under water camera question

[needham]

I have a under water camera with the multi colored lights built in and it. And seems that if I turn on the lights the fish leave. has anyone else experienced the same thing ? or do you have any suggestions to what I may be doing wrong.
Fish on!

[duckiller2]

I have used my friends fish cam before and never caught any I mean 0000000 when that thing was down the hole I just quit using it because I would rather catch fish than see them on the cam. Sorry!!!!!!!

[veese_2001]

I purchased a camera about 3 years ago, I've also have never caught a fish with the thing down there. As soon as I would pull it up we would start catching fish. A buddy of mine got one for christmas this year, so we tried it out yesterday, same results. I now just use the rechargable battery for my fishfinder, so it wasn't a total waste.

[jigrapper]

Bought a camera last spring. Can't wait to use it. WHY? After fishing with a friend over the last 4 winters, I have personally witnessed the advantage he had...especially fishing for whitefish off of Gladstone. The whitefish are tricky to catch at times and seeing them pick up the bait has proved a BIG help. He also has used it in a lake we target for perch, can't say it helped "catch" any perch, but it was usefull in seeing what was around, how active they were and structure. I was totally convinced and watched many times. It has proved helpfull for perch off of Kipling as well out in the 35' waters. He has even had some huge pike come in and lay on the bottom and look at his camera (Bluegill). So far... none have tried to take off with it!! Overall, it just makes for a neat experience. I wouldn't give up on it. One tip....... don't put it too close to your bait. He keeps it about 4-6 feet away, off to the side and sits it on the bottom.
NOTE:I have used a vexlar with success and still will continure to use it when fishing for walleye!!

[chrisgofish]

I've used a guide series camera for several years now, and have caught more walleye with it than without. I don't have the lights that you mentioned (which makes it difficult to see at dark), but i am sceptical of the ones that have bright lights, though never used them.
I think it an extremely good learning tool, to see how fish react to different lures, jigging techniques, and you can see those 'light' bites that are difficult to feel, and it keeps me very entertained, as well as very frustrated from the lookers.
I find it very hard to ice fish now without one.

[pure_joker]

I have the one with the infrared light. I don't use it much but when I do, it's usually for pike or pannies. I LOVE it for spearing. I transfer the weight so that the camera is facing downward at such an angle that i can use it from a much higher location and also I try to keep it 6'+ away in a different hole. The infrared works great during the day but isn't worth a sh*t one it starts to get dark.

[slammer]

Hey,
Anyone buy one of the underwater cams from Menards when they were on sale. Brand name was Fish Cam I believe. Mine worked great in the pool , then tried it in 34 ft. of water in the upper bay and couldn't see $#!T. Haven't tried it in shallower water. In a completely dark basement I could see all the way across the room. Any Comments or suggestions!!
Slammer!!!!!

[needham]

I have had mine for several years, I have used it in the summer and winter. In the winter I wrapped some plastic leafs from a missile toe up the cord to make it look like a weed. I too drill a separate hole for the camera and it is vary entertaining. but if your deep or after dusk put it away its worthless. Its like a video game. I remove my bait away from the little fish and watch the reaction on others when I experiment my presentation.

[The Bait Shop Guy]

Water clarity, cloud cover, and the amount of snow on the ice are all huge factors when it comes to what you can see with a camera. Water in the upper bay is normally stained with all the river run-off, which limits the distance you can see. Snow and cloud cover limits the amount of light penetration in the water, making it even harder to see.

The UV lights work great on the surface, but UV energy is absorbed quickly in water. Honestly, I don't even know why they add them to the cameras. They're just a useless drain of battery power.

I've been using these things for years and can honestly say I've never seen an instance where the camera spooked a fish while it was sitting still. As long a it's just sitting there, it's no different to the fish than a rock or weed. They don't look at it and say to them selves "Hey, that's a man-made object over there! I better not eat anything around here!" With all the current in the bay, if your rig isn't anchored to the bottom somehow, it's going to be moving all over the place and possibly spooking fish. I've rigged up wire "feet" that attach to the base of my camera to hold it in place, on the bottom.

If there are any perch in the area, the curious little buggers usually come running to check it out. Pike, too! When I'm after whitefish, I drop my bait pile right in front of the camera. The whitefish typically bump into it several times while feeding.

I've only ever seen walleyes bite "on screen" a couple times over the years. I figure that is due more to the fact that the prime walleye feeding times, (sunrise, sunset,) are too dark to see anything, and I don't have the camera in the water then.

Cameras can be a lot of fun, and add a whole new dimension to icefishing. It's just a matter of using them at the right time and place.

[needham]

Has anyone experminted with extra lights in addition to the camera down deep. or even a colored light with any success.

[crazyeyes]

The LED on my camera (Cabela's pannning camera) accentuates the particles in the water, so it looks like it's snowing and you can't see much of anything when you turn it on. This is in the "visibly" clear waters south of gladstone.

[needham]

I too have experienced the same. I also noticed that if i have pan fish around and I turn on the lights they leave. have you had the same experience ? or any one else ?