GoPro Hero3 – The Best Camera for Fishing?

I’ve used a GoPro Hero2 for most of this season, mostly in my kayak. I’d really like to have more of them, honestly. The more angles, the better the final video! However, it’s AWESOME for documenting the day’s catches.

The single greatest aspect of the GoPro, in my opinion, is the amazing versatility in mounting options. GoPro offers many mounts that can be used by fisherman, from the chest mount, to the head mount, and even using the suction cup mount and seatpost/handlebar mount. However, there is much more fun to be had in fabricating your own to get the angles you truly want. I’ve made mounts to fit my crate for kayak fishing, a backpack mount for fishing in boats, and many, many more. Examples of all of these can be found on my latest youtube video found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sapgtZXJDkc&feature=plcp

I have 2 suggestions for those wishing to document their fishing adventures (in order of importance):

1. Get extra batteries. And then get some more. On my Hero2, filming in either 1080p/30fps or 720p/60fps, I get roughly an hour and a half out of a battery. When you spend all day on the water, and you’re unsure of when you’re actually going to catch the next fish, you’re going to leave the camera running the whole time. In addition, the battery bacpac accessory is nice, allowing you to essentially double your battery life between changes. On the Hero2, this accessory also lets you change the battery within the bacpac and use it for charging your extra batteries. On the Hero3, the battery is fixed within the bacpac, so you don’t have this luxury.

2. Get a remote or utilize the smartphone app. With the remote, you can control settings on the GoPro or start/stop recording. While this may be of less importance on a boat where the camera is accessible, it’s still nice to just hit the button on the remote on your wrist. In my kayak, it is generally a little more difficult to access the gopro depending on where I’ve mounted it, so this is invaluable. You also can, at a glance, check battery life and memory available. With the smartphone app, you can also see a “live” preview to assure that your shot is framed as you want it to be. The caveat to using this on the Hero2 is that you have to purchase the wifi bacpac + remote. Using this bacpac, you will not be able to use the battery bacpac simultaneously. Additionally, there seems to be some decrease in battery life when in use, likely because of the need to create the preview for streaming to the app. On the Hero3, wifi is built-in. However, you have to purchase the remote should you choose to use it ($79, unless you purchased the black edition, in which the remote is included). Additionally, the smartphone app only works with the white and silver editions at this time, with an update to the black edition to add support expected in December 2012.

Hope this helps!