If you're a sport fisherman, then you know the frustration of having a fish strike and reject your lure. What sort of fish was it, and how big was it? Well, the Strike Cam may not help you land such finicky fish, but it can at least answer those questions.
As you may have guessed, the Strike Cam is simply a waterproof video camera that sits between the end of the main fishing line and the lure leader. Users just press its one button to start recording, then leave it rolling as they fish.
Its lens points at the lure, getting a shot of it and the water around it. Any fish that gets close to that lure gets in the picture, too. The idea is that besides documenting missed catches, the footage will also allow users to better understand things such as how fish react to different lures, how they fight when hooked, and how they school.
The camera is submersible to 30 feet (10 m), shoots at just 480p/30fps, and records 2.5 to 3 hours of AVI video per charge of its integrated battery. It can be removed from the rest of the rig for recharging, and for the uploading of footage via USB to a computer.
However, what happens if a bigger fish snaps the line? Are you out the US$189 price of the Strike Cam? "We recommend heavier test on the rod side with lighter test line on the lure side to prevent loss of the camera" a company representative explained to Gizmag. "[Also] we pre-rig the Strike Cam out of the box with 65 pound super line leaders on front and back ... With the configuration mentioned above, the lure will break free (if snagged on bottom, or big fish, etc.) before the camera does."
Footage shot with it can be seen in the video below. And if you're thinking, "What would be good is if you could see a live feed of the video as it's being shot," then you might also want to check out the FishEyes rod and reel.
Source: Strike Cam
