Playing around with the idea of getting an underwater camera for this years hard water. I use a flasher but would like to hear some opinions on using a flasher and camera in combo. My thoughts aren’t getting one to replace the way I fish and use my flasher, but to see structure, reaction to my baits, and see what species are hanging around.
An underwater camera is a great tool to have on the ice, for me it will never replace Marcum flasher but it is something I can use in conjunction with my flasher to put more fish on the ice.
There are times that I will use the camera more than anything else mainly in the weeds in shallow clear water.It works awesome when sight fishing to see out I the sides to know what if anything is coming. I also really depend on the camera when crib fishing or fishing brush to help me properly set up on the structure. If you have ever had a very tough bite where there are fish around but you are struggling to get them to commit you can drop the camera and watch how the fish are reacting and fine tune your jigging to get them dialed in.
but to see structure, reaction to my baits, and see what species are hanging around.
I got mine to see the vegetation and structure, so I could pop a hole in an unfamiliar area, throw the camera down and stay or move on, depending on what I saw.
It also helped in shallower depths where your sonar cone is narrower and might not represent what is truly down there.
Plus if you have younger kids it is something to keep their attention on fishing longer. And I’m in the same boat with mainly using it for finding cribs or other structure to focus on.
A main consideration would be water clarity in lakes you plan to fish. If the lakes are typically stained, cameras won’t be able to see very far. If the water is quite clear, the camera will show you more about the bottom than you could imagine! The other important factor is camera quality. I’m not saying you HAVE to get a Marcum camera, but I used to have an Aquaview 360 and even in the clearest water it was difficult seeing very far.
My thoughts aren’t getting one to replace the way I fish and use my flasher, but to see structure, reaction to my baits, and see what species are hanging around.
Given this, I think it would be a wise investment for you. For me, the biggest selling point of a camera by far is the ability to use it to confirm/deny what you’re seeing on a flasher. Then, the next step is to visualize what you’re seeing on the flasher and understand what’s actually going on under the ice when your underwater camera isn’t down the hole. Once you can cue in on the clues that your flasher is giving you by studying fish’s reactions with both the flasher and camera down, fishing with a camera isn’t as necessary sans specific bites.
For me, I’m rusty at the beginning of the season, so I try to spend some time with both the flasher and camera, watching especially panfish come in, study the bait, flare their fins, pause, rush, back-up, and eventually slurp up the bait…that’s the stuff that’ll make you better with your flasher and a better fisherman overall.
Not to mention, new baits. When the Rippin’ Rap first came out, I was surprised at how much more effective I could be with my cadence after studying it on camera and adjusting jigging strokes accordingly. I had, incorrectly, assumed that it would fish just like a blade, and I had lots of lookers and few takers. In some respects, it fishes very similar, but I felt like I didn’t get really good with that bait until I spent some time with it on camera. If you can’t afford a camera, the next best thing is to drop it a few inches underwater and spend a few minutes fine-tuning your motion.
There have been bites I’ve seen that require a camera to be effective, let alone, hook up at all. One I can think of off the top of my head are finicky stream trout in clear water lake environments. Sometimes these fish will swim all around your bait, so rapidly, it’s hard to track what’s going on with the flasher. Sometimes they bite, sometimes they don’t, but it’s often sudden and you need to be right there with it. Another was a perch bite on Devil’s lake that James and I fished a few years ago. Fish were everywhere but there was a serious cold front. Anything mid-day came on slack line, with jig on bottom, live minnow struggling. The would study it for often minutes at a time, but you’d never know when to lift without that camera.
Either way, good luck with your purchase, and let us know how it goes for you!
Joel
Joel stated uses very well. I use mine mostly for guiding on the ice. I get quite a few clients each winter that want to learn how to use plastics. Simply the easiest way to learn about something in the water column is to look at it. I have the LX-9 and feel like it has paid for itself a couple times over
Awesome info guys, appreciate it. Let’s talk value for a minute. Looking at the vexilar and marcum models online here. Seems like adding a function that tells you direction, depth and water temp can bring a system up a lot in terms of pricing. Do you guys find that a function like that is necessary or beneficial? Will I be happy with a system that’s gonna cost me 300$ over the 600$ systems?
That will depend on how much you plan to use it, and how seriously you fish. Knowing the temp at different levels may help with developing a pattern, knowing direction/depth can save you a lot of time trying to find your lure when suspended off the bottom. All of these functions can be worked around using other methods, but having them all on the screen can save time figuring that out in other ways. I would think the most important thing in a camera would be getting the clearest picture possible, but I’m sure others may have different opinions.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
