Underwater viewing system. Which one to buy?

   / Underwater viewing system. Which one to buy? #1  

EddieWalker

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Does anybody own one?

I saw them in the Cabela's catalog Cabela's -- Search Simple Product and thought that it would make a great birthday gift for my wife. She's the one who's really into fishing, I'm more into the land.

On ebay, there are several brands, but I don't know if one is better then the other. Aqua-Vu, Nature Vision, Explorer and Cabela's. Any others that I should look at?

It sure would be fun to row around the pond and see what's going on down there.

Thanks,
Eddie
 
   / Underwater viewing system. Which one to buy? #2  
Or, maybe something like this:
 

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   / Underwater viewing system. Which one to buy? #3  
I saw one that was made in Michigan featured on Michigan Out of Doors, but I can't find any info on it. Sorry I can't be more help.
 
   / Underwater viewing system. Which one to buy? #4  
I have never owned one. But my fishing buddy had one. We spent many hours using in on Lake Ontario. While it worked good. It was a pain to use because of cables and other apparatus required to hook it to a down rigger. Why not get a fish finder as a starting point.
Something like a Fishn Buddy would work good on your ponds and give her a idea of whats in the water where she is fishing.
A video camera needs reasonably clear water to view anything. I Fish Finder will read moving fish in dirty water.
 
   / Underwater viewing system. Which one to buy?
  • Thread Starter
#5  
bmac,

That's actually close to what I was planning on doing, but more along the lines of a mask and snorkle. It's too cold out now to enjoy it, but it's likely that I'll give it a try next year. Curiosity at what the fish are doing, if any of them are around the structure that I built and of course, how big are they?

Toro,

Thanks, maybe it will come to you when you are doing something else. That's sort of how it works for me. LOL

Ron,

This is more of a fun gift idea for Steph that I thought of while looking through the Cabela's catalog. We enjoy going out on the big pond in the canoe, or the paddle boat, and I thought this would make that even more fun. I'm sure the kids would get a thrill out of seeing what's down there too!!!! Fish finders are fun too, but to actually see video of the fish would just be so much better.

Water clarity on that pond gets pretty good if it hasn't rained in a few weeks. Of course, it can be really bad for awhile too. hahaha

Thanks,
Eddie
 
   / Underwater viewing system. Which one to buy? #6  
   / Underwater viewing system. Which one to buy? #7  
Does anybody own one?

I saw them in the Cabela's catalog Cabela's -- Search Simple Product and thought that it would make a great birthday gift for my wife. She's the one who's really into fishing, I'm more into the land.

On ebay, there are several brands, but I don't know if one is better then the other. Aqua-Vu, Nature Vision, Explorer and Cabela's. Any others that I should look at?

It sure would be fun to row around the pond and see what's going on down there.

Thanks,
Eddie
A friend of mine has an Aqua-Vu. It works well. But, as others have said, if the water is dirty or stained, you will see a nice clear picture of dirty stained water. :D Also, you have to get over the fish and drop it down on them. In shallow water, the larger fish tend to move away from the camera and the small ones come over to investigate.
 
   / Underwater viewing system. Which one to buy? #8  
buddy has an aqua view in the fish schack. Two TV set one on dish and one for the camera. It is fun to watch a fish swim up to your bait. I watched a very large northen swim up and just stare at the camera for about ten minutes. Then took a quick look at a nice minow and swam away.
 
   / Underwater viewing system. Which one to buy? #9  
Eddie, I've tried two from Bass Pro and while it seems like a good idea, it actually is not. I have 10 acres of pretty clear water and the view is all but impossible to discern. Like others have mentioned, if the water is stained, you see stained water. Most are directed by the fins on the fish-cam. When holding on the cable from above, you aren't sure which way the camera is swimming. I suppose you could mount it to a long pole, but then your dealing with greater drag the deeper you sink it, and as you go deeper, you also loose visability.

I was greatly disappointed and returned them to BassPro. Now I just "imagine", and, it's much cheaper. With the money saved, I but fishing gear and fish food.
 
   / Underwater viewing system. Which one to buy? #10  
My brother bought one a few years back ya it worked but wasn't all that easy to use like others said. Also the fish are not RIGHT sized on the screen, (small perch looked to be 8" or better but when I got a lure out front of the camera next to one they were only 4" or so...)

also looking at the screen was hard in daylight. I would suggest one from Harbor Freight as far as price it seemed to perform like his expensive one.

mark
 
 
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