A couple of personal tips when creating videos:
1) Try to tell a story: For a lot of guys that make videos, what the viewer gets is more of a highlight video of the angler's day on the water. I find that what most viewers actually want (myself included) is to feel like they were right there with you. It is hard to feel that way simply by watching a highlight reel. I mean, think about any major sports game that you watched on television. If it was a good game, you probably felt very invested in the game. Yet when you watched the highlights of that same game later, it just didn't feel the same. It's like the highlight just missed the "it" factor that the full game had. Now take that same mindset and think about the best fishing videos you have watched. To me, the best ones have been when the angler has taken me through everything (good and bad) that has happened through the day.
To spin this into my own videos, I always note things and voice them to the camera. Things like how I am noticing bait movements or the lack of bait, the changing conditions, reasonings as to why I think the bite is picking up/slowing down compared to earlier in the day. I do all of these little actions to get the viewer to feel like they are in the boat with me. That way, when things are going well or something incredible happens, the viewer feels like they were apart of that day. I can go way deeper into this topic if anyone is interested. I am likely to run out of internet if I keep going, though.
2) Get used to talking to the camera: I think that this is one of the hardest parts for most of us. Nobody likes feeling like an idiot and this definitely has that effect. Then again, if you are like me and do about 15 things that prove you are an idiot before you even put pants on in the morning, then this is less of an issue than you might think. Personally, I talk to the camera by imagining that I am talking to you guys. This helps me by playing into my first topic. Let's say I'm doing a video about skipping a jig under docks (which is a real thing; I have a video about that somewhere out there). As I am coming up on the dock, I'll talk to the camera (doesn't matter if it is chest mounted or somewhere else) about potential targets/bass holding areas or maybe the priority I would give to said targets. If I am using a chest mounted camera, I'll use my rod to point out exactly what I am talking about. In videos that are purely just about a day of trying to figure the fish out, I like to stop and do just a quick couple minute breakdown of how the day is going so far. This helps the viewer relate to how much time has passed by and allows them to sort of "get in my head" as far as my thoughts on the day are concerned.
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