Gear Review: Aqua-Vu Strike-Vu Underwater Camera
My new favourite thing to do when returning from a day of fishing, is to head straight for my computer, connect the Aqua-Vu Strike-Vu, and see if we caught any fish on it.
This year we added the Aqua-Vu Strike-Vu to our lake trout and salmon fishing setup, and in a short time, it’s given us so many insights into what is happening down below when we’re out trolling on Georgian Bay. The first time we used it, on the very first clip, we saw a lake trout come in to look at the spoon, then decide against our offering and swim away.
This underwater camera is an inline camera. You hook the line from your rod to one end of the camera, and then attach a leader with your lure to the other end. It’s easy to hook up and easy to use. The Strike-Vu turns on when water touches the sensor. To turn it off, you dry off the sensor and point it at the sky for the count of three, or until the blue light flashes and goes out.
To be honest, I was a little afraid to use it the first time we had it out. The instructions call for much heavier line than we use for trolling, so I kept thinking the line would break and we’d lose the camera. After many uses and a few fish, that hasn’t happened.
I also worried the camera would scare the fish away. I don’t think that happens. In fact, based on previous experience with other underwater cameras, I’m pretty sure a pike would try to eat the Strike-Vu. We haven’t had the chance to test that theory yet.
As it stands, we’ve watched a lot of fish come in on camera and they seemingly ignore it. Some follow behind the lure for upwards of a minute before they decide to leave. Others swim around the lure, checking it out, swimming away, coming back. None seem to be focused on the camera.
What I love about running the Aqua-Vu Strike-Vu, is that it gives us a look into a world we’d never see otherwise. When downrigging we’re routinely fishing our lures 40 feet, 60 feet, 90 feet deep, or even deeper. We can watch what’s happening on the fish finder, but we can’t see how the lure is moving, what the bottom looks like if we’re that deep, or if there’s actually fish coming in for a look.
We’ve come home from days where we caught one or two fish and thought we just weren’t finding them, only to watch the video and see we brought plenty of fish in, they just didn’t bite.
It gives us more data to work with and we can then change up the way we’re fishing to hopefully do a better job of catching. Though I have to admit, I’m pretty happy just to watch the fish. It’s my favourite kind of TV.
So far we’ve only used it for trolling while fishing on the big water. At some point we’ll make sure to use it when out fishing for bass or pike, or anything else.
The Aqua-Vu Strike-Vu is a little bigger than an Insta360, or about twice as long as a GoPro. I highly recommend visiting the Aqua-Vu website to watch the video on how to operate it, even though I now feel like it’s very plug-and-play.
Video clips are each 3 minutes long and I have had issues with the odd file being corrupted. The battery has easily lasted us at least 4 hours and probably longer. With a 32GB hard drive, you easily store all the videos from a day of fishing, but I recommend clearing them off before the next trip. It doesn’t take long to fill 32GB.
The Strike-Vu is usually priced around $130-$140 CAD (at the time of this writing), but I’ve seen it on sale for as low as $80 CAD. I think it’s well-worth the price for the kind of footage we’ve seen.
We had a lot of fun using this camera while fishing the Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular, and I now want to buy a second one so we can see what’s happening on each line. If you’re looking for something fun and informative to add to your fishing setup, this camera may be just the ticket.
argosgirl
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