looking to maybe use underwater camera at the lake

[maxxkatt]

I am trying to think of other uses for my pontoon boat up at Lake Lanier. I am using it to get to boater's beaches. Places only boaters can get to and tie up and swim and have fun.

But I am also thinking of getting an Aqua-Vu Micro Stealth 4.3 Underwater Viewing System use it to scan the bottom for rings and jewelry that may still be on the bottom and not covered by sand yet. Lake Lanier is an large inland lake north of Atlanta and the bottom is mostly red clay or stone with sand closer to the shore.

anyone tried this? Any thoughts? My pontoon boat cost a pretty penny so I want to get more use out of it.

 

[Cfmct]

How deep is the water? When I used to go scalloping up in Cape Cod we would make viewing boxes out of a wooden old soda case the kind that held 24 small bottles... we would leave the frame and remove the area where the bottles would sit and replace it with either glass or Plexiglas and we could see clearly to the bottom up to 15 feet deep we would have a long bamboo pole at the end of it was a small ring about 4 inches in diameter with netting about a foot long or so... we could pick up multiple scallops.. the good old days before the fertilizer killed off the eel grass needed for the scallop spat to adhere to... I found a watch scooping scallops..

 

[Bill - De]

It would be an interesting experiment, and I would love to see some video, if you do it. You would have to mount the camera somehow. As someone else asked, how deep is the water? Clarity? Do you want to do this while underway, or only on the drift?

Depending on your answers, camera could be hand held pole-mounted, or bracket-mounted on the boat. Is the screen on that monitor bright enough, and of high enough resolution, to see your intended targets?

Please let us know how it goes.

 

[Jim53]

How deep is the water? When I used to go scalloping up in Cape Cod we would make viewing boxes out of a wooden old soda case the kind that held 24 small bottles... we would leave the frame and remove the area where the bottles would sit and replace it with either glass or Plexiglas and we could see clearly to the bottom up to 15 feet deep we would have a long bamboo pole at the end of it was a small ring about 4 inches in diameter with netting about a foot long or so... we could pick up multiple scallops.. the good old days before the fertilizer killed off the eel grass needed for the scallop spat to adhere to... I found a watch scooping scallops..

I sure remember in 70s and 80s seeing many small boats with people looking over the back into their box with a canvas over their heads scooping scallops.

 

[Cfmct]

I sure remember in 70s and 80s seeing many small boats with people looking over the back into their box with a canvas over their heads scooping scallops.

Yup... it was a lot of fun scalloping I used to do it in waquoit bay in Mashpee with my uncle...made sure I was up there when the season opened.

 

[metaladdict]

Yup... it was a lot of fun scalloping I used to do it in waquoit bay in Mashpee with my uncle...made sure I was up there when the season opened.

Yum, scallops!

 

[Jim53]

Yup... it was a lot of fun scalloping I used to do it in waquoit bay in Mashpee with my uncle...made sure I was up there when the season opened.

I had a boat moored at the town landing next to the Yacht club in Waquoit.
you were probably one of the boats I saw. Small world.

 

[Cfmct]

I had a boat moored at the town landing next to the Yacht club in Waquoit.
you were probably one of the boats I saw. Small world.

My uncles cottage was on Monomoscoy Rd near the point if you know where that is? off little river.. I should have bought it back then still kicking myself when the family offered it to me.

Anyway if Max's lake is clear I bet it would do well as it makes everything look bigger on the bottom using those hooded scallop boxes.

 

[Cfmct]

Yum, scallops!

Ever eat them right out o the shell? It was weird feeling them pulsing while chewing them lol..

 

[MuddyMo]

The cameras are fun to use and you learn a lot. Your visibility will be limited in lanier but I would still do it. Good luck.

 

[GTS225]

You'll have to pole-mount it, and hold it by hand. The bottom contours will be such that to mount it to the pontoon boat would snap off the pole in short order.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. Hand holding it will give you greater flexibility for moving the camera around while searching.
You will miss a lot, though, due to silt covering the targets. Most targets are going to be on beach areas, and the people stirring up the sand will cause the targets to get covered rather quickly, and boats are going to be restricted from entering swimming areas.
There is the possibility of having party areas, where multiple boats might anchor somewhere and tie up with each other. Gatherings like that also tend to drop stuff overboard, as well as lose personal items.

Good luck.....Roger