Kayak fishing will produce some dramatic and exciting big fish moments on the water. Before long you will be tempted to pack your expensive digital camera and video camera on your next kayak fishing outing. Even with everything safely tethered to the boat, just a few seconds underwater can result in expensive camera repairs or worse, completely ruin your expensive gear. Take a look at how to safeguard your equipment while kayak fishing. There are a number of options available to protect your photographic equipment while in a kayak.
Splash Protection - Depending on the size of your unit, an ordinary gallon size zip-lock bag does a very nice job of keeping splashing waves and salt spray from making contact with your camera. SealLine makes a number of waterproof bags which are designed to keep rain and moisture out of clothing, wallets, and cameras. This is a economical choice for protecting your camera gear while on the deck or in a hatch of a kayak.
Waterproof Cases - In the plastic bag department, I own a bag made by DiCAPac, WP-D20. While the quality is very good, in my opinion it is a bit pricey at -. It is designed to place your video Camera inside a plastic bag with a locking waterproof seal arrangement.
While this system is completely waterproof up to 10M (33 feet), I found it awkward to operate the video camera inside a bag. And you can not flip out the video camera viewing screen to monitor what you are shooting. But your video camera will stay dry even when snorkeling or SCUBA diving.
Waterproof Cameras And Video Cameras - Today a nice selection of digital cameras and video cameras are now on the market. Many are waterproof to a depth 10-30 feet below the surface. This makes a very good choice for kayak anglers, because you can forget the plastic bag approach and just tether the camera to yourself and keep it in your pocket for quick use when needed. Olympus, Pentax, Fuji sell waterproof digital cameras with video capabilities. Sanyo VPC-WH1 HD Waterproof Flash Memory Camcorder which is both HD and waterproof.
This final option is the most expensive. This option includes special Plexiglas cases in which you place your camera inside and close water tight seals to keep the water out. However, this special equipment is expensive (0-1,500+) and is usually out of reach for kayak anglers looking for inexpensive solutions. Consequently, it is beyond the intended message of this article.
There are many choices and various alternatives to provide addition water protection for your expensive camera gear when kayak fishing.
