Under water cameras

[B Diddy]

Hey gang....Any thoughts on those aqua veiws gismos. Good, bad, cheating I saw 2 at CT yesterday for $309 each. Different manufacturers - one aqua veiw I beleive....the other I can't recall. Wondering if that's a good price, are they useful, what's a good make?

 

Bill

[danbo]

http://www.naturevisioninc.com/aquavu/

[mcallister.grant]

Hey Bill,

 

PLEASE.... Buy a Vexilar or Marcum Flasher instead!!! They are much more rewarding... Of course this is my opinion.

[danbo]

http://www.naturevisioninc.com/aquavu/aquavideo2/index.html

[Big Cliff]

I have the Aqua-View Scout. It is a good unit but it really depends what you want to use it for. If you walk out to where you are going to be fishing, it's quite a bit of extra weight to haul around. I don't walk too far anymore, I prefer to wait until I can take my quad out so for me, it isn't too bad. I do find it hard sometimes to see the screen on a bright day even with the shield in place but by setting it up on the quad it makes it a bit easier.

 

Like a flasher or fish finder they aren't necessary but sure can be useful in learning what the fish are doing, I had mine set up in the boat one evening last summer and was able to watch a school of walleye come into view and move off again. (Ok, Ok, a couple stayed in my livewell LOL)

 

I have often wondered why the bite would last about 1/2 an hour and thought it might be because they were moving through but which way or were they just getting spooked? Now I have a much better understanding of their pattern. Infact, I was able to figure out that they moved about 200 yards in about an hour which really surprised me. I hadn't realized that they covered as much area and always thought they were more teritorial.

 

They are also very useful for testing new baits, you can watch the fish's reaction to baits and presentations. You'd be amazed at how many times a perch can suck your bait into it's mouth and spit it back out and you won't even know you have had a bite. Crappie are even better at it!

 

Cheating????? Some might consider it is, I don't think it is, to me it's just another tool to help me learn to be a better fisherman.

 

Before you invest in one though, try to get out with someone that has one and see for yourself. several of the guys on here have them.

[Terry]

if you don't have some type of fishfinder..buy a fishfinder

 

 

but, I have a aquavu scout srt 100ft of cable and I have a blast with it

in real dark water up north it can be hard to see with it

but in simcoe it works great

 

I catch a lot more perch and almost never have the fish remove my bait without me catching it

 

it can be like cheating, I see the fish take the bait way before it telegraphs the information up the line to the rod , so I just set the hook and bring in the fish..you get to see just how many fish are in the area, how much weed and you see rocks and logs cement blocks and everything else down there...

hey it makes it too easy..so don't buy one save the fish for me

[Fisherman]

Vex or Marcum, hokum pokum, ya still don't know what's down there, could be a couple of crayfish doing a Mikael Jackson moonwalk. At least with a camera you know what you're getting. If you do want to try a flasher, Nature vision also has them at about 1/2 the price of the other two.

[B Diddy]

thanks for the info....I'm going to check them out tonight at Bass Pro

[duber]

I have both Vex and Aqu-view.If I only had room to take one or the other with me it would be the Vex every time.A camera is cumbersome to use , doesn't work well in dark water or at "prime time" , eats the battery up in only 3 hours of use and is usless for finding suspended fish.That all being said I won't be selling mine anytime soon.In the right conditions they are a valuable tool to have.You need to be in a hut or fishing on a nice day were it's not a big deal to play with it and get it were you want it and your battery will last longer if it is warm.If I was buying one now I would spend the extra and get the quad 360 so you have a 360 deg view and your bait is always on a screen somewere.A camera is a nice thing to have but a flasher is a must.

 

 

Wes

[B Diddy]

What's the deal with the flashers......how do they work? Not the man in trench coat version either...lol

[Fisherman]

My descriptive version: They are nothing more than a faster version of a regular fishfinder, with the "screen" wrapped up in a circle, 0' at the top and deeper increments as you go around the circle, til you're back at the top, then you go to the next deeper scale. I honestly think they are overpriced. I purchased the Aqua Vu version for half the amount, it's format is in the regular rectangular display, multiple depth and variable zoom settings. There is no perceptable "lag" time between you twitching the bait and what shows on the screen.

[lookinforwalleye]

BPS has the Fish TV brand on sale for 99 bucks I don`y how good they are though.

[JorgeCarlos]

I have the Fish TV and works great, i only used in Simcoe so far.

[B Diddy]

can't beat $99 for the amount I'll use it. Does it have it's own rechargable batteries?

[duber]

If you go to the Vexlar website you will see what they are and how they work.I think they even have a simulator on there.Some people would argue with me but my opinion is nothing beats a real flasher for ice fishing.I used the lcd units on ice and then a guy introduced me to the Vex and I had no problem shelling out the 400 bucks for a Vex. There is no false readings or inerference,what you see is what you get,it is real time,the display is the same brightness no mater what the temp is,the battery lasts for 4 solid days of fishing it is a nice compact and handy unit.That is just my 2cents.

 

Wes

[JorgeCarlos]

The Fish Tv takes 12 c batteries,but has a 12 volt auxiliary power cable,

i use a battery from the seadoo, 12 volt battery

[jjcanoe]

gonna drive to BPS after work Friday from London to pick one up. The rechargable gel cell batteries will work for them, hopefully Princess auto has a few kicking around. (hopefully BPS has the cameras still when I get there, I guess I should call!

 

jjcanoe

[duber]

Canadian Tire have them for 99.99 as well.