MyFishFinder.com Just like iceshanty but warmer
Unless you are in ultra-clear water with a lot of light penetration you will always be close to the hole that you are fishing from. My aqua-vu is usually in its own hole and it is normally not much more than 5-6 feet away from the hole I am fishing out of and that is in 15-20 feet of water. The deeper you go the less light you will have and the harder to see distance. That said 30-40 or fifty feet could get your line and camera line tangled.
The deepest that I have found a camera effective is about 50 feet - and I fish in clear water. They can go another 10-20 feet deeper if there is no show on clear ice. The snow cover blocks light. The deepest that I have gone is 60 feet fishing next to a section of the lake that had been plowed of snow on a sunny day.The on-board lights on the camera are useless for me. They illuminate and attract plankton and not worth using. A camera is GREAT FUN when you can see and not fun when you can't.I spend time looking for humps and spots for Lake trout that are 30 feet deep and less and when I find them, they are great!.
Gunflint, good insight. But does your line get tangled at those depths and what do you do to avoid it?
Yes our lakers will tangle in the cable no matter how far you put it away. I use mine for scouting and keep it out of the water when I’m fishing.
I never put my camera hole closer than 6 feet to my fishing hole. Usually it is 9-12 feet away from my fishing hole. which gives a wider field of view. If I am fishing with a friend, we typically fish 6 feet apart and can both see our jigs in that arrangement.All of that said - in that configuration, I have never once had my line tangle with the camera and only once with a friend's jig.
you must have great eyes. Damn, if I had an aqua vue, I'd have to have it no more than 4 foot away to see it! I hope you mean to run the cable from the hole that is 12 feet away to where you are sitting. just thought of that. DUH!
Yes, the camera hole is 12 feet away from the fishing holes. Camera is at same depth as where we fish and the display if 3 feet in front of us between our 2 fishing holes. Never even close to a tangle. Here is a video of the 2 jigs 6 feet apart in this arrangement. This is with ice 3 feet thick and heavy snow at about 30 feet depth on sunny day - plenty of light to see what is happening.
Like I said our fish are big and powerful and risking an expensive camera is not worth it. I have had my camera get tangled with Lakers before I new better, luckily they were just small fish less than ten pounds. Keeping the camera higher in the water column would help but the issue is when the fish gets close to the hole and makes a big run and starts making the big circle under the ice. Trust me Jack it’s not worth it.
I use an Aqua Vu camera on Lake Louise all winter. We've never had an issue with tangles, but I use mine on a bird's eye view generally so we can see a much larger area. I have also wondered about fish getting spooked by the camera. We fish in about 25-30' of water and I drop the camera down one of the holes maybe 10' deep. I have a flasher as well, and its cone is nowhere near as large as the camera. 2 years ago me and the wife were fishing and the biggest burbot I have ever seen in my life had my entire camera in his mouth (shaped like a sun fish) and was pulling at it. This camera is not small, and the entire thing was in its mouth. We tried bringing the lures and bait up to but it wasn't interested, it went after the camera 2-3 times. It ended up letting go, but it was quite the experience. Every burbot I have caught and kept since then I have tried putting that camera in its mouth, and so far none have fit (the biggest I have tried is around 33-34").
J2theD, how far away is your hole for your aqua-vu camera from your holes that you are fishing? I know you said 10 feet down in 25-30 feet of water. Thanks for that information that is helpful. Also, what's the biggest fish you've brought in without getting your fishing line tangled with your camera? According to AKhardwater, the camera is fine for small fish, but the bigger fish will tangle with the camera and break it. Thanks for your input.