Eyes Underwater for Fishing & More!
By Darcie Arahill
Who doesn’t want to put more fish in the boat? Thankfully the fishing boat, motor & accessories industry is helping us do just that with exciting new innovations every year. Marine technology continues to accelerate and revamp at a rapid pace which gives boaters access to the most dynamic advantages on the water. Collision avoidance, navigation, fish finding, CHIRP transducer, underwater cameras and lighting are just a few of the gadgets available in the ever-changing world of marine electronics. I went down to Tuppens Marine located in downtown Lake Worth, Florida since 1956 and spoke to owner Steve Sprague to learn about the latest developments on the market today.
One great accessory that is both functional and plain fun is the EYES Underwater Camera from OceanLED. Simply put, it’s a video camera mounted on the bottom of your boat that looks down into the sea that requires only a 1-7/8” hole. The camera or cameras can be mounted anywhere and face any direction. The EYES Underwater Camera is “plug & play” and connects to any VGA output screen and operates at the touch of a button. Besides giving you a “glass bottom boat” for sightseeing, the camera also allows the tournament-level angler or captain quick and easy fish ID and can help to document catches.
I was lucky enough to experience the benefits of the OceanLED camera on a recent trip with Steve, who also captains the Tuppens SKA tournament 38’ Jupiter sponsored by Yamaha and Garmin, among others. We were deep dropping miles offshore and knew the electric reel would bring up some good fish just from the struggle and rod action. Steve and his son Chris took a look at the EYES Underwater Camera and noticed that TWO golden tilefish were rising to the surface! As the fish came closer within range of the boat, we saw one tilefish had “blown up” and became unhooked. After seeing the live footage, we looked around the sea surface and were able to locate the floating fish about 30 yards away, motored over and gaffed him in. If not for the EYES Underwater Camera, someone would have gone hungry that night!
If you want to see the fish, you have to get to the fish…and outboard motor companies are making the trip more efficient every year. Yamaha Outboards recently increased the efficiency and decreased the weight of their 4-stroke line with a 200hp 2.8L in-line 4 cylinder engine. Weighing in at a lean 487lbs, much lighter than the 225hp V6 (562lbs) and the older 3.3L V6 200hp (608lbs!), this recent Yamaha product is perfect for your bay boat, flats boat, or for running twins. Any lack of low RPM power associated with the 4 cylinder design is offset by the lower weight of this engine, variable camshaft timing and 4 valves per cylinder. Don’t forget to consider the Yamaha 200hp in-line 4 for your next outboard application. Support your local tackle shop and service center!
For more information please check out TuppensMarine.com, OceanLED.com, and YamahaOutboards.com. Business inquiries and questions for Darcie of Darcizzle Offshore should be directed to HYPERLINK “mailto:darcizzleoffshore@gmail.com”darcizzleoffshore@gmail.com and DarcizzleOffshore.com.