When you spend your hard-earned cash on a GoPro action camera you’ll likely want to keep it close at hand. Not so for Nathan Rich of Southern Salt Kayak Fishing, who bravely tied his Hero 9 to a length of line and dropped it deep underwater. This unique approach to finding fish opens a window on the artificial reef ecosystem off Florida’s Navarre Beach. Check out the fascinating footage—how many species can you spot?
Peering Underwater With a GoPro Hero
How did Rich stumble upon the idea to investigate the reef with his GoPro? “After seeing huge balls of fish surrounding the reef,” he says, “I decided to drop my GoPro Hero 9 down.” He hopes to see big snapper and grouper, but “there’s no telling what’s down there.”
Reviewing the footage back in his office, Rich is surprised to see a ton of mangrove snapper swimming around the reef. “I fish these reefs a lot and mangrove is not something that we catch very often,” he says. Rich also spots lionfish, triggerfish and his highly anticipated grouper and red snapper.
Commenter Brian Hurst asks, “Does this make you adjust how you fish out there?” Rich responds in the affirmative: “Man it definitely makes me want to drop some bigger baits for those grouper.”
Taking the Plunge on a New Perspective
If you’re tempted to try the same trick, take a close look at your camera’s specs before taking the plunge. The GoPro Hero 9, for example, is rated waterproof down to 33 feet (10 meters) underwater. Make sure the rubber seals around the various ports and compartments are secure and undamaged. If you want to go deeper, GoPro’s Super Suit dive housing is rated for depths up to 196 feet (60 meters).
Seems like you could stabilize the camera by putting a popping cork on the line above the camera to keep taut the line between it and the weight, then using the slack above the cork to absorb the motion imparted by wave action at the surface.
That would be an awesome tool if you could control it somehow. Ultimate would be an underwater robot that sends the video back to you in the kayak. Probably just a bit out of the fishing budget.
I was thinking for more stabilized video you might level the GoPro on a tripod that would sit on bottom. Would also be cool if there was a turntable that would allow 360 degree videos
Oh well that was pretty cool anyway.