By Craig Robbins

Take a virtual stroll through social media these days and you’ll note a continuous procession of self-shot video, showcasing everything from bucket-list skydives to the slightly more mundane ”How I pass the time with a shoehorn and a banana.” Everyone is an aspiring Spielberg.

In a time when extreme athletes and everyone else have adopted the trend toward point-of-view cameras, the underwater video experts at Aqua-Vu recently unveiled the first-ever P.O.V. underwater viewing system designed for fishing.

The Aqua-VuTrolling Motor Camera System may be the ultimate underwater sight-fishing tool. And while this unique camera is more than capable of documenting your underwater fishing adventures, it serves an even more valuable function- to provide a real-time view of the fish and their hideouts within casting range.

Mounted to the base of any bow or transom trolling motor, the TM Cam features a stealthy, machined metal camera bracket, as well as all-necessary hardware for quick and easy camera attachment. The TM Cam System (MSRP $149.99) can be installed in less than 30 minutes, and includes an acorn-size high resolution Aqua-Vu Micro camera with IR Lighting and 15-feet of heavy-duty camera cable, in addition to the mounting brackets and hardware. Anglers can also purchase the mounting kit only (MSRP $99.99), which fits all existing Aqua-Vu Mirco Underwater Viewing Systems.

“The TM Cam is a fun fishing tool that shows me the underwater terrain around my casting position,” said professional bass angler and longtime Aqua-Vu devotee, Joe Balog. ”It’s a totally hands-free viewing system that’s steered simply by turning the trolling motor.

”With the foot pedal, I can pan the camera in any direction to follow the perimeter of a weedline, tailgate a school of bass or sunfish, or look under a boat dock or inside a shallow brushpile. It also shows me subtle bottom transitions I might otherwise overlook. And muskie anglers are going to love this for watching and recording big fish following and striking near the boat.”

Beyond real-time sight-fishing, the TM Cam can also be used to record, document and share underwater viewing explorations. Used with an Aqua Vu Mirco Plus DVR or Mirco 5 purchased separately, anglers can record up to 8 GB of underwater video, while USB and video-out ports allow for connection to a PC or other video display device to view, manage and upload video files online or on your computer.