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.

Bammm!!!.....with a bait bonbon

These underwater trophy shots were taken from yellowtail scad and a leatherjacket in Port Philip Bay using the wee ol bait bomb approach. Stuff a mesh sock with chicken and other meaty bits and let the odour plume do the rest - no need for mimicry to mimic shape and behaviour of bait fish. Been experimenting with other odoured lures lately. Have you got any recommendations for some smelly artificial baits that work a treat? Don’t be shy…

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?

Perching up high

A curious school of juvenile European perch came up close to inspect the artificial bait fish.

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.

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)

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.

Sharing an enthusiasm for discovery

This is what drsnapper is about: developing and sharing an enthusiasm for discovery. Coupling two elements for a new purpose: a fishing rod and a baited underwater camera - for hook-less trophy shots. Casting a camera to wherever you expect some underwater life, taps into a desire to "catch" the unknown. And just what it does to an angler to reel in a fish, capturing an underwater trophy shot gives you a bit of a thrill, especially when you can review your “catch” instantly on a mobile device. 

Here are some of my trophy shots from the last couple of years:

Hide and seek

Another beautiful coastal spot along the Mid-North Coast of NSW. Opted to drop a cam off an old pier and am now surprised to see all those surf beam or yellowtail bream (Acanthopagrus australis) appear while reviewing the footage, hiding in a deeper hole in the river’s channel. For a moment, they showed some interest in the small whitefish hook-less lure I used. There are still many more clippies to be reviewed from my trip to Ozzie land. So watch this space. I am looking forward to the shorter days, it means ding dong creative o’clock in the evenings. Well, let’s pretend that uploading a wobbly and blurry video is a creative moment.

Fish spotting at scenic places

On a visit to Florence Falls (Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory), we managed to spot some black bream (Hephaestus fuliginosus) in between the many tanned tourist legs.

Trophy shots on ice

This is surreal crystal clear and crispy cold water in the Austrian Alps in some glacial lakes. Not much action re: macro animal life wise, but insane colours.

Urban hook-less fishing

I should check the market whether any of the fishing camera manufacturers have actually come up with an anti-gobble condom to prevent pike from swallowing these delicately shaped devices such as the waterwolf or spydro cams. I could have used such a thing in this case. An eager one went for the spydro. Gobble gobble, urban hook-less fishing in the Netherlands - no frills, but still some thrills.

Pier review

As drsnapper’s mission is to promote the concept of hook-less fishing using an underwater camera (and also trialling the custom-made camera trap), I’ll try my best to populate this blog with exactly that. Underwater footage of fishies nibbling away at some hook-less bait contraption. Here you go - an example from the West Pier at Dunlaoghaire harbour, Dublin, Ireland. Species: White pollack (Pollachius pollachius), filmed with a spydro cam.

Busted in the Bay

In my last week in down under, I booked myself on a tour with Bay Fish N Trips for a day of (vegan) fishing out in Port Phillip Bay. I watered the waterwolf with a handline, and even though I was not able to instantly review images (despite some curious requests from fellow anglers), I was surprised by the activity around the bait ball (stuffed with pilchard and chicken chops). Check out the video (first trial edit with Adobe), a compilation of a couple of trophy-shots of yellowtail scad (Atule mate). Thanks a lot to Bay Fish N Trips for a fun day on the water and all keen fishers.

Music by The Shambles - Corn on the floor

Buried bull ray slammer

The Mornington/Schnapper point pier is home to a resident bull ray (Aetomylaeus bovinus) which I was hoping to catch on a waterwolf camera. The nice thing about the Schnapper Point pier, you do not have to travel far when chasing those hook-less trophy shots. The next clip is going to be about a vegan fishing session on-board a fishing charter vessel though. Coming soon.