(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Pennsylvania pro Grae Buck loves to chase big-water smallmouth bass, but he knows that they can be a “here today, gone tomorrow” target. Moreover, even when he finds schools of fish on his traditional sonar, he can’t always distinguish whether they’re smallmouths, walleye, perch or even drum. That’s why he’s so fond of the Aqua Vu underwater camera.
“It has taken my smallmouth fishing to the next level,” he said. It’s made him more efficient in finding schools of fish, determining what they are, guessing what they’ll eat, and then catching them.
He has two versions of the Aqua Vu: A Standalone model that he usually deploys from the deck of his boat, and one that he connects into his console Lowrance screens with a single cable and a power supply. With the latter, he’ll drop it right over the side of the boat, let it down to the bottom and then pull it up two or three feet so it won’t bounce the bottom and lose fidelity as he moves. Then he’ll either idle slowly, being careful not to tangle the cable in his prop, or else he’ll just drift with the current. That’s what he does on fisheries like the St. Lawrence river, where a 3- to 5-mph flow makes the proper drift an easy affair.
Smallmouths, he said, are naturally curious and will come up to the camera or even follow it for long distances. Walleyes, on the other hand, take more of a “drive-by” approach. “This takes the guesswork out of your fishing out deep.”
Indeed, it’s not just a tool for smallmouth country. He’s employed it for largemouths and spotted bass alike, and said that it excels in deep brush, too. “I won’t go anywhere clear without it,” he explained, noting that a visibility of at least 5 feet is critical to making it work.
Once he finds the right quality and number of fish, he’ll drop a waypoint and proceed to fish for them. Here again the unit pays dividends. If he noticed a slimy, algae-covered bottom, he may be more likely to use a dropshot than to put a Ned rig down into the slime. It also keys him into what sort of baitfish the bass are eating. If he’s seeing a lot of alewives, he’ll use more silvery lures, while perch in the area demand something with more yellow or gold, like a perfect perch Z-Man TRD.
While sonar units have advanced markedly in the past several years, and Buck has taken advantage of those changes, he believes that this tool has moved him forward as much as anything else. It helps him eliminate water, determine species and make bait choices, and when ounces make a huge difference this kind of time-saver is money in the bank.
If you want to learn some of Buck's other Aqua Vu tips, including how, when and where he uses the “Micro” version, check out his full on-the-water video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
