best camera for CPR fishing

[NorthernAbGuy]

I have taken up kayak fishing recently. This year I did my first tournament. The hardest part is the photographing part, and takes a bit of practice. I have used my Iphone, a gopro, and a cheap digital with mixed results. The Iphone does not float, so could be lost even with a waterproof case, you also need a cable and have to hope the judges are a bit techno savvy. The gopro does not have a viewscreen, and does not have very good battery life. The cheap digital is not waterproof, wouldn't float, AND has crappy battery life, but at least a guy can keep a few AAs in a pocket. I'm curious what other anglers are using on the water, I saw a Fuji x50 and x60 in the shops the other day, couldn't really tell the difference, except the 60 was good to 6 meters instead of 5. Thanx in advance.

[RavYak]

I would stay away from those cheap fuji models. I looked at them long and hard because of the price but there are a lots of people that have waterproofing issues, no point in buying a waterproof camera if it doesn't work under water.

I have an Olympus TG-820. It works pretty good but is a little disappointing in certain situations(low light and video recording). Imo there are only a few really good point and shoot underwater cameras and most are fairly expensive(think $250+) and most of them aren't great at video(passable but change focus too much and things like that). If you want something for just snapping pictures and the odd short video they will work.

One issue with most point and shoot cameras when kayaking is that it is hard to get good pictures of fish. The method of choice seems to be using a go pro since you can mount it in such a way to get some great pictures and video. Battery life is an issue and I am not exactly sure how guys usually get around this. I have been considering picking up a go pro but haven't figured the battery part yet(other then using newer version with battery bacpac which should get around 3 hrs of use and having extra batteries on hand to switch out with). I have wondered about the wifi remote and turning it on/off but it seems they don't last that long even in standby mode.

[Mikezilk]

I have my iphone, 3 - GoPro Hero 2s and a run of the mill Canon Powershot none waterproof.

Really anything will work. Get a good waterproof box and put any kind of camera in there. Take your pics and put it back.

I have my iPhone 4 in a Lifeproof case and have put a tether on it to attach it to my PFD. Same goes for GoPro.

Camera is not so much of an issue as keeping the fish in place is. Many anglers are now using velcro straps to secure their fish down to their measuring boards. I am going to work on a few designs this winter for CPR boards.

Keep posted to our Kayak Fishing Alberta Facebook group. I will be posting on there for input etc on designing a better board for us kayak anglers.

This year things went fairly smooth with the pictures for the tourney. If you have any suggestions for next year, let me know. I think with the implementation of the '13 sticker this year it made it easy to ensure that all pictures with the sticker were taken at the tourney. Using phones for next year should be easy.

[RavYak]

A lot of guys use boards like this. This one only goes to 36 inches but can find some that are larger.

http://www.thefishinhole.com/index.cfm?action=product&se=27595

Would be pretty easy to set up a velcro strap or something with one of these to help hold the fish in if that is an issue as Mike says.

I actually don't have anything really set up on my kayak but I guess I will have to if I go into one of these tourneys one day.