Using a camera to down-view

Using a camera to down-view

By Steve Weisman

Yes, it’s true. During the winter, I am a sight fishing fanatic. To me, it’s part of the rush: to suddenly see a fish or several fish come toward the bait. Plus, sight fishing helps me to see exactly what my presentation is, so I can get the jiggle or drop just the way fish want it on that given day.

This also gives me confidence when I can’t “see” down myself and I use my Vexilar flasher. I at least have a good idea of what things are looking like down there. However, there are times that I get frustrated even using a flasher. How many times have you said this or heard your fishing partner say, “I don’t understand. I can see the fish come flying up on my flasher, and I can get them to follow me up and down, but I can’t get them to bite.”

Well, I do have another strategy, but my answer costs money, say $400 or so, but compared to electronics on a boat, it’s not so bad. I’m talking about an underwater camera. I’ve had several over the past 20 years, and they certainly have become more refined and are now just like using a mini-television to see what’s below the ice. The camera will work well as an alternative unless the water is really discolored. Then it’s best to stick with the flasher.

My current camera is the Vexilar Scout, and the more I use it, the more I appreciate what it does for me. Of course, there are other brands out there that anglers speak highly of. There are different ways to do this, but I like to down-view with the camera instead of viewing from the side. Down-viewing gives me the chance to see everything the way I would see them if I were able to view from above myself.

I can position the camera so that it gives me the entire water column down to the bottom. The one thing that needs to be addressed is the chance that a hooked fish can get wrapped up in the cord. There are times when (even though I can sight fish), I will use the camera instead. The big reason: it saves my back! At my age, bending over and looking down an ice hole for hours can cause some pretty good back aches!

I handle this in one of three ways. First, if the cord is only one to three feet down the hole, I will pull the camera up when I hook a fish. If I am fishing with a partner, I let him take care of the camera. Sometimes, I will drill a second hole about a foot away from the one I am using and put the camera down that hole. That helps some, but it still leaves some issues.

The third option is viewing from the side. I will drill a hole a few feet away (still keeping the monitor in the shack with me and line it up so that it captures my bait in the screen. The only trouble with this versus down-viewing is that you can’t see the entire water column, and if you are working the column, you will not have the bait on the screen during some of those movements.

An example
Recently I fished bluegills in an area where I could see down about five feet, but the depth was seven feet, and the fish were tight on the bottom to one foot off the bottom. Without the camera, I could see the tiny jig, but I could not see the fish. So, I went to the camera and what I saw was an incredible movie, and I was the only one watching.

The transformation was amazing when I could actually see to the bottom. The fish were there, but they were extremely neutral. They moved so slowly, often stopping and just sitting there staring. Sometimes, they would fin themselves a little closer, within an inch of the bait and just sit…staring. It would get to the point that it became a battle of who would break first. Could I keep my presentation going at the same speed and cadence? If I did, I would eventually get a bluegill to come a little closer and then suck in the bait. Often times after what seemed like minutes, I couldn’t keep the same cadence going any longer, and the fish moved away. They never spooked; they just slowly swam away. The fish had won that battle.

I also learned something else after a few missed bites. I found that I had to set the hook as the “suck-in” was happening. If I waited too long, the gill would spit out the bait and just slowly turn to one side or the other and swim away. Without seeing this happen, I would never have caught those fish, because I never felt a thing and my spring bobber never moved.

This is just one example of the many I could share during my sight fishing with a camera. Yes, as with all things, there is a learning curve. However, once you have a little experience under your belt, you will also have another way to tip the odds in your favor.