Fishery reveals ‘in swim’ cameras

A fishery in Yorkshire is offering anglers the unique opportunity to watch their hookbaits while they fish – thanks to underwater cameras.

In what is the first exercise of its kind, Welham Lake in Malton, North Yorkshire, is giving visitors the chance to improve their angling skills by allowing them to watch live underwater footage of their tackle while they target the fishery’s specimen carp and tench.

The idea is the brainchild of fishery boss Gary Howard, who was inspired to create the project called ‘The Welham Underwater Carp Academy’ after he posted a video on social media, only to receive an overwhelming amount of feedback.

He told Angling Times: “I came up with the idea when I took an underwater video of my lake using my phone and posted it on Facebook.

“Within a few hours hundreds of people were sharing it, which made me realise how popular this sort of thing can be.

“I also run carp fishing schools at Welham, so I then thought, why not combine the two? The lake here is spring-fed and shallow, so it is ultra-clear, and therefore ideal for underwater filming,” he said.

Gary is planning to open the lake to anglers on March 1, when a maximum of four visitors at any one time will be able to target carp to 26lb and tench to 10lb-plus while receiving live footage of their rigs after casting out.

“Anglers will fish for 24 hours, of which eight will be under the guidance of our staff, showing them how the system works,” Gary said.

“They will be able to go out on a boat to see their rig up close, as well as fish in a filmed swim with a permanent camera installed.

“We are currently altering the water, so that it will have various different types of lakebed including silt, weed and gravel, imitating what the anglers might find on their own local venues,” he said.