Using a drop camera to explore fishing sites

[Volitan]

Whenever I go fishing I'm plagued by questions about the environment underneath - like what type of bottom is it, what fish are down there, what food sources are available, why am I loosing baits but catching no fish, are there even any fish there at all - all those sort of things.

Recently I built a drop camera to answer these questions. Its just a simple construction of mesh-reo with a 2kg weight, a float, two el cheapo Gopro clones, and an onion bag with some bait in it.
I set this in all the places I fish and each drop gives me about 40mins of video. 

The knowledge these videos reveal is amazing. 

The videos are huge files so after watching on the pc I have just deleted most of them, but lately I've been posting a few snippets on Youtube. This is an example

 

 

You can go to my channel for a few more. Just search for thebackwardpointinggodwit - my username.

Please be aware its not my attention to offer videos that are aesthetic or interesting - the purpose is to map the underwater world where I fish. If that place has no fish - then so be it. And its not my intention to become a public Youtube channel - its just a resource for me.

In fact, I think the most important videos are the ones which show 40mins of absolutely nothing (because they tell me where not to waste my time fishing).

Because I don't have a boat I've mainly been limited to public jetties. Lately I've been borrowing a canoe and this gives me a bit more reach but I'm still limited to shallow areas - the ergonomics of using a drop camera from a sit-on-top make it difficult to work deep water.

Things underwater are slowing down now for winter, but I will be targeting the Rip Bridge area, Putty Beach, Patonga and Pearl Beach in the next few weeks. I will put up snippets although they will mainly show the bottom and environment as fish are becoming scarce in shallow.

FYI; I keep a records of fish species seen - so far up to 60 species in Brisbane Water.

cheers
 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Volitan

[Welster]

That's pretty cool I'm sure we all wonder what's going on below.   If your down towards the south side if Sydney and want to see what's under my boat let me know. 

[zmk1962]

Love the innovation and insight? 

What water depth (pressure) have you explored and what do you think is the max the gear will withstand?

There are a few similar videos of Browns (400-500m) deep but it would be interesting to create a FR one !! 

Cheers Zoran

 

[Berleyguts]

I agree... that’s pretty cool! Are you able to live stream it while you’re fishing? I would love to have one sitting under my boat up at Broughton Island (or elsewhere)... it would be nice to confirm what I’m looking at on the sounder and help me to read it better in future! Might even be able to spot “Whiskers”, eh @Scratchie? 😂 It would be interesting to figure out a way to use it while drifting. 🤔

[kingie chaser]

At lest you know where to put your crab traps from the look of that pretty beach footage.

When I try a new spot I do as much research as possible & often get taken to various sites showing footage of whatever I can find for reference.

 

Whats the cost/functionality(max depth etc) of the gear your using?

[mrsswordfisherman]

What a clever thing to do @Volitan

I am sure we would all love to see more of your video observations. Your diarising of the species is also fascinating. Fishraiders are so innovative!!
 

Did you see the link at the top of the landing page of fishraider? These guys are using a camera to observe on video on a hookup. It is called Siren Cameras and the camera records the hookup/fight and back up the line to the angler. Another use for getting a camera under the water. 
 

Keep us up to date with your fascinating footage

[Rebel]

Great videos. Keep them coming.

[kingie chaser]

2 hours ago, Berleyguts said:

I agree... that’s pretty cool! Are you able to live stream it while you’re fishing? I would love to have one sitting under my boat up at Broughton Island (or elsewhere)... it would be nice to confirm what I’m looking at on the sounder and help me to read it better in future! Might even be able to spot “Whiskers”, eh @Scratchie? 😂 It would be interesting to figure out a way to use it while drifting. 🤔

You absolutely could, it just comes down to how much money you have to spend!

You only have to look at what is used in scientific research & oceanography.

 

But then when your talking about camera gear in figures they are worth way more than the boats your driving!!

 

While these vids are great to watch I dont see a viable "instant" viewing platform thats affordable for a fishing application.

 

In saying that, nothing is impossible, it just depends on how deep your pockets are!

[Volitan]

For real time viewing, you would need a GoPro or a clone with wifi, and a phone with app to view it on.

wifi doesn’t work underwater - or rather it only carries for a few inches, so you have to use a cable. There are commercial heavy duties ones available, cheaper commercial ones for recreational use, or you can DIY a solution. Plenty of people are doing it with just $20 worth of cable, and nothing else - like in this video

I think the main limitation would be depth - on which I can’t comment, although plenty of people report 20 metres.

I haven’t tried this because I’m not really interested in live viewing as I mostly drop the camera somewhere, then come back to it 40 minutes later.
 

as there seems to be some interest, I’ll do a post tomorrow showing how the camera rig is made. 

 

 

[Rod84]

Very cool

Edited July 5, 2020 by Rod84

[masterfisho7]

Love it so cool to see the look 

[Volitan]

So here is a quick explanation and photo of the drop camera rig I use.

Here is the rig.

Components from left to right are:

A handcaster with 50mtrs of 100 lb mono. There is a bolt and wingnut fitted under which I can quickly pinch off the line. I can clip on a float when needed.
A sled made of reo mesh. Its just one piece of reo mesh cut and bent.
A very cheap GoPro clone.
A 2kg diving weight (probably overkill).
An onion bag, which I fill up with bait.

Its all held together with cable ties.

All up it cost about $60 including camera and housing and took about 40 mins to make. There is a fair bit of trial and error that went into this design however so its probably worth copying. I can drop this at any angle and it lands upright, can be dragged without overturning and retrieves with minimal resistence.

The camera is from KMart and cost $39 including fittings and housing. Its rated to 30 metres and I've had it at a measured 27 meters with no leaks. Its 1080, 30fps, 450mah battery, 2inch LCD - pretty ordinary specs but its all the same in my local murky estuary water. I have two and they have both performed faultlessly although you know KMart and their no-hassles refund policy.

I prefer a low cost camera because I leave it unattended and know that sooner or later I wont get it back. However if you wanted better vision there are two upgarde levels. For about $120 you can get similar camera but in 4K and wifi. The next step is GoPro or Osmo at around $500.

This one is probably worth looking at if you are satisfied with 30 metres depth:

https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/kogan-4k-action-camera-bndl-sd-card/

Housings. These cameras usually come with a housing rated at 30metres. Look a bit harder and some clones have housings rated at 40, 45 and 60 metres. Most of the basic GoPro housings are rated at 60metres. With a 45 metre depth housing you have everything in Brisbane Water, Hawkesbury and Botany Bay covered, although I understand that you guys who fish out wide wont find that much use.

Batteries. A 450mah battery gives you about 50mins recording, which fills a 16gb card. The batteries are generic so you can upgrade to 900 or 1050mah and a 32gb card.

Lights. LED technology has made underwater lighting very inexpensive. I have a $20 one on order.

cheers

[M1100S]

found an old cheap go pro ripoff at home and threw over the boat yesterday to see if it would work. was worried about it flooding and dying but it worked all ok.

This was a yakka at the artificial reef in yarra bay.

and your Rig looks awesome, time to find me some old mesh and make one up.

 

 

 

[Fox Bite]

These are very impressive videos, Volitan, and the idea is cool overall.

I actually got an answer to a question that bothered me for a while about how and why my pilchards lose eyes, and was surprised to see a butterfly fish in Wagstaffe.

Anyway, great work and I am looking forward to seeing more of your videos.

[seasponge]

awesome post and awesome videos. I love the crab fight! You woulda thought the young male woulda given up his pilchard for a female choc full of eggs. Like catching public transport in Sydney!

[JAKSShark]

On 7/5/2020 at 2:35 PM, Berleyguts said:

I agree... that’s pretty cool! Are you able to live stream it while you’re fishing? I would love to have one sitting under my boat up at Broughton Island (or elsewhere)... it would be nice to confirm what I’m looking at on the sounder and help me to read it better in future! Might even be able to spot “Whiskers”, eh @Scratchie? 😂 It would be interesting to figure out a way to use it while drifting. 🤔

About that, plenty of people use a gopro when cubing off the back of their boat to see what fish are in the trail, basically all gopros have livestreaming capabilites through your phone....so that would be pretty cool to do

[dirvin21]

awesome videos mate, watched all of them