Pocket Sized Ice Fishing Electronics - Hard Water and Beyond!

AquaVu Micro AV - THIS IS AWESOME!

We were pretty excited when we cracked open the box on this little technological wonder! Here in our hads is an underwater camera with 50' of 22lb. test cord and an itty-bitty camera on the end. The camera is sized like an iPhone and has a full color, LCD screen. It took 8 hours to charge up the lithium ion battery which is supposed to offer a 6 hour runtime (constant operation).

It is tiny. With the cable spool on the back it will fit in a parka pocket like the ones you'd find on Clam's Ice Armor or Frabill Ice Suits or Arctic Armor. I took it down to the dock because it's only September here, turned it on and dropped it over the edge. I then tried to take pictures of an LCD digital image with a digital camera. It was hard to do the two things at once. I found one of those little bendy tripods laying around and screwed it into the back for the AquaVu MicroAV. It screws right into the bolt that holds the clear plastic cable spool on the back of the camera. The spool doesn't turn, you just wind the cable around it. The biggest fear in handling the unfamilier device in my hand was dropping it in the lake. I didn't have the provided lanyard on the unit yet since it being a new toy, I had to rush down to the lake and see how it works. To heck with the instructions beyond charging it up. Instructions and operational details are for girly-men, not men who belch and fart proudly.

The first view I saw as incredible, very visible, clarity six feet under. Now, granted out lake Jasper has good water clarity to begin with and this little camera is going to be no more readable in dark or dirty water than a Marcum 825 SD which is the top of the food chain in underwater viewing systems. But, this litte screen was very readable out in the light in an overcast day. In sunny weather you are going to have to look at it in your shadow, I think. I also clipped a depth finder sinker to the bottom of the little plastic camera housing they provided, It's all kind of delicate stuff that you will be wanting to handle with care as it is tiny in size. The plastic housing keeps the camera oriented a number of different angles. It's kinda cheap and I'm guessing it might eventually fall apart, but with some soft wire and a little bit of ice fishing ingenuity, a slightly skilled guy can make something that will do the same thing. Without the housing the camera is a bell and hangs like a micro tranducer, straight down.

Exciting pic of a dock post and the bottom

Dock Wheel - little verticle stripes are from digital camera not Micro AV - my cap is for perspective. Can't believe it's still this clean after wearing all summer.

See Pricing of AquaVu Micro AV Pocket Underwater Camera Here

When placed in a dark area, the camera cuts out the color and automatically turns on the infrared lights. This is rather spectacular as well. With tiny little rig, you can literally navigate a cluttered room in complete and utter darkness. sure, you can do this with bigger underwater cameras that have infrared, but it is very cumbersome halling this big fat thing around in the dark when you can have a hand-held unit in essentially the palm of one hand. Underwater, you can tell if the infrared is on if you are next to a weed that lights up brighter on the screen.

Picture of filming the inside of Red Rock on Micro AV.
My digital camera is clashing and not showing the color.

Also, when you have the camera upside down, you just click the little button (third down) right corner until the camera is oriented to you and the image is not upside down or sideways. It has a battery check onscreen - push a button. It also has a Menu (M) that will allow you to change a bunch of stuff like saturation, brightness and color using the "+" or "-" buttons. I didn't mess with any of these as the imagery was fine as it came out of the box. Was the color perfect? No. Does it matter? No. We all know what bluegills and rainbow trout look like.

Uses and why this is so cool - this is going to be a HOT present

You are fishing crappies using a Showdown. They are coming in to look at whatever you drop for a jig, but won't take it. Are they really crappies? Showdown won't tell you. It just shows fish. Whip out your Micro AV and drop it down the hole. Hey, look - they are little walleyes and NOT crappies. You can only learn so much with a flasher. The camera gives you an edge. A tiny, lightweight, affordable camera really gives you an edge.

Sure, the AquaVu Micro AV is intended for ice fishing, but how about deer hunting? I'm considering bringing this little camera and hanging it to look behind me so I'm not wondering what the crunching is coming up behind me. I'm going to take that little, bendy, tripod and secure the AquaVu Micro AV to a little piece of brush and flip it on when I hear something. That way, I don't have to move unnessarily and make noise for nothing. Also, when I'm sitting there contemplating how I would move, maybe the camera might give me some realtime answers. Bear in mind that the screen is tiny and the camera is wide angle so images - even deer - are going to be pretty small at relatively close distances, but it's worth a shot. It's small enough to carry along and try. If it doesn't work, there's still navigating in the darkness and, of course, ice fishing. It's not like you are out of anything.

On other really cool use. You have a chimney to check out for cracks or damage. Just go up on the roof and lower the camera carefully. the only drawback is that it likes to swing and spin so clip the depth finder sinker on it to add some heft and control. You may be able to macguyver a bracket that allows more control as well. The whole point is you now have a tiny way to look at otherwise in accessible areas. Sometimes solving one problem with this one tool is worth the entire cost of the tool.

Showdown Ice Troller

The Showdown Ice Troller is easy to use. It makes sense and everybody seems quite able to figure it out. We had one guy late last winter who got a dud. It wouldn't go and I was going to give him a new one, because they are supposed to work, and he wanted a refund. A screwed up unit scared him off and he looked at me like I was trying to pawn off a "bill of goods" on him. Yeah, we're really distrustful and unsavory types here. We make our living in a small community and online by screwing customers. Some people...

Other uses

One of our customers took his Ice Troller out to the Boundary Waters on a canoe trip. He hung the ice 'ducer over the side of the canoe and paddled. It didn't interfere with the canoe traveling and it read the bottom like a champ. They used it mainly to zero in on reef quickly. And, when drifting on the water, the Showdown Ice Troller marks fish JUST like it does in the winter. Well, of course it does. I've always said "what difference does it make if they lake you are fishing is 8" in diameter or 5 miles in diameter?". Now, obviously you are not going to see the bottom contours like you do on a graph, but just being able to see the bottom rise or fall should tell you everything you need especially if you want to fish at a particular depth. Best thing aboutthis unit for BWCA canoeing use: It runs for about a week on six AA batteries! Just take another pack of six AA's with you for a back up and you'll be fine.

The Marcum Showdown Ice Troller is a very light weight, handy unit for winter and summer! See Pricing and/or Order Here

Get this the Slab Hunter package for the ultimate in verticle fishfinding. You get a 12 volt battery, charger, gimble mount, neoprene case and an Ice Troller. Use it on the go in the portable mode or use it in the wheel house or pop up with the bracket. Runs about 48 hours on a charge. See Pricing and/or Order Here

You won't be disappointed with all these cool pocket electronics! -JB-

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