Water Wolf HD review

**Update** The Water Wolf HD is not currently available in the UK. If you are looking for one the best place to try is eBay.

The Water Wolf HD is an underwater camera designed so you can film your rigs and the fish under the water. I’ve been using one for my carp fishing for over a year now and have added some videos and a full review of the product here. If you have any questions about it then add a comment at the bottom of the page or send me a tweet to @casual_Carper.

I’d recommend buying one but read the review for the limitations of what you’ll see on the recordings. There is a lot to learn from using one, but don’t expect perfect videos of you catching monster carp!

Update – I now have 2 of these so I can do a film on 2 rods at once! You can see the videos on my Youtube channel here or on Instagram – search “Casual Carper“.

Water Wolf – Carp fishing review

The first thing to point out from my experience of using this in UK lakes – Ignore the very sexy youtube videos on the product. Unless you fish a flat bottomed, gin-clear lake that has an abundance of big carp you won’t get videos like that! But if you use this device for learning about the bottom conditions and how you’re rig looks then you’ll learn a great deal.

To fish with one you’ll need the camera and the bottom filming kit – I’ll show you how to set that up further down the page.

You can buy them here from Amazon with next day delivery

Here’s how a decent video of a carp taken in spring. (Carp comes up on 43 seconds)

How to set up the Water Wolf

To get started you need to get the top off to get it charged – it’s seriously tight the first time you do it! Put some strong monoline (not braid) through the hole at the top and pull, keep the pressure on and wiggle the line side to side and it will eventually come loose. Then plug the charger in and it will take a couple of hours to full charge – when the blue light goes off it is done.

Next, add the memory card, there’s only 1 way to add it so it clicks in place. Make sure the memory card is clear when you put it in as it can cause problems with the recording if not. To test add the memory card and turn the Water Wold on to start recording. If the red light flashes intermittently then it’s fine and recording. If it flashes for 9ish seconds and then goes off you’ll need to wipe the memory card completely and start again.

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Setting up the bottom kit

What you’ll need

Water Wolf underwater bottom filming kit

Lead core looped at each end (like this below from Gardner Tackle)

Your rig (For ideal recordings you’ll want to be around 5 inches from the device – this is why you won’t catch much with it on!)

Here’s my latest YouTube review to getting the most out of your Water Wolf

Tips for using the Water Wolf for carp fishing

1. Be prepared to have to use it a few times to get it right. Depending on the clarity of the water you may need to close/ further away from the camera. Sometimes on an uneven bottom, you can end up with videos of nothing so it’s good to keep moving it about.
2. Remember you won’t get sexy videos – use it for testing different rigs, baits and areas of the swim to see what’s there. It’s great for checking out how wafters work underwater or popups – especially if you tie and tweak your own rigs.
3. It’s best used in spring when the water is a little clearer.
4. Have 2 memory cards – That way if you take a computer/ tablet with a card reader you can watch some of the footage whilst taking some on the other card.

Here’s a video I took last year of a pellet banjo feeder underwater. (You can see the blog – beginners guide to fishing for carp on the method feeder here)

Recently I’ve been getting some better videos from the wolf by concentrating on waters where the water is clearer. Whilst I think I’ll get fewer bites with the Wolf on the bottom compared to a standard lead I’m still getting some good footage. As mentioned above you need to see this as a learning tool about how your baits are presented on the bottom rather than getting sexy videos of you catching 30s!

Here’s a recent video I took using a popup and losing a carp (keep watching to see the carp!

Things I’ve learned from using the Water Wolf

1. Without rig foam my rig gets tangled around 1 in 7 casts – So now I’m not lazy and use rig foam every cast if I’m not using a feeder. (like this from Gardner Tackle)
2. The quality of your popups really matter. I’ve found some cheaper ones act much more like a wafter.
3. Using tungsten putty on the rig gives a much better presentation to get more bites (in my opinion). Especially when you just use it to sit your hook bait around 1 – 2 centimetres from the bottom.
4. Roach often swim around with the carp looking for smaller bait they stir up. Not sure if this is lake specific, but when the roach come into the camera there’s usually a carp around too.