Groundbreaking MarCum Underwater Camera footage reveals river monsters
Minneapolis, MN – Peering into the murky waters of the Mississippi River, the untrained eye wonders how fish ever manage to find a lure. At this, fishing guide Brian Klawitter simply smiles. Klawitter, who operates Trophy Catfish and Sturgeon Adventures (www.brianksworld.com), has made waves in fishing circles recently for his extraordinary underwater river footage.
Using a MarCum VS825C color underwater camera attached to a video recorder, Klawitter has captured some truly stunning images of the deep pools of the Mighty Mississippi— underwater haunts where few people have ever laid eyes. The groundbreaking footage depicts in crystal clear video, flathead catfish, walleyes, sturgeon and a variety of other river dwellers within their wintertime haunts. Certain clips reveal massive congregations of enormous flatheads, huddled together like logs, so dormant that their gills rarely pulse. Biologists have known about this hibernation-like behavior for years, yet few people have ever witnessed it in nature. The quality and rarity of the footage has even gained the attention of National Geographic, who has approached Klawitter for rights to air it on their various television programs.
“When I tell people that the footage was captured on the Mississippi River,” saysKlawitter, with a grin, “They usually don’t believe me. Sometimes, the sharpness and clarity of the MarCum video still amazes me. I mean, people look at the river, then watch the footage, and simply walk away amazed. That’s when I tell them, if the MarCum works this well in this river, imagine how well it will work in your lake. It’s a little like having HDTV in your boat.”
The extraordinary video picture, Klawitter believes, can be attributed to MarCum’s superior camera optics and high resolution LCD monitor. “I did a side-by-side comparison of the MarCum VS825C and another camera brand. It became immediately apparent that MarCum’s Sony CCD Super HAD optics was the reason for the huge difference in image quality. When you look at some of the footage from the other camera, all you see is a dark, blurry screen—in some cases it’s tough to even discern whether you’re looking at submerged trees or a big weedbed. Even with the competing camera’s viewing lights on and the MarCum’s off, the MarCum image was still superior.”
Application-wise, while underwater cameras shine for ice-fishing, Klawitter’s river footage proves the power of this technology for inside a boat, too. As he’s discovered, though, along with the secrets it reveals, camera use carries responsibility. “Even though it’s exciting to find mother-lodes of fish like these wintering catfish schools, it would be too easy to do real damage to the fishery by harvesting excessively. Besides showing me the river’s secrets, the MarCum has also taught me to respect just how special these places can be.”
For more information and a 2010 MarCum catalog, contact Versa Electronics, 3943 Quebec Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55427. For customer service, please contact us at 888-778-1208 or email us at [email protected]. Website is http://www.marcumtech.com.
Let us know when your footage will air on TV. 
