Quote Originally Posted by The Bait Shop Guy View Post
If you are trying to decide which to get first - camera or a flasher - go with the flasher. You can use it in all water conditions, day or night. Cameras are a lot of fun to fish with, but you need to have clear water. If it's stained or murky, you won't be able to see very far. The water in the bay is very clear, so that wouldn't be an issue. I used to fish off the Escanaba harbor in 60 FOW and had no problem seeing smelt and whitefish that deep, even with snow cover on the ice. Most of them come with infrared lighting for night viewing. The truth is that infrared energy is absorbed very quickly in water, and is virtually worthless.
+1 to everything Chris said. Cameras are AWESOME...as long as you can see and are at the right depth in the water column. Nothing better than watching fish come in to eat and it's a huge advantage on when to set the hook. I usually set up in the bottom few feet with the camera and can see both my bait and the one from the guy fishing next to me in the shack. But I also run a flasher when I'm more than a few feet deep in case anything comes in up high. As Chris said, the light is worthless and when conditions are dark the flasher is the only thing that's effective.