FishEyes Rod and Reel Review

The FishEyes Rod and Reel reminds me of the Ronco Pocket Fisherman from days gone by (I was surprised to learn that they are actually still available!). It’s a fishing “pole” with a high tech twist. Attached to the end of the line is a camera that you can use to watch fish in the water through the built in color LCD. Kids will enjoy it, real fishermen, not so much…

Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.

Package Contents

FishEyes Rod and Reel
Bait box, weights and extra clips
User Manual

The FishEyes is a fishing rod and reel constructed entirely of plastic with a small color LCD built into the handle.

The 2.5 inch color LCD has two buttons: Power and Fishlight (flashlight).

A weighted sealed camera is attached to the end of the fishing line. You can attach the included bait box to this camera so that you can watch fish as they are attracted to the food.

If you are fishing in murky waters, there is a built in flashlight aka fishlight.

Before you can use this gadget, you’ll need to feed it some batteries. 4 AA’s to be exact – and not included in the package. The battery compartment is located in the handle and is accessed by removing 2 screws.

Once the batteries are installed, you’re ready to go fishin…

In order to test the FishEyes Rod and Reel, I decided to see if I could ‘catch’ the very rare Orange Striped Shower Wall Sucker.

The lake I fished in, was a Walmart special bucket.

Look at that! She’s a beauty! 😉

The camera is pretty grainy and if the water is muddy or very dim at all, you’ll not be able to see much. The fishlight doesn’t help either.

The most annoying thing about the FishEye though is the horrible ratcheting sound that is made when you reel in the line. It’s loud and annoying and would probably scare away fish!

I tried to cast the line like I would with a true fishing rod out in my yard without much luck. Even though the line is pretty long (I pulled out at least 20 feet and there was still more to go…), the weight of the camera causes the line to cast out a few feet before dropping like a… well… lead weight. It would work fine off a dock or boat though.

For $60, this might be a fun toy for kids ages 8 and up to get them introduced to fishing. Just remember, this is a toy though and not a real fishing pole.