11-24-2010, 08:02 AM
I have the Cabela's model with infrared as well. A few years old now, still holding up excellent. Cams have some benefits. Good for checking some lure action under the ice, as well as gauging fish behavior (are they really active and biting aggressively, etc). Once I thought I was in a school of chubs based on the sonar, so dropped the cam down and was surprised to see it was lots of tiny planter bows being nippy.
They are more for fun than anything, as they really don't do much to improve your catch rates. They can also be an unnecessary distraction and cost you missed opportunities to actually catch fish. If anything, having something down there scares some fish away. Also, if you get a feisty fish it will just wrap your line around your camera wire and you risk losing the fish. So, I use it very rarely.... only if I'm bored and have already caught the fish I want, or in the rare event I need to see something sonar isn't telling me.
Now using sonar under the ice. That is EXTREMELY useful.
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They are more for fun than anything, as they really don't do much to improve your catch rates. They can also be an unnecessary distraction and cost you missed opportunities to actually catch fish. If anything, having something down there scares some fish away. Also, if you get a feisty fish it will just wrap your line around your camera wire and you risk losing the fish. So, I use it very rarely.... only if I'm bored and have already caught the fish I want, or in the rare event I need to see something sonar isn't telling me.
Now using sonar under the ice. That is EXTREMELY useful.
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