Grinding nemo: animated lure on a dead-bait caster

In late winter and early spring I tend to replace dead bait by an animated lure (hook-less) to try and tease some pike. Every now and then it works. I ll show you in my next post.

Be selfish with Dr Snapper

Drsnapper will be participating in the ultimate citizen science festival at the Belgian coast: zeekerweten.be

A festival to celebrate biodiversity observation and conservation and to cheerish your very own enthusiasm for discovery.

Everyone is welcome on May 8 here in Oostende to try out and experience first hand the new thrill of camera angling. #catchinpeace #aquatictrophyshot

Al eens met een hengel een foto genomen van een vis? Met Dr Snapper’s onderwatercamera aan de haak maak je verrassende onderwaterbeelden. En dit zonder de vissen te storen of pijn te doen. (Voel je als een vis in het water zonder nat te worden!)

• Inschrijven is niet nodig

• Doorlopend

• Vooraf: installeer de apps Spydro (Android // iOS) en GoFish Cam (Android // iOS)

• Wie wil kan een stevige hengel (worpgewicht van 80-100 g) meenemen

Snapping fish selfies

A short film to promote camera angling featured during the virtual VLIZ Marine Science Day earlier this year. It has some nice drone footage and a hand-crafted soundtrack. Thanks a lot to Atika Lava, Diony, Jelle and Emil for footage and/or tunes.

Spawning times

Spring time means reproduction o’clock for many fish species. These bream came to lay their eggs on water plants in some shallow water.

A new toy for my tech tackle box

As a Christmas present to myself I ordered an animated lure. It worked a treat at my local (despite the limited field of view with the camera pointing straight down) - and not sure whether I will be able to trick my guinea pig pike for a second time though. Still - hookless fishing fun.

Triple pike strike on Boxing Day

This keen fella came in close three times: first time when I was scouting the water for presence - it only felt the lure once; second time when I came back a few hours later - it took another lure on the second cast (the lock was pumping water and because of the water flow it is a little bubbly); the third time it went for the camera. You guessed correctly, it is not the Bahamas. Dutch brownie points.

Autumn sun rays

Enjoying a sun-drenched afternoon at one of my favourite fishing spots in Germany. A school of redfins came flying past.

Flat-faced in Denmark

On a work-related visit to Bornholm, I found a nice harbour to deploy a bait bag which made it difficult for this one to keep a straight or shall we say flat face, and made for a nice aquatic trophy shot :)

Blind spotting

On a recent trip to France (Brittany), I managed to break up the road trippin for a quick dip of my camera rod into a roadside lake. Initially, I would have gone home thinking: “well, another day without a bite”, but luckily after some extra reviewing efforts of all footage, I spotted a pike investigating one of the lures I tried on that day. Camera angling has its merit - without a camera, I would have gone home without a trophy shot….

Have you ever tried camera angling for trophy shots ? What has been your experience with it? Feel free to leave a comment. Cheers

Irish delights - mackerel eyeing up the wolf

Kicking off a series of epic “drschnappiesodes” by some fanatic angling camera ambassadors. In this clip off the Irish coast on a beautiful calm sunset, a mackerel went for the lure, but got put off. Maybe the waterwolf spooked it? What do you reckon?

Carp spotting inside the green room

Managed to soak my DIY mini-BRUV camare trap in a small lake in Germany. Looks like a carp swam by to inspect that weird looking frame from a safe distance. Admittedly, although the bait ball was propped with more yummy bait, its presentation has to improve to become not just smelly, but also visually appealing.

The underwater colour of the summer.....

…..has to be “aquaponic green” or “eutrophic neon” or “seafoam pickle”, at least here in lowland Benelux that seems to be the most frequently encountered underwater colour of any waterbody at present. In any case, it did not stop me from pulling out of the closet my DIY camera trap (a.k.a. mini-BRUV) to see if it still worked. Have not touched it since my trip to Australia in 2018, when I caught a carpet shark on camera. This time, I attached an arguably bit bulky bait bag to attract at least a little goby of some sort. It was just meant to test the functionality of the camera and trigger mechanism. See also a short video, that gives you an impression of this scenic spot on the Belgian coast - very suited for sailing and windsurfing. Home to some fish as well, popular for eel and apparently seabass.

Testing my DIY camera-trap. By pulling the trigger, the camera starts recording.

Reeltime review

Been enjoying some hook-less trophy fishing at my local (during lockdown days). Water was murky as, but at least the sun was out. And I still get excited when reminiscing about the moment when a pike went for the camera instead of the lure and I could instantly review that trophy shot on the app.

Crystal voyager

Finally…..I found my match…..a crystal clear freshwater body in mainland Benelux, Antwerpen area….now, I just need to attract and spot some fish, and improve the settings of the app, to have it not crashing as soon as I would like to review clips in real time (which is one of the functions I was really looking out for when I bought this particular cam).

Shoreline trophy shots

No need to water any angling cams lately…..been spotting plenty of Northern pike (Esox lucius), soaking up some surface sunlight in Dutch canals (photos: A. de Vos).

This summer.....

Celebrating the first awesome real spring day, and the ringing in of the wild swimming season, the cool refreshing water reminded me of my Swiss baptistery in the Aare river of Bern city at summer solstice last year. No scaled fish to be spotted - but loads of human wannabe’s there.

(ringing in tune with Loudon Wainwright III’s Swimming Song)

Von fern die Winde wehen

If you have not seen the sun for a while, are listening to David Gray a fair bit and daydream about your next summer holidays, the very least you can do to quench that thirst is to dust off your treasure box of polaroids and snorkel through some glistening memories. I reviewed some footage from a sizzling holiday in Corfu and found some snaps of flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) shot with a waterwolf (and run a spirulina filter over it).

Between theory and praxis

This time last year when Australia was not burning that bad, I spent a lovely afternoon at the Mornington Pier and explain here what I was hoping for to catch with my camera. As it happened, it did not eventuate. Luckily, probably for both of us. First up, an Australian bull ray (Myliobatis australis) is a protected species, so better no meddling with even if its just with a hook-less bait ball. Secondly, that thing was huge. It probably would have accelerated not just the camera, but also its dry-footed, spectacled beholder, quite possibly into a downward-facing direction. I spotted the bullray next door, so happy as Larry.

dr snapper's 3 essential tips for what to do with crappy underwater footage

1) Have a laugh about yourself - hohoho - you wasted a fair bit of time at this spot, matie; 2) Scan and review it with your Python C++ home coded AI algorithm that detects any thresholded changes in pixel density in the hope to come across anything exciting - try to make it sound more complicated when you’ll explain it to your mates; or 3) Use it as visuals for one of your favourite electronica tracks from a Cafe Del Mar compilation. Then, project it onto a big screen and observe whether it moooves you.

I did the latter with this crabby footage I recorded within the tranquility of Galway harbour not so long ago. Music: Rhian Sheehan - La Boîte à Musique……so moooving, isn’t it ;) You will spot some gobies and a Palaemon serratus shrimp (also called ‘Common prawn’) that dart inquisitively around the baitball at this harbour’s dark corner floor, before the shore crabs come marching in.

The way to get to know you.....is to dive.....

Reminiscing now over a cuppa about a very special summer holiday when we dipped into the Australasian winter down under last July/August. Mind you, the day out on the Great Barrier Reef must have been freezin for a Cairnite, but with 23degC it was a balmy affair for us. We descended on a pretty windy day and boarded a Reef Magic tour. It was a memorable day out at sea. Here are some impressions. The fish you see are Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus) and a trevally (Caranx spp.) which I “drsnappered” with my spydro (for some of the other shots by courtesy of Reef Magic tours - it was not that sunny after all ;)).