You don't have to be an avid fisherman to have a story about the one that got away.
Those tales often start with an epic bite that bent the fishing pole as the presumed monster fish raced away with the bait. Then, after a battle, the line snapped or the fish struggled its way free. Then, the stories end with some version of this: "I don't know what it was, but it was huge!"
That's where the GoFish Cam comes in. It's a camera that attaches to your fishing line and captures video of what's going on underwater, giving users at least a glimpse of the big one that got away (or didn't), the video to prove it and a potential lesson in what went right or wrong.
The camera attaches on one end to your casting line, and then you attach your leader line and lure to the other end of it. That way, if you get snagged on a rock the leader line and lure may be lost but your camera is still attached to the main line. (You can view an overview video here.)
The camera has an app that lets you view and share HD videos with other fishermen immediately after you reel in your catch. And it can stream video in real-time to your device if you set the camera up to float atop the water (it can't livestream when it's underwater). It has a microphone, as well as lighting around the rim of the camera to illuminate the water in darker settings. It can go up to 150 meters under water, and it has a battery life of about four hours.
The app has an easy-to-click menu to log the location, type of bait, species of fish and other details of your trip so you can share it with a close group -- or everyone on sharing platforms. It also allows you to easily edit video and apply filters.
For expert fishermen, the camera offers a chance to not only see what may be under water, but to see footage of exactly how the fish is attacking and its behavior. That, in turn, helps them learn which lures and bait to use, as well as what depths are best for a particular fish. And the more location and depth data, the better.
For amateurs, it's all about the shareable footage and ability to weave it in with the classic image of someone holding the fish up for the camera on the boat or at the dock. It helps you document the full fishing story.
Catching an Idea Instead of a Fish
The startup is the brainchild of brothers Brandon and Ryan Austin, two fishermen from Ontario, Canada, who have since moved to Austin. It launched in November 2014.
The brothers grew up fishing fresh waters in Canada and the deep seas off of Costa Rica, where their mom grew up.
Brandon said his brother Ryan got the idea for GoFish Cam while on a trip to Trinidad for a wedding. The wedding party was out on a catamaran, and Ryan was hanging out with some local fishermen who had a huge fish on the line that got away. Everyone was asking what kind of fish it might have been and whether they should go back to try to catch it again. Ryan started thinking about how often that happens and the need for a quality camera to see what's beneath the surface -- so you really know.
At the time, there were really only two options on the market. A GoPro, which doesn't easily connect to your fishing line, and the Water Wolf, which has a similar look but lacks many of the tech features of the GoFish Cam.
Neither of the brothers had experience creating hardware. Ryan has started a couple tech and services companies, including one that Brandon said had millions in revenue. And Brandon had worked at a software company in Ottawa.
They quickly realized Canada wasn't the right place to build the company.
"There's more avid and licensed fishermen in the U.S. than the entire population of Canada," Brandon told me. "So I knew I didn't want to build the business there because the market just didn't make sense."
Initially, Brandon moved to Houston to live with Ryan, who had already moved there. But Brandon wanted to be in Austin, and he started commuting there. Houston had a great scene for medical and oil and gas software startups, but he felt Austin had the resources he needed for GoFish Cam.
Today, Ryan isn't part of the day-to-day management team. Instead, he's a co-founder and advisor to GoFish Cam, but largely focused on his company Synapse. But they're not far apart. Both GoFish Cam and Synapse have office space at Capital Factory.
"It's fun being right next to each other in Capital Factory and in Austin, both working on our startups" Brandon said.
The startup went through the six-month Telluride Venture Accelerator in Colorado, and it is now back in Austin.
Fishing for the Right Camera
Making a camera that you can cast 20-plus feet into the water, that floats underwater next to a lure you hope a fish will eat, is not a simple task. There are stability issues, hydrodynamic problems, visibility and, of course, it has to stay on the line even if you snag a rock or tree branch -- no one wants to lose a $189 camera at the bottom of the sea, lake or river.
That's part of why the company has taken time to perfect the product. It's first prototype was developed in January 2015. Now, in August 2017, GoFish Cam is starting to ship out its first batch of cameras to users.
"So it's taken a long time to get the design right and get the functionality right," Brandon said. "I think we went through like 34 different designs and a ton of different prototypes."
They had one prototype with dozens of holes to test dozens of fin shapes in different configurations to best stabilize the camera in the water. The brothers contracted with a development group to build the first prototype, which wasn't even something Brandon would want to fish with.
Brandon said he didn't have enough technical background to convey the precise needs of the fisherman to designers who haven't fished much -- or at all.
So, after a long search, he found a CTO, Kieran Howlett, with the right experience. Howlett came on board at the end of first Kickstarter, which raised $101,000 of a $55,000 ask, to source product and perfect it.
"He liked to fish, so I knew I could trust him to know our vision."
