BlogJanuary 2015

Streaming Web Cams: An Indoor Fishing Adventure. Sort of…

Streaming Web Cams: An Indoor Fishing Adventure. Sort of…

By Andy Whitcomb

Jan 12, 2015

Is the ice still “growing” on your lakes?

Is the ice still “growing” on your lakes? Are your roads due a visit from a snowplow? Same here. But that doesn’t mean I’m not still thinking about fishing. There are various ways to use fishing “down time” such as reorganizing tackle or fishing rod repair. Well, internet also can help fishermen cope.

Here are 3 ways live streaming web cams can help when fishing conditions are poor:
 

  1. Watch the fishing conditions online. By monitoring, for example, Black Lake in New York, Beaver Lake near Eureka Springs, Arkansas or Lake Erie, at the Erie Yacht club in PA, you can watch for the situation to improve and plan your next trip accordingly. Or if you aren’t stuck in your own driveway, the four steaming cameras on Elk Creek, PA at Uncle John’s Elk Creek Campgrounds will not only help you gauge the water flow and clarity, but you also can determine if the creek banks look too crowded with anglers for an immediate trip. These are just a few examples…check for places around you where you can find webcams to monitor.

  2. It is hard to beat the healthy, stress relief from simply watching fish. And when a screen saver just won’t cut it, check out the hit and miss of videos of wild fish like Wolf River in Wisconsin or the “Salmoncam” of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife at a fish barrier. Maybe you’ll catch a glimpse of a big one.

  3. For a sure thing of fish viewing, you might try visiting some aquarium web cams. For saltwater, I recommend: the Monterey Bay Aquarium or the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Or, if you prefer viewing freshwater fish such as gar, striped bass, blue catfish, and largemouth bass you might try the 15 foot deep Piedmont Reservoir Exhibit of the Georgia Dept of Natural Resources.

With a little help from the web, I just might make it through this snowstorm. Now if the power would just stay on.

Andy Whitcomb
Andy Whitcomb
Andy is an outdoor writer (http://www.justkeepreeling.com/) and stressed-out Dad has contributed over 380 blogs to takemefishing.org since 2011. Born in Florida, but raised on banks of Oklahoma farm ponds, he now chases pike, smallmouth bass, and steelhead in Pennsylvania. After earning a B.S. in Zoology from OSU, he worked in fish hatcheries and as a fisheries research technician at OSU, Iowa State, and Michigan State.