Fairly new to bass fishing, and I was just wondering...which would be better for locating fish, and why? I can only afford one right now, and it

would have to be about $180 or less.

I've seen both for this price or less, but I'm not sure which would be the best all-around system.  

Seems to me the TV camera would be best, except in muddy water, which I'd seldom be in. Any thoughts? If you could only have one...

Thanks

I fish a small lake with 10-13 feet of visibility and although it wasn't the best camera, about $200, it didn't work very well and you have to be stopped to realy use it. Get a depth finder.

Fish finder, it works in any water clarity all the time, it works at almost any boat speed, it don 't get snagged on obstructions.

"Fish Finder" ABSOLUTELY. I do not use mind to find fish however I use it to find structure and cover on structure. I turn that freaking "fish" alarm off. I have a long way to go, in learning how to visualize what I am seeing  on the screen, as related to the actual 3-D underwater, but the better I get at it, the better I have been doing.

Definitely a fish finder. The underwater cameras are nice but are cumbersome to use efficiently. You'll end up messing with the camera a whole lot more than fishing.

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

I have been using depth finders for a long time and am just now comtemplating springing for a good Aqua-Vu so I can check my interpretation of some wpts. Get comfortable with the sonar before you go for the camera.

If you're not fishing clear water, video ain't much good.  I thought they would be a nice addition so bought (wasted my money) on one.  The lake I fish normally has a visability about five feet, anything below about 10 feet it's not much good.  Even where you have good light penatration visabilty is very limited, only about five feet.

Fish finder all the way!!!!

Well, it seems as though there is a strong opinion favoring the fish finder as opposed to the TV camera. That's all I needed to know.

Thanks for the responses.

Doug

To me the only thing a camera is good for, is to actually see what you think you see on the fish finder.In other words it a good training aide.later down the road you could get one so that those lumps and humps  you see on your sonar screen could be further investigated with a camera to tell if its rocks,stumps,logs or brush.It may not be  that big a deal to know the difference in type of structure to you but, its loads of fun if you have kids onboard.They love it.