Underwater cameras

[spencerville]

Almost that time. Anyone using underwater cameras? Worth the trouble? What you got?

[SouthBend]

I've never used one, but I would assume they would be just as frustrating as a flasher. There is nothing worse than knowing fish are down there and not being able to get a bite. Being able to actually see them giving your lure a cold shoulder would be even more frustrating! All that said..... I want one...

[Stickhick86]

Check out the sponsor Eyoyo! they sell the cams on amazon and from what I have seen using mine, I love it! great price and great customer service.

[WonderBread]

I use a vexilar fish scout ir
Last season at Oneida lake in NY , it made the difference.  I was able to see what would entice the strike. I use it most of the time, with the exception of hole hopping.
For a start I have to say that Eyoyo are affordable.
WonderBread

[fishinator]

Couple of my friends have eyoyo. Very affordable and decent quality. Just be aware that they do not work in stained water.

[Piggyn]

There is nothing worse than knowing fish are down there and not being able to get a bite.

Yes there is: not marking fish in the first place.    Finicky fish can at least be figured out some days.

[RoeBoat]

I have an aquaview micro that I don't use much.  Honestly I'm getting tired of dragging crap around.  You do have a hard time seeing very far in most northern Indiana lakes.  Your welcome to use it.  I turned it on a week or two ago and noticed a couple "diamond" like spots on the screen like the lense had something going on.  Not sure what that's about.

[miamimiller]

I love mine, it surprised me how many times a fish got spooked by a jiggle of my bait or was enticed by an aggressive jiggle, but what sold me was watching a gill come up and just barely suck the bait in and then spitting it right back out without ever moving my line. That crap doesn't happen anymore you see it go in ,set the hook, catch the fish that you would of never even known had your bait in it's mouth.

[fishinator]

I love mine, it surprised me how many times a fish got spooked by a jiggle of my bait or was enticed by an aggressive jiggle, but what sold me was watching a gill come up and just barely suck the bait in and then spitting it right back out without ever moving my line. That crap doesn't happen anymore you see it go in ,set the hook, catch the fish that you would of never even known had your bait in it's mouth.

I have observed the exact thing. Spent a lot of time marking fish on my sonar and concentrating on my spring bobber with no bites. Sent the camera down and started catching immediately. The bite was so light it wasn't moving a spring bobber.
  I decided it was time to upgrade my fishTV, got a 9" eyoyo on the way.

[Stickhick86]

I have observed the exact thing. Spent a lot of time marking fish on my sonar and concentrating on my spring bobber with no bites. Sent the camera down and started catching immediately. The bite was so light it wasn't moving a spring bobber.
  I decided it was time to upgrade my fishTV, got a 9" eyoyo on the way.

You will no be disappointed with it. I can promise you that.

[SKIFFLAKEJIMMY]

I have a Marcum. The thing that amazed me the most was, watching a gill take the bait, and spit it out. And I never detected the bite!

[fishinator]

You will no be disappointed with it. I can promise you that.

Ya I know. Couple of my friends have them. Light years ahead of my tube style fishTV. 

[CL_Outdoors]

I've got an aqua vu 715c that me and a buddy went halvsies on a few years back. I agree that it can be somewhat of a pain to lug out there but it is definitely worth it if you're fishing clear water (which i do, clear lake in steuben). Great for hunkering down in the shack but not hole hopping, plus it prevents a bunch of hookups with little dink gills.

I will say tho, my experience up until last year was that the camera did not make the fish spook at all. That changed when I fished deep for perch, about 30 FOW. I thought I was on a barren spot until I started hole hopping with my flasher no more than 10ft away from my original hole. Flasher was lit up! Decided to put my aqua vu down to see the action and didn't get a single bite, nor did I see any perch. Reeled up the camera, put the flasher and another bait down, and they suddenly appeared again.

Not sure if the camera being above the perch made them think it was a hungry walleye or if it was just at that depth/species/time of year (mid feb) or what, but they would scatter every time I put the camera down.

[Sylvanboat]

I have the 3-1/2 inch AquaVu mini. Small & light, so easy to carry. I agree it does not work great in dingy water. In bodies of water where it does work it can be a game changer. Last year we were perch fishing and only catching dinks. I sent down the camera and saw the dinks were aggressive and attacking our baits. There were bigger perch were there but they would not compete for our baits. The camera let me know we needed to change tactics.  It also works great in lots of weeds where my sonar is showing clutter.  It will also let you identify exactly what fish your sonar sees.  As stated above it works great with real finicky fish - when the jig disappears, set the hook.  It is also a lot of fun to watch what the fish are doing.

[spencerville]

I love mine, it surprised me how many times a fish got spooked by a jiggle of my bait or was enticed by an aggressive jiggle, but what sold me was watching a gill come up and just barely suck the bait in and then spitting it right back out without ever moving my line. That crap doesn't happen anymore you see it go in ,set the hook, catch the fish that you would of never even known had your bait in it's mouth.

Exactly why I'm considering... I struggled last year with some super light bite... thinking it may help...

[spencerville]

Didnt seem to bad price wise...is 7 " reasonable on view?

[ice dawg]

While fishing for yellow perch I switched from minnows to wax worms when I noticed on my camera they were ignoring minnows. I began catching perch right away since I could adjust the action of my bait to what they wanted. I could see my buddy's minnows a out 15 feet away and there were about 8 perch sucking his minnows in and spitting them out again while his bobbers didn't even twitch. I told him about this and he wouldn't switch to wax worms. I caught every perch that afternoon.

[CL_Outdoors]

Didnt seem to bad price wise...is 7 " reasonable on view?

Yes, VERY reasonable. Good picture, full days worth of battery when elevated off the cold ice, and it turns first timers into die-hards. I've got a handful of buddies and family members who used to scoff at the thought of ice fishing and are now texting me every January about when we're gonna have safe ice, and the camera I think is a big reason why.

[river_scum]

its fun at first.  then you find it just gets left behind or in the sled.  wasted a lot of fishing time just looking at the screen too. lol

[spencerville]

its fun at first.  then you find it just gets left behind or in the sled.  wasted a lot of fishing time just looking at the screen too. lol

I hear ya... I have more gear than I should now...but I really wasted a few days missing the light bite last year. I dont think its something I would use every outing but I also know a few lakes I'm willing to bet will greatly improve the harvest for the day.

On another note....I almost put my boat in up the road from you this year....haha almost. Did catch the video of the boat online going in with the buggy....kind of suprised me.... my amish neighbor just jumps in his work truck and drives himself to Hamilton...seen it with my own eyes...

[river_scum]

yea a big pile of road apples is always a welcome addition to a boat ramp.  when it freezes they will be out there stroking them too! 

[tater140]

I hear ya... I have more gear than I should now...but I really wasted a few days missing the light bite last year. I dont think its something I would use every outing but I also know a few lakes I'm willing to bet will greatly improve the harvest for the day.

On another note....I almost put my boat in up the road from you this year....haha almost. Did catch the video of the boat online going in with the buggy....kind of suprised me.... my amish neighbor just jumps in his work truck and drives himself to Hamilton...seen it with my own eyes...
There is probably a whole lot more that goes on that you dont see.