also take underwater photographs with them?

[John_Boy]

Water clarity is also an issue with these cameras . If your water is murky you won't see much . My suggestion is to read the equipment section . There's a wealth of information on camera's there .http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?board=74.20
                                                John

[Byron/PA]

I rely on my camera a good bit when fishing clear water lakes. This might sound silly, but if you are not in a dark shelter, cover yourself and the camera with a large black beach towell. Like I said, you'll look silly but it works great, hard to fish that way but makes scouting new holes on sunny days much easier.

[Iceshanty]

Not sure why they can't get better contrast with the screens, very difficult to see on a freshly snowed, sunny day running around hole hopping, I throw a coat over my head so I can see the screen. I have found that the camera does not spook fish too much unless they are smaller fish then the camera housing itself, many times I wanted to check out a school of baitfish only to have them scatter time after time as soon as the camera got close to them. Gamefish seem to show no fear and are actually interested in the camera housing. 50% of the time I drop the camera down I'll have a bass or pike or walleye immediately go nose to nose with the camera.

I don't care to actually fish with the camera but the best use I have found for my camera is recording some fishing action and watching the footage later on a large screen at home. The detail you can see on a large screen is incredible. What I found most amazing is you are able to see the fishes body english so  much better at home. If you have a camera and access to some recording device everyone should try this, you'll learn so much.

Place the camera about 1 foot away from the jig to get upclose and see them minor details,  pectoral fins, eyes and slight movements. Fish give many minor clues as to how they are reacting to your presentation, very neat to see it up close with rewind and pause and slow mo.  8)




-Scott

[ceo32312]

its another tool to use, it wont replace your flasher. 

[tucker]

tumbleweed, the aquavu has external ports for plugging into a recording device, like a camcorder ( or a vcr if you have one on the ice).  You can then take the tape home and look at it later.

I would not go out fishing without it.  Lots of guys say they are just a toy but my catch rate has skyrocketed since i got mine.  I can tell when i am on the edge of structure and where the bait it.  I can tell when to set the hook.  I used to miss alot when i went to set the hook, now i can see how they are biting it and when to yank.  Never used a flasher so can't compare to that.

[pike4some]

I have a guy that i work with that was telling me that they have a shack with a tv in the upper corner with there cam facing all there holes and they sit and watch the tv more than they watch there poles. I just had to laugh about it. Until last year i went with someone that had one and we sat watching one of our tip-ups with it. It was so cool watching this northern and seeing how they actually operate there skills in the water. He would attack the shinner and spit it back out without knocking up the flag this he did back and forth for about a half hour. This making me understand why my bait is missing when I go check my tip-ups. And the cam is a great idea if you have kids.

[FishDeepCreek]

The Aqua VU- definetly isnt a toy! I would pick a flasher first by far- however an Aqua Vu will show you things- no flasher can. You can judge the fishes general feeding moods, by how they approach your lure/bait on the Cam. They (the monitor- depending on what model) can be hard to see in the sun- if you fish in a Shanty/ Fish trap they work top notch you can see very good!. You need to know how to set it up to make it work. Buy yourself and Ice Pod (non motorized one that sell for about 15 bucks) -works well. Bore a 2nd hole, and drop your lure in the hole you fish out of. Lower you cam in the extra hole& Turn the stopper ball until you see your bait. You now can watch the fish approach your lure. You set the hook by sight instead of feel! Youd be surprised how many fish you dont feel bite! For run and gun fishing an Aqua Vu is hard to do, as it takes a little bit of time to set up (no longer than a tip up though) thats when a flasher rules! Ideally use both- set the aqua vu close to the bottom- the flasher will let you know when a fish is close, as well as pick up fish out of the cameras range. You can take photos, and videos now- There is a DVR module out now for aqua vu's. I installed one yesterday on my Scout, and tested out on Deep Creek yesterday. Here is a snapshot of a Smallmouth that came in and investigated:


Here is a video of a 'Gill I took too. You need Windows Media Player to see it. If you use windows you should already have it. Download the video here:
http://b02.bestsharing.com/ms001133631/91ZP96N55/XxGZjkpJVkY1lenGSQVmtTa2v5gBO/GrassGill.asf

[1MOFISH]

awesome picture would love to see the old rt#40 bridge up the yough lake  mofish

[pinche]

I was in my local bait shop recently and the owner was telling me about a local guy who was making an aqua view "ghetto". I say ghetto cause he was making them from parts from radio shack and whatnot. The price was around $130 with a tripod. The best part of the whole thing was that the screen or TV was actually a TV and an a/m f/m radio you could listen to or watch your local football games while you fished. unfortunately he is no longer making them.
Someone should pass that idea along to the aqua view folks.

[tucker]

I made a homemade on a few years ago. It was a tv/radio combo that ran on D batteries or off a car battery adapter.  The camera was a waterproof infrared security camera i got off of ebay and it ran off the same car battery adapter. Worked good but way to heavy and too many wires to be practical. I used it a few times and then decided to get the aquavu. I would say the whole set up cost me about 70.  But I still have the tv.

[pinche]

I made a homemade on a few years ago. It was a tv/radio combo that ran on D batteries or off a car battery adapter.  The camera was a waterproof infrared security camera i got off of ebay and it ran off the same car battery adapter. Worked good but way to heavy and too many wires to be practical. I used it a few times and then decided to get the aquavu. I would say the whole set up cost me about 70.  But I still have the tv.

Wouldnt that be a cool feature on the aqua view products ? I would think it would help with sales I know allot of people carry a radio along on there ice trips.

[Incognito]

The two pike videos are from an aquaview camera.  It is really hard to see the screen anywhere except in my dark shanty.  The color perch video is from a WebCam that I waterproofed.  If you already own a decent laptop, you can make these for under 70 bucks.  Unfortunately you are limited to about 12 feet of cable.  Seeing the fish on a 15.4 inch screen is a hoot.

http://www.incogs.net/videos/Pike.wmv

http://www.incogs.net/videos/PikeEscape.wmv

http://www.incogs.net/videos/IceFishing.wmv

Inc

[jayswimmer09]

sweet movies!!! i always love watching fishing from the fish's point of view

[jimo]

help needed wife secretly got me an underwater camera for a gift tried to use it could bearly see anything.  It was a sunny day, did use the shield, tried to adjust contrast, could only pick out one small perch.  Any suggestions?
Mofish

  I used my aqua view scout last year and had great luck with it. I only use it in my hut.If the water is not clear I turn on the led lights.I also use a ice pod. It is a tripod that goes over the hole with a rubber device to hold the camera at the precise spot you want. I use the camera to set the hook.