There are plenty of ruggedized waterproof cameras out there, but until now, none were expressly designed for fishermen that rival Captain Ahab in their dedication. GoFish is that camera. It records underwater adventures with some added features that even appeal to non-anglers.
Starting with the obvious, GoFish Cam is a 1080p HD color video camera, fully waterproofed for up to 150 meters. It’s stabilized for wobble-free underwater recording and attaches to your fishing line to catch the action with a 170-degree wide lens. GoFish Cam has almost neutral buoyancy, so you won’t leave $100 on the bottom of the lake if your line snaps.
The nice broad lens, is a great requirement if you’re not sure where the action is going to happen, another feature that sets the GoFish Cam solidly on its own two feet (or rather, tripod) among the many action cams out there is the four hour reported battery life for its built-in lithium-ion, which is pretty darn good. That’s definitely more than a GoPro. The ability to recharge with a mini USB is convenient. It accepts MicroSD cards up to 32GB — definitely not more than a GoPro — and has an HDMI output, as action cams well should these days.
Aren’t we lucky to live in a world where we expect most of these are features on action cams these days? Waterproofing aside, of course. GoFish Cam’s extra cool feature is the green LED ring around the camera, which also has infrared, making it the perfect night-vision setup. The special lighting strip rings the camera lens, so it’s perfect for night fishing or low-light conditions.
The GoFish app (for Apple and Android) does what you’d expect it to do: allow for footage editing and sharing on your favorite bragging platform of choice/social network. Brothers Ryan and Brandon Austin, inventors of the GoFish Cam, wanted to show the action of fishing — the part left out of the triumphant photo of the fisherman holding up his catch after the battle is over. So fishermen can actually say, “See? Look at that monster fight. Nearly pulled me in, right then …” and no one will say they’re telling tall tales.
We can joke about comparing it to a GoPro, but of course it doesn’t quite have features and strengths as a GoPro Black. GoFish Cam is really more of a specialty camera. Fisherfolk will find it useful as far as improving their chance of catching something. The camera’s front and rear end attachments hook onto the 1- to 2-foot leader line and casting line respectively. A stabilization fin keeps it from spinning. With GoFish, you can see how attractive your bait is to fish and how fish are attacking the hook, the latter being nearly impossible to figure out without seeing it for yourself.
The small caveats are that it functions best on a taught line, so it works with three kinds of fishing: trolling (where the drag creates constant tension), casting (for which GoFish recommends a heavier lure for steadier footage), and bottom fishing (where the weight should be attached before the camera’s connection to the line).
Brandon and Ryan are asking for $55,000 on Kickstarter to manufacture the GoFish. Catch an early-bird special for $115. The campaign ends September 1, with plans to ship Q1 2016.
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