Best Underwater Fishing Camera For 2023 – 6 Best Fishing Cameras

Are you tired of standing hours and hours trying to find the fish of your dreams? Do you want to know where the big fish are right away? Then this post, about the best underwater fishing camera is perfect for you!

I will start by saying that a fishing camera is a device you must have in your tackle box. It is probably one of the tools you won’t regret buying. Having an underwater fishing camera is essential since you, like any other angler, want to know what is happening under the water. Which, basically, improves your chances to catch a bigger fish, and will also help you improve your fishing skills.

But since there are so many underwater cameras out there, it became very confusing. Many brands even call their fish finders a fishing camera which is completely wrong and untrue. This fact, makes it even harder to find a real fishing camera, and then decide which one will be the best that you should buy.

Before we begin: It’s all about Underwater Fishing Camera

Before I will begin, it is essential to understand that this article is about the best underwater fishing cameras and it is not about underwater cameras. The reason I am mentioning this is since every fishing camera can operate as an underwater camera. However, not every underwater camera is a fishing camera. Confused?

What’s the Difference Between a Fishing camera to an Underwater Camera?

The answer to this question is very simple.

An underwater fishing camera is a device that you attach to your fishing line and records under the water all of your fishing events. On the other hand, an underwater camera is a camera which can record underwater, that’s it. It is not attached to your fishing line. Hence, it is not bounded into your fishing real-time activities.

Pros and Cons for Fishing Camera over the Underwater Cameras

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of the underwater fishing camera over regular underwater cameras.

Pros:

• An underwater fishing camera can go as long as your fishing line. It is not limited by length.
• An underwater fishing camera can go deeper than underwater cameras.
• The price of an underwater fishing camera is much cheaper.
• The fish are always in your frame, no need to struggle in order to have it in the frame.
• Underwater fishing cameras are small, compact & easy to use. You can carry it, even in your pocket.
• Can be used on other applications except for fishing line like diving.
• Can connect to your smartphone and integrate with it.

Cons:

• An underwater fishing camera does not show you live in all the situations. When using the camera on a float (camera pointing down) you will have live streaming.

So, in this article on the best underwater fishing cameras, I will include only the “fishing” types of underwater cameras.

Best Underwater Fishing Camera – Lets Begin

Let’s begin with the cameras I am about to compare in this post.

1. Spydro
2. GoFish Cam
3. Hook-Eye
4. Water Wolf
5. TACTACAM FISH-I
6. FishSpy

It is important for me to say that most of the cameras on this list I have and I compared them. For example, I did a comparison between the Spydro and the GoFish cam. I also did a comparison between Spydro and Hook-Eye. Regarding the Water Wolf, well, I do not have this camera since I cannot find a way to purchase it.

#1 of The BEST Underwater Fishing Camera: Spydro

The first camera on our best underwater fishing cameras list is the newest Spydro fishing camera. This is, of course, the best underwater fishing camera on this list. No one can beat Spydro. At least not until now.

Spydro is around us for almost two years already, and they are improving and getting upgraded all of the time. On a review we did a few months ago, we were surprised how many smart features and advantages Spydro has over all the other brands in this market.

Spydro is completely different than all the others on this list – and I can even say that Spydro is truly a unique underwater fishing camera. It is also the only smart fishing camera in this list of best underwater fishing cameras.

The “smart” feature in it, makes Spydro the best underwater fishing camera in the market. Spydro is considered a smart camera since it is equipped with several smart sensors that read water info such as temperature, depth, salinity, and turbidity. Other than that, it also has smart underwater detectors that can detect activities such as bites and movement near the camera.

Combining that with the connection to your smartphone, Spydro is using your GPS location in order to provide you with all the important information you need to know for your next fishing trip.

What I also like about Spydro is the fact that each time they develop a new camera feature (like they did a couple of months ago with Spydro Squid Light), you don’t need to buy a new Spydro in order to have it. You just need to update your Spydro’ firmware and you are all set – like you just bought a new Spydro fishing camera.

Spydro fishing camera has many important features, such as the Spydro Squid Light which we mentioned earlier. This feature operates a sequence of led lights that squids are highly attracted to.

What makes Spydro so unique?

1. Spydro is a sealed underwater fishing camera, meaning you cannot open the camera, assuring that no water will get inside the camera. And water leakage is one of the worse nightmares every fishing camera owner has.
2. Spydro has camera stabilizers – which provides stabilized footage. You can view a video comparison between Spydro and GoFish Cam (which is our next camera in this list) to see how Spydro footage is stabilized.
3. Since Spydro is equipped with sensors and detectors, it records in its memory card only the real action that happens. By that, it saves you from unwanted footage and manages its memory space to its maximum.
4. You don’t need to turn Spydro on or off. It will turn on for you automatically once it touches the water, and it will turn off 30 seconds after it was taken out of the water. Making sure you will never lose footage or run out of battery by mistake.
5. The bite detector will create separated videos for you and will save, along with the footage, all the water info, and GPS location. So, you can learn and improve your skills even from those fish that got away.
6. Spydro collects all the data from its memory card and sends it to your smartphone. It merges all of the info into an informative Fishing Log. Letting you see and read only the relevant information you need from your fishing trip.

I encourage you to read our full review of Spydro to learn more about it.

Last, here are the basic technical specs of the Spydro Fishing Camera:

Pros

• 100% waterproof. It is a sealed camera – so, you never need to worry about water leaking.
• Full HD camera footage
• Affordable price
• Connects to your smartphone and provide you with a fishing log.
• Has night vision
• Has a long battery life of 3.5 hours
• Lipo battery
• Built-in GPS
• Smart detectors such as bite detector and movement detector
• Smart sensors such as water temperature, salinity, and turbidity.
• Great fishing features such as Squid Light.
• Offers accessories for boating and diving.
• Comes with a built-in memory card
• No need to turn on or off the camera, everything is done automatically for you.
• Magnetic Charger
• It has diving accessories which can be purchased separately – costs 25$.
• Nice camera bag for easy storing – It’s waterproof as well.

Cons

• Can’t change memory cards (However, thanks to Spydro’s smart memory management, you shouldn’t be worried about that).

#2 of The BEST Underwater Fishing Camera: GoFish Cam

The second camera on this best underwater fishing camera list is the GoFish Cam. GoFish Cam started their way back in 2015.

On the contrary to Spydro, GoFish cam is not 100% waterproof and you will need to open the camera in order to connect your camera with your phone, insert your memory card or even connect your camera to your Smartphone using a WiFi connection.

Establishing a WiFi connection is a bit annoying since you need to repeat the process every 5 minutes in case the camera was not next to your smartphone. In other words, you need to open the camera and click on the WiFi connection button inside the camera.

here are the technical specs of the GoFish Cam:

Pros

• Full HD camera footage
• Affordable price
• Connects to your smartphone and provide you with a fishing log.
• Has night vision

Cons

• Need to open the camera every 5 minutes to establish a WiFi connection
• Short battery life
• Short WiFi range
• Does not offer accessories for other applications other than fishing
• Doesn’t have diving accessories.
• Does not come with any casing at all

#3 of The BEST Underwater Fishing Camera: Hook-Eye

The third fishing camera in this best underwater fishing camera list is Hook-Eye.

Hook-Eye does not have an App and you set all of its settings thru the Hook-Eye online webpage.

Hook-Eye camera’ is button-free and as so, it has a magnetic activation that works along with a bracelet. Its battery can run up to 3 hours and it supports 32GB of microSD card.

Another thing I liked about Hook-Eye, is its camera’s hard case. It is anti-shock, waterproof, and floats over water. So Hook-Eye thought even for the small things that will make things easier for you.

Hook-Eye comes in 2 flavors; The first one is for fishing and the second one is for diving. It has a special handle to hold the camera, which makes your diving experience much easier.

Pros

• Full HD camera footage
• Has night vision
• Good battery life – 3 hours
• A great hard case to store the camera
• Can go deep up to 180 meters

Cons

• A bit pricy
• No WiFi range
• Not easy to set up the camera – It does not being controlled by your Smartphone – but it won’t bother you too much since you won’t need to do it very often.

#4 of The BEST Underwater Fishing Camera: Water Wolf

Our next fishing camera on this list of the best underwater fishing camera is the one by Water Wolf. One of the reasons I placed Water Wolf last on this list is since the status of Water Wolf is unknown (at least unknown for me). This is since Water Wolf’s website is not active. Also, I did not find any way to contact the company, not even on their Facebook page. And trust me, I tried doing that multiple times with no luck so far. Moreover, the latest video on their YouTube channel is 5 years old.

However, since their Facebook page is still active, and there are up-to-date posts, I will assume (somehow) that Water Wolf is still alive. Leave me a comment if you had successfully contacted them lately.

If you are interested in buying this camera, you can still find it in some fishing tackle stores. Not sure if this is old stock or not. As said, their status is unclear to me.

Other than that, the Water Wolf camera is the lightest camera on this list (66 grams) and has the longest battery life of 4 hours.

In addition, there is nothing special with the Water Wolf fishing camera that exceeds the others which we already listed here. Keep in mind that they don’t use a smartphone as well. Their video quality is the lowest among the other cameras here, and also the depth this camera supports is the shortest one – 120 meters.

Pros

• Super light camera
• Good battery life – 4 hours
• Affordable price
• Has a variety of accessories – purchased separately.

Cons

• The company’s status is not clear
• Not the best quality – Only HD quality
• No WiFi range
• Doesn’t have any mobile app.
• Does not have any casing
• Closing the camera’s cap can be a bit confusing which can leads to water leakage into the camera – end of the story for the camera in these situations.
• Can’t be used for Ice fishing since it does not come with a float.

#5 of The BEST Underwater Fishing Camera: TACTACAM FISH-I

The TACTACAM Fish-I fishing camera is quite different from all the previous fishing cameras I just listed. It seems it was developed for a different profile of anglers. And if I will be more specific, I would say it is for anglers that place their baits in shallow places. The reason I say that is since the first 4 cameras (Spydro, GoFish Cam, Hook Eye, and Water Wolf) can be sent out to deep places, the TACTACAM Fish-I fishing camera is waterproof up to 30 feet. So, this is definitely not your camera in case you want to use it on a boat. Another way TACTACAM aiming to use the camera is out of the water, filming your fishing from your angle. Exactly like the way people use their GoPro cameras (or any other action camera).

The Fish-I camera has one push button on top of the camera in order to power on the camera, and the same button to start recording. And like the Spydro and the GoFish Cam, the TACTACAM Fish-I has an App, allowing you to configure the settings of the camera. And it accepts miniSD cards up to 64GB. The TACTACAM Fish-I is recording video in HD, and the aspect ratio is at 16:9 format H.264.

TACTACAM FISH-I Unique Features

On the other hand, the TACTACAM Fish-I camera has a few nice and unique features. For example, the camera was constructed with a replaceable lens. The other lenses are sold separately. Another feature of the camera is the connectivity with other products that the company has, such as the TACTACAM Remote, that allows you to turn on and use the camera. In addition, the camera has accessories allowing you to mount the camera in other places, such as your head.

Last, the Fish-I camera has compatibility to direct power, allows you to work with the camera all day long. However, keep in mind that in order to charge it that way, you need to take off the camera’s cap, which makes the camera not waterproof. And, In addition, the Fish-I has an interchangeable battery (Lipo 3.7v), so in case you buy extra batteries, you will be able to change it when desired. The charger for the batteries accepts 2 batteries, so no need to wait till each battery is fully charged.

Regarding the warranty for the camera, it comes with 1 year warranty, which you can extend for another year for an extra cost of 60$.

Pros

• Replaceable batteries
• Loop Recording
• Timelaps Recording
• Interchangeable lenses.
• Has a variety of accessories – purchased separately.

Cons

• Can’t go deep in water – up to 10 meters.
• Does not support night vision
• Can’t be used for spearfishing or diving.
• A bit pricy for the features it offers (can get better features with a different brand for even a cheaper price).
• Can’t be used for Ice fishing since it does not come with a float.

#6 of The BET Underwater Fishing Camera: FishSpy

The last camera on our list is the one by FishSpy. FishSpy is the cheapest camera on our list, currently trending for around 80$. It has the shape of a missile creating a good aerodynamic shape when casting. The FishSpy fishing camera comes with a float, and like the TACTACAM Fish-I, it can only go deep up to 10 meters. Keep in mind that the FishSpy comes with a Fin that covers the back of the camera  – without using it, the camera won’t be waterproof.

The WiFi range of the camera goes up to 100 meters with Android devices, and up to 60 meters when using it with Apple devices. It works for up to 3 hours. Regarding its memory, FishSpy comes with a built-in memory card (unchangeable) that offers 7 hours of video which is quite impressive. However, the recording time is long due to low video quality of 640×480.

All the videos from the FishSpy are managed or deleted through the FishSpy app. However, in order to share your videos on social media, you will need to connect the camera to your computer and download them manually. It does not support Windows phones, Windows tablets or Web OS devices.

Another important note about the FishSpy is that it cannot be used in saltwater fishing.

Other important notes about the FishSpy is that it does not record sound. So you can’t hear how your lure sounds under the water.

Pros

• Cheap Price – 80$
• Stores up to 7 hours of videos

Cons

• Can’t go deep in water – up to 10 meters.
• Can’t be used for spearfishing or diving.
• Low resolution – 640 x 480.
• Does not record sound.
• Can’t be used in saltwater fishing
• Does not support night vision
• Can’t change memory cards

Let’s summarize all

Max Memory	32GB	64GB	32GB	32GB	64GB	Not advertised
Memory Card Included	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Battery Life (Hours)	3.5	1.5	3	4	2.5	3
WiFi Range	80m	10m	No	No	80m	100
Weight	90g	94g	230g	66g		90g
Max Depth	150m	200m	180m	120m	10m	10m
Max Video Quality	1080p @ 30fps	1080p @ 60fps	1080p @ 30fos	720p @ 30fps	1080p @ 60fps	640×480
Record Audio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Built-in Memory Card	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Night Vision	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Freshwater	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Saltwater	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Fishing Log	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Mobile App	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Bag	Yes, Waterproof	No	Yes, Hard storing case	No	Yes	No
Price	269$	199$	399$	160$	199$	80$
Special Notes	Can be used in all types of water conditions. In addition, it is equipped with Sensors to provide extra details on each catch. Also, smart recording detector, saving memory card	Can be used in all types of water conditions.	The camera comes in 2 flavors, fishing & diving	Except for low weight and long battery life, there is nothing special in this camera compared to its price.	Interchangeable lenses. Can use the camera while it is charging.	Low video quality, no sound at all, can’t be used in saltwater fishing, limits the use of the FishSpy
Overall Score

Just before we wrap up

Before we wrap everything up, here is a comparison video between the 3 of the underwater fishing cameras I have listed here – Spydro, GoFish Cam, and Water Wolf. See for yourself the video quality of all of them. Let me know who you think records in the highest quality.

The Best Underwater Fishing Camera – Conclusion

After reviewing 6 different cameras and testing 3 of them personally I can’t say which one will be the best camera for you. Well, it depends on your needs and budget. As a camera, in general, is not a cheap device, I would say that in case you are after the best performing camera, you should go with the Spydo. It has the richest features, and also the safest camera on the list, as you can never do something wrong that can lead to water leakage.

Spydro definitely leads the competition with no real competitors – features no other camera has. So in case you are after the really best camera, get yourself Spydro – you won’t regret it.

However, until the end of 2020, if you are from the United States, and you don’t want to spend 269$ for Spydro, take the advantage of GoFish special price and have yourself a good fishing camera for only 149$. If you live outside of the United States, paying the shipping fees and the miniSD card will get to a total that will be similar to Spydro. So no reason to get much less for your money.

The main reason I chose Spydro and GoFisg Cam as the best go-to fishing cameras is since they are the only fishing cameras that can serve you in all situations. Day fishing, night fishing, saltwater fishing, freshwater fishing, drone fishing, boat fishing, shark fishing, and the list goes on and on. There is another camera that answers these as well, and it is the Hook-Eye fishing camera. However, price-wise, choosing Spydro or GoFish will be a better choice (in my opinion).

You can’t go wrong with either of these choices. I personally have them all and I enjoy them at most.

Let us know about any other fishing camera you know which was not mentioned here. So we will add it to our best underwater fishing camera list.

Till the next time, be safe and tight lines.