Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Ice Fishing Flashers?

I know little, to nothing, could someone tell me about the flashers?

If I did not have a flasher I would not ice fish. The 2 major manufacturers are Vexilar and Marcum. They both have different models with various features. It is nice to have a zoom feature at least for the bottom. This allows for an expanded display. When saugers come in very close to the bottom they cannot be differentiated from the bottom. When fish are not aggressive you have to have your jig very close to the bottom. Zoom allows you to see the bottom, the fish and your bait.
The major difference between Vexilar and Marcum is that the Vexilar has a low output transmitter with a very sensitive receiver. The Marcum has a high output transmitter with a less sensitive receiver. If you are fishing in the vicinity of others it is very difficult to filter out the Marcum interference on the Vexilar. Fishing for Lake Trout we were staying at a lodge that also hosted a big group from The Bobber Stop. In the bar one guy was complaining that his partner was doing well but he had yet to catch a fish. I told him to switch his Marcum with his buddy's Vexilar. He was skeptical but the the next evening he said the situation was reversed. The high output transmitter is not a factor in muddy bottoms but it spooks fish in the rocky Canadian Shield lakes.
You need to get a copy of "Ice Fishing Secrets" by Al Lindner. The book and video are available from In-Fisherman

Back 10 or so years ago, we had a real problem getting quality bait. I got tried of paying a premium for junk so I went out and bought a flasher (Humminbird Ice35). Not the best unit in the world but not bad. That year I caught in the neighborhood of 300 dozen smelt which if I had to pay for them would have been in the $2750-$3000 range. I have not bought a single bait fish since then and figure that same flasher has paid for itself 100 times over.

I never, ever, used to jig and now that is what I do. I have iced well over 100 whitefish the last 2 trips with 99% of them coming on a jig while using a flasher. I can see tiny teardrop jigs and swivels down 100 feet. Everyone is telling me it is slow but I can move around, find fish, entice fish, and catch fish. Something that is impossible without one. IMHO, it is the best investment I have made and if that old Humminbird died tomorrow I'd be getting a new unit tomorrow.

Vexilar or Marcum .. Been using Vexilars for over 20 years now. Never have had a problem. A flasher and Navonics or lakemaster chip. Need those 2 things to go fishing. Well auger to.LOL..

Make sure whatever you get it has the bottom zoom. Spend the money and get bottom zoom...

Lowrance and Hummingbird and Marcum are digital so you get delayed readings. Its like milli second. but i still like Vexilar over them..

Also Vexilar and Marcums when fishing close together will have interference.. It's better then it used to be...

Hope this helps...

noduck: Thanks for the reminder about Vexilar. When looking for humps you can shoot through the ice with your flasher. Scrape the snow to ice. Pour salt water from squeeze bottle of salt water. Stand ice ducer in puddle of water. You are right about a good GPS with chip being invaluable.

bobmn. Have you seen the new Garmin panoptic. Think i spelled it wrong. You can view 300 ft 360degrees.

The thing is a game changer, been hearing stories of guys limiting out on crappies in a 1/2 hour. Drill some holes just look for the clouds. Only thing bad im hearing is for walleyes if there hugging the bottom and sides of reefs the Garmin doesnt pick the fish up that well.... I'm sure couple more years they will have it fix....

That Garmin on Devils looking for those perch sure would save a guy's back and time drilling 300 holes looking for the perch cloud......

Thanks for the information. If have it right, a flasher is only good for one hole? Three people fishing two holes each would not get any benefit, save the hole the flasher is located in?

Yep, it's only good for one hole but you can tell your buddies what depth the fish are coming through.
I had a Ranger flasher years ago then a Lowrance a Vexilar fl8 and currently a Hummingbird Ice 35.
Here's a video to give you some overview of what makes one different from next. Search Youtube there"s a bunch of videos!

I never liked the circular flasher displays. You have to "unbend" them in your mind to get a picture of the vertical column you are actually measuring. So I bought a Marcum Showdown Troller 2.0. It is B&W instead of color, but it has a true vertical display, and you can clearly see a swivel in your line above the jig as well as fish on the bottom. It has a zoom feature, a screen heater for really cold days, and a lighted display for night use. Do get the optional carry bag with 12v battery. The unit will run on eight AA batts - but not for as long as they say. Especially with the heater on. View a couple dozen YouTube vids and decide what you like best.

wabigon: Each guy fishing needs his own flasher. Even if you are in the same ice house. Let's say your partner says he is marking fish at 15' in 30' of water. The only way you can precisely tell when your bait is at 15' is if your flasher marks it (and it will mark a small crappie minnow on a bare hook or an 1/8 oz jig). Winter fish are very lethargic at times and will not chase a bait vertically. You have to put it right in front of their nose sometimes.

noduck: When I retired I sold my ice house and snowmobiles and bought a camper. I head to the Gulf after bird season. That's why God put wheels on campers.

They usually wear trench coats.

I assume this is the type of thing you are thinking of John?
Not the same at all. Someday we need to sit down, n have a long talk.

Had a student (third grade) one time who had this huge cowboy belt buckle (less interesting that that one). Our plan for an armed attacker (this was over twenty-five years ago) was to have the entire class shelter behind his belt buckle while I went after the intruder with a baseball bat.

If we're talking "that" kind of flasher out on the sub-zero ice, it would be highly apropos to say:

Move along. Nothing to see here.

Rock, you just need to get to know John.