what do you think is better and easier to use
what do you think is better and easier to use
Flasher. I think it’s much more accurate than a graph and easier to dial in on the water and for each jig you’re using. As a great man once said “I t’s not rocket appliances”.
Green=fish is outside edge of beam cone
yellow=fish is Closer to the hole
red=fish is right below the transducer.
the bigger the mark, the bigger the fish.
I was Anti electronics before, thinking it was cheating. Then I bought an FL-12 and it opened my eyes. I won’t go fishing without it. If I had to buy one right now, it would be either Humminbird or marcum. Vexilar just seems over priced for what you get. And I’m a Vexilar fan.
1995 Ranger 481v
1995 Johnson Fast Strike 175hp
I don't think either are hard to use, especially if you're already used to using 2D on a boat. As for which is more accurate, I don't have enough time with a graph to really say.
Personally, I like my FLX-28 flasher the most, but that could be because my graph is a Helix 10 and it's bigger/heavier so I don't take it as much but when I do I enjoy using it.
If you have a boat with a graph that can be switched into an Ice mode like Humminbird then that would be the easiest way to start out. You would just need a shuttle, transducer and battery. With Humminbird you also have the option between a flasher, 2D or a combo of the two. When I'm using my Helix 10 I'm usually in the split screen.
2019 Ranger 212LS with a 2019 Mercury 250 ProXS 4-Stroke
Humminbird HELIX 10 MSI and HELIX 10 Chirp (side by side at the console)
Humminbird HELIX 10 MDI+ and HELIX 10 Chirp (stacked at the bow)
Minn Kota Ultrex 112lb with Humminbird MEGA 360
Dual Minn Kota 12' Talon with R&R Design Extended Emergency Ladder
Option 3 livescope...... watch the bluegill fart next to your jig and see the bubbles rise to the surface.
live imaging is fun, last March my wife and I visited her brother who just got Mega Live and that was fun to use through the ice. I don't think it would be as much fun if you don't drive on the ice because that is a fair amount of extra equipment to tote out there.
Last edited by gary_fritz; 11-30-2022 at 06:22 AM.
2019 Ranger 212LS with a 2019 Mercury 250 ProXS 4-Stroke
Humminbird HELIX 10 MSI and HELIX 10 Chirp (side by side at the console)
Humminbird HELIX 10 MDI+ and HELIX 10 Chirp (stacked at the bow)
Minn Kota Ultrex 112lb with Humminbird MEGA 360
Dual Minn Kota 12' Talon with R&R Design Extended Emergency Ladder
do you think i will have better readings if i get an ice transducer for my Hook i just rigged the skimmer on a board to give it a try last year
I dont really think you will have much of a difference in readings per say. Both ducers would be stationary and producing a cone of about the same size if both set at same setting. I think the ice ducer is good because you can just drop in hole and it aligns itself and is easier to pull out when you get a fish on. I used a hb 798 for years with my regular ducer on a mount I made. If jigging just drill 2 holes almost touching. 1 for fishing and 1 for sonar.
As said, the ice ducer would be easier to use than the boat ducer on a board, think about a fish spinning around as soon as it is hooked. Pretty likely that it will get caught in the transducer and board before you can pull it out, where as an ice ducer is rounded and hangs from a cord vertically so it is easier to pull it up even if a fish does wrap up.
If you already have a unit for the boat you can make it work on the ice, but if it fits the budget a flasher is a better performer on the ice.
The next big step up is live imaging. I run livescope to find the fish and a Vexilar FLX-28 to catch them. All of my equipment is set up to be modular. I have a glide-lite sled mounted on a rack on my four wheeler. If the ice isn't good enough for the wheeler I can pull the glide-lite by hand easily. I have rod tubes on the glide-lite and also have my livescope mounted there and my Vexilar in a bucket on the glide-lite, auger rack too. When I can run the wheeler we do that, and have extra racks and rod holders on there. Pretty sweet setup.
is there a good youtube video out there that shows how to use one
here is one for the FLX-28, but there are a lot of videos out there for many of the flashers available.
mostly they are same concept but depending on what brand/model you buy could vary in the setup/options you have.
2019 Ranger 212LS with a 2019 Mercury 250 ProXS 4-Stroke
Humminbird HELIX 10 MSI and HELIX 10 Chirp (side by side at the console)
Humminbird HELIX 10 MDI+ and HELIX 10 Chirp (stacked at the bow)
Minn Kota Ultrex 112lb with Humminbird MEGA 360
Dual Minn Kota 12' Talon with R&R Design Extended Emergency Ladder
One thing to mention too is if you fish with others, check to see what flasher brand they have. Vexilar and Humminbird play nice together. Marcum causes a ton of interference with Vexilar, but they aren’t impacted by Vexilar frequency if that makes any sense..
basically:
Vexilar + Humminbird = good
vexilar + marcum = bad
1995 Ranger 481v
1995 Johnson Fast Strike 175hp