See the spot
Inspect gravel, silt, weed, snags, margins and clear areas.
UNDERWATER VISION FOR ANGLERS
See your swim.
A powered underwater camera for anglers.
Scout the lakebed, inspect your rig and watch how fish really behave from the bank.
Designed for carp anglers. Built to show you what sonar cannot.
Sonar tells you something is there.
SwimScout lets you go and look.
See the rig
Check how your hookbait and presentation actually sit on the lakebed.
See the fish
Watch carp approach, inspect, reject or feed around your presentation.
HOW IT WORKS
From bank to lakebed
BANKSINKING UMBILICALSWIMSCOUTRIG / FISH
Lower
Lower SwimScout into the swim using its sinking umbilical.
Explore
Use four reversible thrusters to lift, move, reverse and rotate.
Observe
Position the camera and inspect the lakebed, rig and fish behaviour.
Park
Settle SwimScout gently onto its snag-resistant skids and leave it watching the spot.
FISHING-FIRST DESIGN
Designed around the realities of carp fishing
Sinking umbilical
Designed to lie down behind SwimScout rather than floating through the water column where a hooked fish could encounter it.
Top-mounted lift thrusters
Current prototype architecture lifts the sled clear of the lakebed while aiming to minimise silt disturbance.
Snag-resistant sled
Curved skids and guarded thrusters are designed to ride over weed, branches and uneven ground.
Slight positive buoyancy
SwimScout itself is designed to float if separated from its ballast and tether.
Sacrificial fishing lead
Standard fishing leads clip to the ballast system using the lead's existing swivel.
Infrared night vision
Soft IR emitters give the camera a night mode without lighting up the swim or spooking feeding fish.
Emergency recovery
A planned emergency command releases the sacrificial ballast and umbilical so SwimScout can rise independently.
Recovery beacon
An independent beacon is planned to help locate SwimScout after an emergency surface.
MOVEMENT
Four reversible thrusters, simple control
Vertical reversible thrusters
Lift / descend
Left horizontal reversible thruster
Forward / reverse / steering
Right horizontal reversible thruster
Forward / reverse / steering
Differential thrust is intended to let SwimScout rotate on the spot without making untested claims about speed or thrust.
MODULAR SYSTEM
One sled. Build it your way.
SwimScout Core
Thrusters, tether, camera mounting and basic control.
Pan / Tilt
Look around the swim without moving the whole sled.
Camera Lift
Raise the viewpoint above weed or obstacles.
Recover
Emergency release, sacrificial lead and beacon.
IR Night Vision
Infrared illumination for low-light viewing, designed to be invisible to fish.
Camera adapters
Support different underwater fishing cameras.
Future modules
Sonar, environmental sensors and other accessories.
The Core sled is designed to be useful by itself, then accept additional modules later without replacing the whole modular underwater camera drone.
PLANNED RECOVERY SYSTEM
Designed to come back up.
The current prototype architecture uses a sacrificial lead, planned emergency release and independent recovery beacon to reduce the risk of losing the sled during difficult swims.
BANK-SIDE ARCHITECTURE
Everything important stays with you
BANK
Battery
Controller
Camera display
Fuse / safety controls
SINKING UMBILICAL
Power
Control
Video
SWIMSCOUT
Thrusters
Camera
Movement systems
For the prototype, we are investigating commercially available 18-24V components and standard removable power-tool battery systems.
PROTOTYPE STATUS
Built at the bank. Tested in the water.
SwimScout is currently in prototype development. We are building and testing the propulsion, tether, camera positioning and recovery systems before moving toward production.
- Concept✓
- Component testing→
- Pond prototype→
- Field trials→
- Production design→
FISHING INSIGHT
Spot the signs. Be ready for the take.
Observe how fish behave towards your rigs, understand how your setup works underwater and optimise your presentation to land more fish. Infrared night mode helps you keep watching in low light without blasting the swim with visible light.
REGISTER INTEREST
Help shape SwimScout
We are looking for anglers interested in prototype trials, product updates and early access.