Have you ever wondered how fish react to your bait?
Want to get an awesome underwater fishing video and images of pike and tarpon taking the bait or jumping next to the boat?
Here is the summary of the top three underwater fishing cameras from the lineup…
This is all possible with the best underwater fishing camera.
You can troll them, attach them to your lines, send them out as a fish finder, dive with them, and more.
The best underwater camera gives curious anglers insight into what’s happening underwater and the ability to take pictures and videos of the species you catch so you can share content and brag about them later.
Read our comprehensive review to find the perfect underwater fishing camera for you.
The Best From The Review
Best Cabled
Anysun Underwater Fishing Camera
A cabled camera that comes in its own durable carry case that features an easy to read high-resolution display.
Anysun Underwater Fishing Camera
The all-around best cabled underwater camera is the Anysun.
It has a large high-resolution 7-inch screen for easy viewing.
The set-up is simple, just connect the cables and use the remote to start your capture.
Image Quality
The images are top quality and the camera moves 360 degrees so you can get a picture of everything that is swimming around at every angle.
It’s made for all types of fishing, has a great battery life, and comes in a handy durable carry case for safe portability.
Best Wireless
GoFish Underwater Fishing Cam
A wireless underwater camera that can take awesome footage. It has a shape designed for trolling that can allow you to film what’s behind your ship.
GoFish Underwater Fishing Cam
The best wireless unit is the GoFish Cam and it has the most versatile features of the bunch too.
You can send it to depths of 200 meters, cast it, troll, and have it sit up to 20 meters away giving you a live stream of what’s happening beneath the surface via its wifi hotspot.
Editor’s Choice
TACTACAM Fish-i HD Camera
An underwater camera designed that takes things to another level by giving you the chance to capture the best stills or film your catch while you’re fishing.
TACTACAM Fish-i HD Camera
If it was me, I’d pick the TACTACAM Fish-i HD high resolution camera.
It’s a wireless design ideal for action shots and getting great underwater clips of fish that you’ve caught.
You can hop into the water with it as there is no cable, cast it, troll it, and more.
Resolution
It films in the highest resolution of the review, 4k HD, and you can edit and share footage directly from the app.
The battery life is amazing at 10 hours and it has 3 lenses to choose from plus 3 shooting modes for the more creative anglers to tailor footage to how you want.
Our Best Underwater Fishing Cameras
Best Cabled
Anysun Underwater Fishing Camera
A cabled camera that comes in its own durable carry case that features an easy to read high-resolution display.
Anysun Underwater Fishing Camera
This underwater camera is a cabled design that comes in its own durable carry case with an easy to read high resolution LCD with a screen size of 7 inches.
It also comes with a sun visor to help the view in bright environments.
You can read the high resolution 7 inch lcd monitor no matter the weather and water conditions as it’s crystal clear.
Water Resistance
It’s waterproof to 20 meters and comes with a fairly long cable at 20 meters, so you can view anything that’s within range on the display and record it.
Inclusions
It’s worth noting that this brand of underwater camera comes with a Sony CCD 800TVL HD Video Camera with 360 Degree View and an OSD Menu Remote Control.
The camera takes amazing quality film and with the remote control, and has 360-degree rotation to view every angle underwater.
LED
The camera is also lined with LED lights for filming at night or when sending it down to deeper depths or dark waters. The lights that can also be controlled from the remote. This allows you to add and remove light as you need to.
It has a battery life that lasts between 3-7 hours depending on the mode you’re in or if the lights are on.
Memory
The unit records everything to an SD card up to 64GB in size, more than enough memory for over 100 hours of recordings.
The only downside to this unit is that you are limited by the 20-meter cable. You can’t hop over the side and swim off with it or cast fast away.
Specs
- Monitor: High resolution 7-inch screen
- Battery: Rechargeable
- Battery Life: 3-7plus hours
- Films: Yes
- Waterproof: 20 M
- Pixels: 510×582(PAL)/510×492(NTSC)
- Cable: 20m
Pros
- The HD camera spins 360 degrees
- Easy to control the camera from above the water
- Takes excellent HD images and video recording
- Waterproof to 20M
- 16 LED lights on the camera to light up the water
- Good for night filming
- Large easy to read display
- Runs for a good amount of time before needing a recharge
- Comes in a handy carrying case
- Features a remote so you can be away from the monitor
Cons
- Cabled for a small range
Eyoyo Underwater Fishing Camera
A cabled camera designed to be used in freezing temperatures. It is capable of capturing crystal clear pictures and has a solid battery life of 8 hours.
Eyoyo Underwater Fishing Camera
Screen
The Eyoyo Underwater Fishing Camera is another cabled design suited for ice fishing anglers that also features a high-resolution 7-inch LCD screen with a camera that all comes in a hardy carry case for getting it from A to B safely.
If you love ice fishing, this is for you.
The 7-inch high-resolution screen has 1000 tvl pixels and is an ample size to view all the details the camera is picking up clearly.
The unit couldn’t be easier to use just connect up the cable and off you go.
Cable
It comes with a 30m long cable and can go 30 meters down so you can get an image of deep spots, especially if you turn on the included lights.
It’s designed to be used in freezing temperatures down to minus 20 degrees, making it the best fishing camera in this review for ice fishing.
Battery
The unit has a solid battery life of 6-8 hours, making the battery ideal for recording for hours on the water. It puts all it’s recordings on an SD card and comes with an 8GB SD card included, you can swap this card out to a 64 GB SD card to give you more memory space.
Image Quality
It records crystal clear pictures at a 90-degree angle of what’s under the water’s surface that you can simply transfer media to a computer for editing and sharing via the SD card.
There are one or two things that get this model some negative points.
Being limited by a 30-meter cable means you can’t record anything that is further away than that, so diving in with it to swim with dolphins is out of the question.
It’s also hard to keep the unit level, to get the best recording possible you’ll have to rig and fiddle with a bit.
Specs
- Monitor: High-resolution 7-inch LCD screen
- Battery: Rechargeable
- Battery Life: 6-8 hours
- Films: Yes HD recording
- Waterproof: 30m
- Pixels: HD 1000 TVL
- Cable: 30m
Pros
- Works in minus 20 degrees
- Includes 12pcs White lights and 12pcs infrared led lights for night fishing
- Comes with an 8GB memory card that supports DVR recording
- Simple and easy to understand
- Large 7-inch screen
- Crystal clear images
- Comes with a carry case
Cons
- Has a 30m cable for a limited range
- Hard to keep the camera level
Best Wireless
GoFish Wireless Underwater Camera
A wireless camera that can take awesome footage. It has a shape designed for trolling that can allow you to film what’s behind your ship.
GoFish Wireless Underwater Camera
The GoFish Cam is the first wireless unit in the review.
Connectivity
It features the ability to create its own wifi hotspot so your phone or tablet can connect to it through the app to become the high-resolution screen.
You can only maintain a connection while it’s 75ft away though, so if you want to see what’s happening live on the screen, make sure to keep it in range and floating.
Range
Being wireless means you’re not constricted by a cable length and can send this unit as far away as you like, it goes 200m deep and will record even when not connected.
You can dive, swim, attach it to a fishing line, and cast it anywhere.
Then once you retrieve it, connect it to your phone to review the recording.
Design
The camera comes in a cone-shaped hydrodynamic head designed for trolling it through the water or attaching it to your bait.
This allows you to take pictures on the bottom up to 200m, film species coming up on the stern, and even tie it on to your fishing line to get movies of species chasing and eating your lure.
It takes awesome video footage but its battery life is a little limited.
Battery Life and Memory
In full mode with the wifi on the battery life will only last 30 minutes, but in normal recording mode, you’ll get 2 hours out of its battery.
All your recordings will be saved to an SD card and you can transfer and share them via the app too. It couldn’t be simpler to use either, just set how you want it to record in the app, and hit go, that’s it.
It’s a fun little unit that’ll add the ability to take awesome video footage to your fishing experience.
Specs
- Monitor: High resolution 7-inch screen
- Battery: Rechargeable
- Battery Life: 3-7plus hours
- Films: Yes
- Waterproof: 20 M
- Pixels: 510×582(PAL)/510×492(NTSC)
- Cable: 20m
Pros
- Night vision green LEDs for deep water and night fishing
- Connect it to your line
- Stream live to your tablet or phone when using the included float
- Has a built-in SD card slot for memory
- Takes awesome video
- Simple to use
- Great for all types of fishing
Cons
- Need to weight it down when trolling
- Battery life is limited
- Wifi range of just 75 ft
Lucky Underwater Fishing Camera
An affordable cabled camera ideally suited as a recon device to view what’s beneath the surface rather than take footage.
Lucky Underwater Fishing Camera
This Lucky underwater fishing camera is another cabled design and has the most affordable price in the review.
It’s ideally suited as a recon device to view what’s beneath the surface rather than capturing video as it’s picture quality is pretty poor.
It also features infrared led lights ideal for anglers who enjoy fishing at night.
Display
It features a screen size of 4.3 inches that has high resolution so it’s still quite easy to view despite its small size plus a 20-meter cable and a camera.
It’s simple to use, just connect the cable and drop the camera in the water and select your mode on the screen to start recording.
Battery
The included rechargeable battery has an average battery life of 3-6 hours depending on the mode you are using. It can go to 20 meters and has built-in lights for deeper shots and night recording.
Memory
The unit saves everything to a MicroSD card so you can share files easily enough and buy a big SD card if you want extra memory space.
This is a great budget option in this price range if you’re interested in one thing, seeing what’s beneath the water surface.
It doesn’t take good enough videos or pictures to use for marketing or sharing around though.
Specs
- Monitor: High-resolution 4.3-inch screen
- Battery: Rechargeable
- Battery Life: 3-6 hours
- Films: Yes and photo
- Waterproof: 20 M
- Cable: 20m
Pros
- Comes with a 16GB SD card
- Has infrared LED lights for night use
- Works in cold water for ice fishing
- Switch between birdseye and side view
- Easy to use
- High-resolution screen
- Good for research
Cons
- Not the best image sharpness
- Small screen
- Not great for making content
- Restricted to a 20m range
- No carry case
Editor’s Choice
TACTACAM Fish-i HD camera
An underwater camera designed that takes things to another level by giving you the chance to capture the best stills or film your catch while you’re fishing.
TACTACAM Fish-i HD camera
The new TACTACAM Fish-i HD camera is designed to take the best HD video of all your outdoor sport experiences.
Design
It comes equipped with 3 lenses and great features like ultra-wide to mini zoom, records audio, has an amazing rechargeable battery with 10-hour battery life, and has no cable to worry about which is one of the best things about it.
You can attach this unit to your line, drop it in an ice hole, troll it behind your boat – even mount it to your head to get shots of all the best action.
Video Quality
It records in super high quality 4K HD resolution, and the captures it takes are perfect for marketing.
You can also shoot in one of three modes which you select via the app.
You can pick: loop, time-lapse or normal video, depending on what kind of video you want to take.
Memory
The unit saves all your data to the SD card and once you connect it wirelessly to your phone.
This allows you to review the recording in high resolution and transfer files to the app where you can edit and share them with ease.
The one downside to this unit is that it is only waterproof to 30 feet, so it can only live shallow but it is great for taking every shot down its limit.
Specs
- Monitor: Connects to your phone or tablet
- Battery: Rechargeable
- Battery Life: Up to 9 or 10 hours
- Films: Yes, 4k
- Waterproof: 30 feet
- Pixels: High resolution 4k
- Cable: Wifi
Pros
- Interchangeable lens system
- Includes 170° ultra-wide lens, 120° wide lens, and 90° mini-zoom lens
- Comes with useful modes like a loop, time-lapse, or video
- Can be used for trolling
- Attach it to your line
- Great app for editing and sharing
- Simple and easy to use
- Records audio too
- Can take it snorkeling and diving
- SD card memory
Cons
- No light for night time use
- Shallow waterproofing of 30 ft
What Is An Underwater Fishing Camera?
You might think a new underwater fishing camera is just a normal camera that takes underwater fishing videos or pictures, but it’s not that simple.
The best underwater cameras take things to another level to give you the chance to take the best stills or film while you catch fish.
Parts
The best underwater cameras come in two parts; an underwater camera that you drop in the water to be your fish finder, and an underwater viewing system like a color LCD monitor that acts as a camera viewing system.
The camera viewing system is either cabled to the underwater fishing video camera or connected via wifi when your phone or tablet is used for camera viewing instead of an LCD monitor or screen.
Why Use An Underwater Fishing Camera Instead Of A Normal Waterproof Camera?
Firstly, it’s worth noting that they are made to go deeper than most waterproof cameras, and hit depths up to 30 meters where a high-end waterproof camera would only hit 15m – This lets you record film and pictures at a deeper depth.
Secondly, they are designed to be a bit more inconspicuous to the target with a no-screen sleek design and made so that you can see what’s happening underwater from your vessel, like a camera fish finder.
Features
Many underwater fishing cameras can be trolled behind your boat so you can see what’s following your lures.
You can rig some on your fishing line to see if anything follows your lures and even get a film of a sailfish taking the bait.
You can also get an underwater fishing video camera for ice fishing that works in freezing temperatures and some of them come fitted with LED lights or infrared lights for night or deep water fishing.
Do Underwater Fishing Cameras Scare Fish?
Any odd or foreign object in the water is likely to be noticed by a fish if it hasn’t seen it before, and this goes for the best underwater fishing cameras too.
Whether it scares the target off or not depends on the species and its mood.
Predatory species or a big catch like a pike, or a marlin, is not going to worry about a camera. The most likely thing that might happen is that they think it’s food and comes to have a taste out of it.
Small Fish
Smaller species like crappie or bluegill, which are usually on a predatory fish’s menu, live on the edge of being eaten the whole time.
An aspiring angler should know that they are nervous creatures and will be affected by even the best underwater fishing cameras until they know it’s not going to harm them.
Once they are comfortable with the underwater fishing camera, they’ll relax and go about their usual business of hopefully eating your bait.
What Makes The Best Underwater Fishing Camera?
For an underwater camera to be the best underwater fishing camera, it has got to do a few things excellently.
Water Resistance
Firstly it needs to be waterproof enough to reach certain depths, around 20m or more, and be highly durable to survive being bounced around or hit by fish.
Weight
Secondly, the best underwater fishing cameras should also be light, portable, versatile, and take great images and/or video.
You should be able to use them in the sea, in lakes, while you’re ice fishing, and even at night while trolling, bottom fishing, or casting.
Display and Memory
The field of view should be large enough to capture all the fishing action.
The battery life should last as long as a day or fishing (7 hours or more), and your video recordings should be saved to a large enough memory, microSD card, or SD card, so you can keep recording underwater films all day long.
Ease of Use
The best underwater fishing camera will also be easy to use, setup, and make it simple to review and share any of your images and video recording from a high-resolution color monitor that comes with the underwater camera.
Things To Consider When Buying An Underwater Fishing Camera
What Kind Of Fishing Will You Be Doing?
Not every underwater fishing camera is the same, some use wifi to connect to your phone or tablet for viewing and are made to be trolled behind your boat or attached to your fishing line so you can get clips of fish coming up to your bait and eating them.
Others have a long cable and are designed for dropping over the sides of the ship or in an ice hole and give you an image of what’s happening underwater on a display so you can not only take pictures and video but tailor your fishing tactics to how the fish are behaving.
Fishing Style
Make sure you pick the right kind of fishing camera best suited for your fishing style.
Cabled designs are limited, as you can only put the camera as far as the cable allows, usually around 20-30M.
Wireless fishing cameras are a little more versatile and you can go snorkeling with them or cast them far away to take pictures and then review the data.
You’re unlikely to use a wireless camera to view a live picture though as it drains the battery life very quickly.
Image Quality
The image and filming quality of each underwater video camera differs.
If you want to take awesome sport shots for marketing, making movies, and sharing them on Instagram, you’re going to want the best quality high-resolution HD video and pictures you can get.
TIP
Make sure to check the pixels and the recording quality.
Purpose
The higher the pixels the better the image and the higher the frames per second (FPS) and resolution (k) the better the video will be.
If you plan on using your underwater camera to view what’s happening beneath the surface, but don’t really mind about recording so much, then you can go for a model that doesn’t have such great camera quality but has a good 7-inch monitor display for camera viewing.
Display
The display is one of the most important parts of an underwater camera.
It’s where you’ll see what is going on under the water and a poor quality display will make it hard to view fish in detail and how they are behaving.
Most fishing cameras come with a display monitor that connects to the camera via a cable, but some create a wifi signal and connect to your phone or tablet for viewing.
Ideal Display Size
No matter the style, you’ll want your screen or monitor to be large enough. A 7-inch monitor is a good screen size. Some will also come with a sun visor so you can view it with ease even in bright environments.
Screen resolution also plays a big part in the quality of a display.
Resolution describes how many pixels the monitor screen can show you, and the higher it is the more pixels, and the sharper the image.
NOTE
You’ll need a high-resolution monitor to view the most amount of detail.
Portability
Camera equipment can get large, heavy, and tiring to carry around.
The last thing any angler needs is to be adding a pile of heavy underwater camera gear to their fishing bag.
You want a fishing camera that is easy to take from A to B, so it should be light, and not too bulky.
The most portable designs are wireless fishing cameras as all you have to carry is the camera unit and your phone.
Cabled Display
Cabled display designs are heavier and bulkier due to having to transport the camera, cable, and display monitor.
But, a lot of them come with a durable carry case, so you still just have to carry one extra thing.
NOTE
Be sure to pick the fishing camera best suited to your portability needs. If you’re going backpacking into the wilderness, a wireless fishing camera is far more portable and will slot into your backpack or even your pocket.
If you’re going sailing for a day, adding one extra carry case with a cabled fishing camera inside is no big deal.
Cable & Connection Length
No matter what type of camera you choose to add to your fishing experience, remember you’re going to have to manage the cable or connection length so you can still view photos on your display monitor.
Most cabled designs come with 20 to 30m cable length. This means you can have your underwater cameras sitting 20-30m under or away from your watercraft at any time, giving you a small range.
Wireless Connection
Wireless designs can hold a connection for up to 75 ft (23m) but will only connect when they are not submerged.
This means you can only view images on the display when using them in float mode, not when you send them underwater.
You can, however, cast them away into the distance, as far as you like, take hours of recordings, and then review them once you have reeled the camera in.
You can also dive with them to take underwater shots, like when you’re releasing a marlin by the bay.
Waterproofing
An underwater camera has to be waterproof, but each one has it’s limitations to how far they can go. Cabled designs are made to go as deep as the cable goes and 20-30 meters is the norm.
Wifi designs can go to as far as 200m depths.
It’s not often you’re going to need to go deeper than 20m when recording with your camera, but it might be handy now and then to see if any fish are sitting on the bottom next to a reef for example.
Summing Up
If you’re new to the world of underwater fishing cameras then it can be quite tricky to pick the best one for you and I hope the above has helped clear it up for you.
Making the right choice comes down to whether you want a cabled or wireless design.
A cabled camera is better for seeing what’s around your fishing spot and a wireless design is better for getting action shots of species like tarpon or sailfish eating the bait or jumping out of the water.
Best Cabled
If you’re after a cabled design go for the Anysun.
It has a great screen that’s easy to read, a camera that takes high-quality video and spins 360 degrees, and it’s simple to understand
Best Wireless
If you’re after an underwater camera with a wireless design, the GoFish Cam is ideal.
It can go 200 meters deep plus you can troll it or attach it to your line to get the best shots of billfish or other species in action.
Editor’s Choice
I would pick the TACTACAM Fish-i HD.
It takes awesome high-quality footage, has 3 lenses to choose from, shoots in 3 modes, and will give you the best image quality of them all.
Thanks a lot for reading my article and I hope you found it useful.
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