Underwater cameras for ice fishing

[gaardvark]

I have been looking at underwater cameras, primarily for ice fishing. This has led me to find both name-brand and off-brand cameras. Generally, I think there are some things you are better off paying full price for, and I have assumed a live action underwater camera is probably one of those things.

Any recommendations are certainly welcome, but most specifically I am wondering if anyone has tried one of the off brand cameras. One that keeps popping up is the EYOYO camera system. Has anyone used one of these? How did it perform compared to any aqua vu or marcum unit?

Also, I understand water quality is a major factor in the usefulness of such a camera. Since I mainly fish in the northern portion of the state, can anyone tell me whether a camera is able to provide clear visibility at Hyrum, Newton, or Mantua?

Any input or advice is welcome.

[JArner]

I have been on the same search, and I haven’t settled on one either. I can say that I had decent clarity dropping in a GoPro at Hyrum last season.

https://youtu.be/6WX2g7WVc5g

[a_bow_nut]

I started off with a Aqua-Vu when they first came out and really enjoyed it. After a break from ice fishing for a few years I picked up a cheap knock off that was advertised as a boat hull inspection tool for a low price just to find out that the viewer screen sucked, the cable to the camera developed a short and would flicker in and out when fishing in water deeper than 20', and it only came with a three amp hour battery. One other thing was that the angle of the camera was rather narrow and if you set it to where you could see your bait then you couldn't see much of what was going around you. If you set it up to see more area then you ran into the bait being hard to see either from water quality or bait size.

I just picked up a Marcum and took it out the other day and it performed well in water that you could only see about three feet in. Also be aware that most of the camera will only work down to 30-40'. After that you really start to lose the light to see much and most of the time if you turn the lights on the camera on the plankton will get thick enough that you can't see what's going on anyway.

[gaardvark]

I have been on the same search, and I haven’t settled on one either. I can say that I had decent clarity dropping in a GoPro at Hyrum last season.

https://youtu.be/6WX2g7WVc5g

That is great footage. I think I may have seen it last year, but thank you for sharing it again.

---

a few years I picked up a cheap knock off that was advertised as a boat hull inspection tool for a low price just to find out that the viewer screen sucked, the cable to the camera developed a short and would flicker in and out when fishing in water deeper than 20', and it only came with a three amp hour battery. One other thing was that the angle of the camera was rather narrow and if you set it to where you could see your bait then you couldn't see much of what was going around you. If you set it up to see more area then you ran into the bait being hard to see either from water quality or bait size.

Thanks for the response. How long ago did you make that purchase, and do you recall the brand or style of camera?

[ChalkCreekUT]

A couple years ago my brother and I both added cameras to our ice fishing equipment. He picked up a Vexilar and I got a Marcum. Both have worked very well in our adventures on northern Utah lakes. Water quality has an impact on how far you can see but no regrets on the purchase. For me the larger frustration is the glare from the sun. It is much easier to see details on the screen inside the tent regardless of brand.

[T-Boz]

I have been looking at underwater cameras, primarily for ice fishing. This has led me to find both name-brand and off-brand cameras. Generally, I think there are some things you are better off paying full price for, and I have assumed a live action underwater camera is probably one of those things.

Any recommendations are certainly welcome, but most specifically I am wondering if anyone has tried one of the off brand cameras. One that keeps popping up is the EYOYO camera system. Has anyone used one of these? How did it perform compared to any aqua vu or marcum unit?

Also, I understand water quality is a major factor in the usefulness of such a camera. Since I mainly fish in the northern portion of the state, can anyone tell me whether a camera is able to provide clear visibility at Hyrum, Newton, or Mantua?

Any input or advice is welcome.

Today was my first day out with the aqua vu 715c. Price point for this camera is $300. It has 75’ of cable which is one reason I decided to go with it. The plankton in the water made viewing difficult at times and someone mentioned the view is not very good in the sun so It was best seen in my tent! I fished in 30’ of water and used the camera with and without the Infrared light. The plankton is much more apparent when the infrared light is on. I only saw one fish today on my camera but it was a very impressive trout! I can’t wait for the day I drop into a whole school!! Also I had about 5 hours on the camera and I was down to the last bar of battery. I am satisfied with mine as it’s the only one I’ve known but I’d like to see the marcum one day to compare image quality in similar conditions

[Bow-Dude]

I have the Vexilar Fish Phone. Takes great pictures or videos and others can see the images on the cell phone up to 200 feet away. As was previously mentioned, water clarity is vital. I dropped my GO-PRO tied to a line down a hole to get some pictures. This camera was as clear as the GO-PRO. This particular system isn't real popular, but should be. I highly recommend it. Check it out.

[SkunkedAgain]

Sean, I have the Marcum Recon 5, it's probably the cheapest model and from what I'm hearing they have much better ones to offer, but I'm not filming a movie, i want to see what is happening around my hook... Water clarity is a huge factor, but I can see fine in the range that you need to see at Hyrum, Newton and Porcupine... Provided it's in less than 30' as mentioned you lose light fast as you get deeper and all that has been said about plankton and lights I agree with... Cutler, however you can't see much, it's like fishing in the fog, you can only see a foot at best, so stuff shows up before you can react to it... The Recon 5 also has a smaller viewing angle than I'd like, but it has sort of a fisheye effect so you can maybe see 90 degrees... I haven't seen any cameras that show you more, but I wish they would figure out how to give you a larger viewing angle... To me, you need to see a wide angle, but not very far, because water clarity will never let you see more than 10 feet at best... Hyrum or Newton perch fishing is a blast with the camera, you can see them come in herds and I actually was able to pull the hook away from the smaller fish and target the larger fish... I highly recommend the camera for those two ponds, however, I don't always use it due to set up time... Anyway you are welcome to come check mine out and see what you think... I'd sure prefer to see one in use before I buy them... Then you know what to expect... Let me know when you're going to be somewhere and maybe I can join you... I might be heading to Hyrum on New Years day.... That would be a good spot to see what it can do... Just not sure if it will be thick enough to take all the gear yet... I may still be in bucket mode... Let me know...Later Jeff

[gaardvark]

Thanks Jeff, I would like to check it out. I expect I'll be trying to get to Hyrum again tomorrow, the ice there was 4 inches today.

[SkunkedAgain]

Be there tomorrow morning. Going to hit the big mudflat off swim beach out couple hundred yards. Drop by if you want. Later Jeff

[dubob]

Be there tomorrow morning. Going to hit the big mudflat off swim beach out couple hundred yards. Drop by if you want. Later Jeff

And you were going to tell me Hyrum is ready when Jeff?  

[gaardvark]

[quote pid='1109942' dateline='1609510865']
And you were going to tell me Hyrum is ready when Jeff?  
[/quote]
I'm not Jeff, but Hyrum has ice. It was about 4 inches Tuesday, today about 5. I know that's still too thin for a lot of people. My smallest perch so far was 8 inches. Not fast action, but good quality.

[dubob]

And you were going to tell me Hyrum is ready when Jeff?  

I'm not Jeff, but Hyrum has ice. It was about 4 inches Tuesday, today about 5. I know that's still too thin for a lot of people. My smallest perch so far was 8 inches. Not fast action, but good quality.

I'll be there next week.

[SkunkedAgain]

And you were going to tell me Hyrum is ready when Jeff?  

I'm not Jeff, but Hyrum has ice. It was about 4 inches Tuesday, today about 5. I know that's still too thin for a lot of people. My smallest perch so far was 8 inches. Not fast action, but good quality.

I'll be there next week.

Hey Bob, can’t make it in the morning, but may try an afternoon trip tomorrow. Didn’t get my work done today. Hopefully tomorrow morning I’ll get it finished. Later Jeff 
PS can’t remember what post I originally replied to you on.

[RonPaulFan]

Fish finders were like abstract art to me, so I bought my MarCum LX-9 because it had a camera that displayed the picture with the data and blobs of colors at the same time. That way, when I'm ice fishing and see color blobs that I don't know what they are, I'll lower the camera down and look at a real picture. One time I saw, well it's hard to describe and I didn't know what it was, so I lowered my camera down and saw it was a tree underwater with fish swimming in and out of it. Other times, it helps me understand bottom features. It takes the guessing out of it. I've been trolling with my friends and many times I've wanted to stop to lower my camera down, but the ship captain kept trolling. After a while, I got to where I can identify half of what I see on the fish finder without the camera, but I'm glad I have that feature. Both the display and camera are high resolution and I like that it holds huge amounts of recorded video. Sometimes the fish when ice fishing are hard to feel when they take the lure into their mouth making it hard to know to set the hook. My solution is to actually watch them take the lure into their mouth on high resolution video. Here is a search link on my posts on the MarCum LX-9
https://bigfishtackle.com/forum/search.p...order=desc