MrSimon

I recently bought a Vexilar FP100 Fishphone underwater camera ... mostly just to fiddle around with and use as a toy.

I tested it out on the St. Lawrence last weekend.

It was easy to use and connected to my iPhone easily. You just drop the camera down and fire up the free app on your phone. You can see everything right there on your phone and snap still pictures or capture video footage by just touching a button on your phone. It stores the content on your phone.

The picture resolution seems to be 240p, which is a lot lower than we are all used to seeing in this HD world we live in .... but it's certainly more than adequate to see what's down there.

I was in a fairly fast current so I'd imagine the quality would be sharper if I were in still water and the camera wasn't moving so fast.

It's not very easy to direct the camera just by spinning the cord ... I will most definitely be mounting it to a long pole. That will allow me to actually follow fish as they are brought in or released.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the camera ... and it cost a LOT less than other options like Aqua Vu and MarCum.

A 1/3 oz little cleo is one of my absolute favorite lures.

I have one in orange and silver that has caught me so many fish that I retired it. It's hanging above my fishing desk in the basement. I'm proud to say that it has the dancing girl on the back. I'm convinced the original models catch more fish .... mostly male fish though.

If it's going to be hooked up with your trolling motor, then I recommend the HB as I think the Minn Kota stuff is better than Motor Guide.

But if you're only interested in the sonar/GPS unit, then it's totally a preference thing. Both are excellent units.

Sorry, not footage from the gopro.

But I should have the Vexilar up and running in a few days and will be sure to get tons of video from that.

The picture quality was actually pretty good. The GoPro is a great little camera and takes excellent underwater footage.

Mr Simon did you use normal coaxial cable? I have 100's of feet of cable but they seem to use the RG174u stuff?

10 - 15' depths are what I hope for but concerned about visibility and the need of a high power light.

 

Never heard of the loop function - thx - will look into that, probably good as a dashcam util also.

I'm not sure what I used. I just grabbed a random roll from the basement. I can check tonight. You have cut back some of the shielding from both ends. I found that the amount of un-shielded wire I left sticking out made a difference in signal strength ... it needs to be calibrated to the wifi signal's wavelength or something. I just fiddled around with it until it worked ok.

I attached the camera to a 10' pole and ran the cable up the pole. It seemed to work fine, but it was such a hassle in the boat that I gave up.

I just ordered a Vexilar FishPhone camera .... I'm hoping it will be a lot easier to use.

One more thing .... the "loop" feature is awesome!!!!!! Especially when recording a day of fishing.

Basically, the camera records 5 minutes of video (or longer intervals if you want) and at the end of the five minutes, it starts over-writing the beginning of the recording. If something exciting happens in the boat, you hit the button and it locks in the last five minutes only.

It allows you to let the camera run for a long time without filling up the memory card.

When on the boat, I mount the camera, set it to loop and let it go. When someone catches a fish I hit the button to lock in the last five minutes, hit the button again to set it rolling and keep going. At the end of the day I don't have to sort through hours of footage looking for fish. It's a great way to capture and entire fish battle from hookset to release. No more of the "oh, I've got one, turn on the camera" stuff.

I have one and use it a ton for fishing. I love it!!!!

Regarding settings .... its best to watch a bunch of YouTube videos on that - there is a TON of good info out there.

The wifi signal does not transmit underwater, but you can use a coax cable to transfer the signal up through the water and then use your smartphone as a viewfinder. I've done it and it works. It's cumbersome though. There are a couple videos on YouTube on how to do it.

The BEST accessory I bought was a battery eliminator cable. Combined with an auxiliary battery pack you get almost unlimited run time without heat build-up. I don't have to worry about carrying multiple batteries, keeping them charged, or running out of juice at a crucial point. I even installed a USB power jack in the front of my boat just to power my GoPro.

http://www.amazon.com/Switronix-DVGP3USB-Battery-Eliminator-10-Feet/dp/B00JXNX6BU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429794273&sr=8-1&keywords=gopro+battery+eliminator

Don't waste your time with those spare tire mounts.

They are cheap crap.

Go and pick one of these up. They are much, much better!!!

 

http://www.basspro.com/Side-Mount-Tire-Carrier/product/104366/

X2

Everyone is different, but for me, I use the remote exclusively and NEVER use the foot pedal.

However, I do keep the foot pedal in the boat in case the remote breaks or something. I installed a USB charging port in my boat so I can keep the remote charged up at all times.

I fish a lot of local lakes that are electric motors only .... so that darn remote is the single most important thing in my entire boat.

I find with braid on a baitcaster ... the heavier (larger diameter) the better. 50 to 80 pound braid might sound excessive, but it works great for me.

Howdy. My cottage is only 6 miles from you .... of course there is this little thing between us called a National Border (and a giant river).

I fish the river out front of Brockville quite a bit. I'm sure there are better stretches to fish, but I do fine. I love the big shoals that are out there as well as the deep water humps.

I usually come up once or twice a year to fish for a few days by myself. I'll give you a shout next time I'm up there.

After years and years of fixing up old leaky aluminum boats, I've learned three things I wish I knew 25 years ago.

1. Leaky rivets can easily be removed and replaced with blind end pop rivets (dipped in a bit of 3M 5200). It's fast and effective. It's WAY better than banging on old rivets with a hammer or spreading goop all over them.
2. Cracks in the hull or transom are best fixed by taking it to a welding shop. Trying to use brazing rods or some type of sealant will just make a mess and cause problems later.
3. I never put any type of sealant, paint, or water-proofing material on the inside or outside of the hull. It always ends up being a messy and temporary fix.

The remote for the Motorguide does not have a view screen on it (unless they've changed it recently). It might not sound like much, but the view screen on the Minn Kota remote is incredibly nice to have. It's so convenient that I will never switch to something without a screen .... no matter the cost.

PS My Humminbird/Terrova combo has been working great for three years now .... absolutely zero issues.

I always dreamed of owning/operating a camp too .... but with a wife and three kids it's not something I would actually do.

But, I did buy a 3 bedroom cottage on Black Lake (five minutes across the St. Lawrence from Brockville) that I can use for vacations with the family.

I got the idea to rent it out and maybe make some income back. I listed it on VRBO and wouldn't you know people rented it. Last year it almost broke even and this year it's rented enough to actually turn a profit.

My point is that sometimes you can realize your dream .... even if it's only a small piece of it.

PS - Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have bought a larger property with the ability to expand by building one or two more cottages right next to each other.

I have a Humminbird combo unit and love it. Less wiring, less clutter, less cost (maybe), and some extra functionality like the iPilot link stuff where the GPS enabled sonar unit can basically drive my boat for me.

I'm not concerned about it breaking. I've never had a fish finder break while I was out fishing, and if it did it would only be a small inconvenience for a few days.

I'm also not concerned about the GPS breaking .... I don't fish anywhere where I truly NEED GPS anyway. It's just a 'nice to have'.

Trans coolers are rarely a bad idea and usually increase the life of a trans even if you don't tow.

However, unless you are going to be towing those 1,500 pounds up and over some really big hills, you probably don't need one.

Does your car have a trans temperature gauge? Those are REALLY useful if you tow a lot.

For the price of a new jon boat, you can most likely get a used package that includes a trailer and a small motor.

Like others have said ..... get a trailer!

If you have money you go to private hospitals and wait for nothing. If not, the waiting lists in Ontario are nothing compared to a county hospital in many a US city.

I'm not sure you understand how things down here work as well as you think you do.

We were looking for top quality products at bargain basement prices and that just did not happen here.

That doesn't happen anywhere. And trust me, the U.S. stores are full of over-priced products of medium quality at best.

Where I live in Pennsylvania there are three Target's within a 30 minute drive. All of them are huge, well stocked, well staffed, beautiful stores. And I hate them! The stores are jammed packed full of over-priced useless merchandise all made in Asia.

Where I live they do well because all the rich soccer moms and skinny-jeans wearing men would rather shop there instead of buying the exact same thing at Wal-Mart for less money.

I'm proud of Canada for being better than that ..... shame about the jobs though.

If you chop someones head off in public, you shouldn't be given a second chance at anything.

x2

I have a lucky lure that has caught me more fish over the years than everything else combined. It's 'retired' now ... I couldn't stand losing it.

But it is always in my tackle bag ... in a jewelry box like a wedding ring would come in.

I feel naked if the boat if that lure isn't with me.

I have a feeling that one day the fishing will be so horrible that I'm driven to tie it on ..... and it will catch the biggest fish of my life.

I've done this!

First, I tested the wifi in a bathtub and even a few inches of water wrecks the signal.

So I took a piece of shielded COAX cable (about 15'), peeled about three inches of the outside cover and shielding back on both ends (exposing the shielded inner wire), taped one end to the GoPro, and taped the other end to my iPhone.

It worked!!! It was a bit finicky about the placement of where you tapped the wire on both the camera and the phone, but after a bit of tweaking, it worked great.

I know this is a little goofy .... but I'd love to have a high-end fishing pontoon with a layout that I design.