# Camera vs Fishfinder vs flasher



## HwnFisherman

Question: For ice fishing; which is better to get, a camera or a fishfinder or a flasher?


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## Grandpa D

Neoprene waders were replaced by breathable lightweight waders.
In the same way,Fishfinders are being replaced by Flashers.
Both will do the job, but the new flashers are very popular.
Camers are hit and miss. Some folks love them and some like me, don't.
One feature that you will want to have on a fishfinder, is real time monitoring.
This allows you to see your jig and the fish without any delay.
Older and cheeper units will show you the fish, but it will be a few seconds after the fact.
Real time is very important because you will see when to set the hook. This is why some folks like a camera.
I don't own a flasher, so someone else will have to tell you more about them.


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## americanforkdude

I have all 3.. I wouldn't waste my time taking a fishfinder out unless you don't have the other 2. Flashers are a lot better for ice fishing but thats about the extent of their purpose. Cameras are the most fun. Only a couple problems.... 1, sometimes you can't see due to water clarity, 2, sometime the fish don't hold on the bottom and w/ the camera on the bottom you'll never see the ones in the middle 3, sometimes its deeper then you have cable for, and 4, if you catch a big fish, you're pretty much screwed. 
For my average outting at Rockport, Strawberry, Scoffield, Pelican if I could only take one thing it would be the camera hands down..
But for the Gorge i wouldn't even take it, that's when you want a flasher..


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## americanforkdude

Oh yeah, and the flashers are very very accurate i don't have nothing against them... There is just more of a rush in it for me when you can see them take the hook. The flashers are so accurate they will actually let you know when the fish is moving in for your hook. I like them a lot and with both setups you can be very deadly on the ice. Camera's can be a pain sometimes though, and I would recomend having a shelter to take the glare off the screen if you get a camera...


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## Diesel

A high end LCD fish finder is every bit as good a a flasher. The ping rate may not be as fast but they have their advantages over flashers. If you have big schools of fish the flasher will be nothing but lights were as your good fish finders will show a lot more detail and line separation. Don't let anybody fool you. Good LCD fish finders are great on the ice. 

I have both; a high end flasher and high end LCD and I like them for different situations. I'd much rather have the flasher in shallower water and the LCD in deeper water. The graphically interface of the LCD can be more appealing to the average fisherman. There is no doubt that the flasher ping rate is much faster but the LCD has some very convincing advantages too.

The argument that flashers are replacing fish finder is crazy. Flashers are old technology and no matter how much they try to improve them, they are going to only get so good. LCDs are ever increasing in technology and are getting better and better. If flashers are so good, why don't more people use them on boats? Because just like on the ice, they are not as user friendly nor graphically appealing. Oh, we know, they do have a faster ping rate. But how fast a ping rate is really needed to see things at real time? The thing I do like about flashers is their interference rejection. It's nice when there are tons of other people around and you can adjust your flasher to tune out other frequencies.

You can make your own choices but don't ignore good LCDs. They do just as good a job on the ice as any flasher. As I said, I have both and fished them side by side many times. Like I said, I prefer one over the other for different reasons but if I could only have one, I'd go with a good quality LCD any day.


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## americanforkdude

Diesel well put.. If i could only own a fishfinder or a flasher for year around fishing i would also say fishfinder. I also agree that flashers will never take over fishfinders. They're too tough too complicated too read in a moving boat or should i say next to impossible? For ice though, i would take a flasher.


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## JAT83

fatbass said:


> My old neighbor was a flasher and I took him fishing and we got skunked...well, I got skunked and he got arrested.


 :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## HwnFisherman

Thanks for the information. Does anyone have any experience with the fishfinders that have a flasher option?


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## Diesel

Flasher mode on an LCD is just an option to attract a larger number of users. IMO, which ain't worth much, the flasher mode is nothing but bells and whistles. The ping rate doesn't get any faster. Also, its nothing more than a software generated flasher. If you're going to use an LCD, use the best graphical interface it has to offer. If you like the flasher then use it but I'd rather look at the standard sonar screen.

Does everyone know how to run an LCD on the ice for maximum efficiency? Knowing how to set it up and run it can make all the difference in the world. If others would like to discuss this then I'd be happy to put my two cents in on the subject also.


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## Fishrmn

Grandpa D said:


> Fishfinders are being replaced by Flashers.


Actually, flashers predate fishfinders by about a dozen years. People have been going back to flashers because inexpensive fishfinders couldn't match the "real time" information of flashers. High end fishfinders do a better job, IMO, of giving real time and showing a brief history of what has happened.

Fishrmn


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## Grandpa D

The origional post was about ice fishing.
As I said, flashers [New Technology] are replacing fishfinders for ice fishing.
This is only the case for ice fishing. 
As I have been reading posts for over 2 years, people that have switched [upgraded] to flashers are very happy with these new units for the purpose of ice fishing.
Most will tell you that in this case, if they could only have one choice for a sonar or camera, the flasher would win hands down.
Use for a boat is very different and a totally different topic.


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## Diesel

I think we all realize that this thread is about electronics on the ice. I made a reference to flashers in a boat as a case in point but my whole dicussion centered on the comparision between LCDs and Flashers. Sorry, Grandpa D if I ruffled your feathers but I stand by what I said. I own both. A Marcum LX-5 flasher and several LCDs including the new Lowrance LCX-27c and I feel I'm very proficient at running either unit to it's fulest potential. I don't have to read about other's opinions, I know how they run. I've done comparisions side by side. I've messed with them for hours on end.

So, tell me, Grandpa D, what "new" technology is going into flashers? Flashers haven't changed too much for several years. They are being tweaked to get everything out of them but very little is "new". LCDs, on the other hand, are evloving every year. Look at the advancements with the graphics now and it will only get better. One look at the catalogs or a walk down Cabela's marine electronics isle demostrates that.

Don't get me wrong. I like my flasher but its not the end all on the ice. Set both an LCD and a flasher next to each other some time on the ice and make the comparision. I find both tell me there are fish close. Then my attention deverts to my rod and the feel with perhaps a quick glance at the sonars to see what's going on. You'd be surprised to see the differences are very minute. Ya, a flasher is a wee bit quicker but for 99% of the people, it doesn't make a difference. Rarely does a fish just appear on the screen and bite. Most hang around and check out the bait or lure first then decide to bite. In that time the speed of the flasher is nullified. The graph is showing just as much.

I've voice my opinion and I'll leave it at that. Who ever reads this can decide for themselves but before anyone decides, spend some time with guys who know what they are doing with their equipment. It's easy to impress people who have no experience with flashers or LCDs. A man with no knowledge of the subject will be impressed with anything. Also, if the opinion is from a guy who has only owned one or the other or it is their first sonar, take that opinion with a grain of salt because the opinion is very slanted and narrow.


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## Grandpa D

Hwnfisherman was the person that started the post and that is who I replyed to.
Yes we all have our own opinions here and all are good.
If I were to be asked what finder to use on the ice, and had the money, I would invest in a Marcom or other flasher unit.
My good old Eagle 320 works fine, but I like what I see in my son's flasher.
I also like the way the transducer sets in the water.
Now if someone askes me what is the best finder under $150.00, I would recomend the Eagle 320.


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## Diesel

Grandpa D, it's hard to know who's replying to whom on the forum unless the quotes are used. You read the post and ASSUME it's to you. We all know where *assume* gets you.* An a$$ out of u & me! *. No problems here. Tight lines.


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## Hardwater

One advance fish finders have made recently (2004) is the application of TFT, (thin film transistor) technology. This allows fish finders to display closer to real time, even in the cold teperatures when ice fishing. Older units without TFT, my old Eagle included, were affected by the cold with the scroll/refresh speed of the display bogging waaaaaaay down. 

The Lowrance ice machine is a good one for ice fishing. I have used it ice fishing, but found it a bit too technical for my tastes. I like my Marcum LX3. I drop it in the hole, adjust the gain, and watch the fish rise (or flee) from my offering. Because Marcum has released the new LX5 which has better color display, you can pick up an LX3 for cheap. Last year Cabela's sold a unit under their name, made by Marcum. I belive it was around $250.

LCD or Flasher aside, it is fun to watch the fish and maddening to watch them NOT take your bait.


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## Hardwater

Sorry, I forgot to add my experience with underwater cameras thus far has been futile. Water too stained, too many particulates, no fish, etc... However, after my last trip to Mantua where I could see the bluegill take my lure, I am going to give the camera another try this winter. I'm sure my kids, and the kid in me, would love to watch fish messin' with our offerings.


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## americanforkdude

One other thing, if you use the camera, be sure to buy the tripod with it, it will save you a LOT of headaches. I didn't like my camera till i got a tripod. . . makes a world of difference on adjusting it and getting it to stay.


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## Hardwater

Check out this link for a new entry into the ice fishing fish finder competition: http://www.naturevisioninc.com/shop_nvi/product.php?productid=229&cat=4&page=1
I noticed an advertisement for this in my Oct/Nov In-Fisherman magazine that listed http://www.showdownfishfinder.com, but I can't seem to get that link to work. Anyway, a quick internet search lists this at around $229, reasonable for a finder, *IF* it works.

Anyone know more about this product? It looks a lot smaller than current LCD/Flashers. I wonder how the batteries hold out and if it has a backlit display. I'm curious, but not convinced.


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## Fisherman

New to the forum, but couldn't pass up replying to this thread. I own all three so I have some experience on the subject. I rarely take my camera out on the ice. I own a tripod, which helps tremendously; however, I find I spend far too much time trying to get the camera adjusted just right, and then the fish are invariably either above or below the camera. Also, if one happens to hook a trophy fish, there is always the possibility of having it get wrapped around the camera cable. For water up to about 35 to 40 feet deep I prefer the flasher, but if the water is deeper than that I find my color Lowrance fish finder works better. If I owned the Marcum LX5 (I believe that is the latest greatest model) I might use it exclusively. The fish finder might be a tad slower than a flasher, but I have never met anyone whose reflexes are fast enough to take advantage of that difference. One advantage of a fish finder is that it shows history; whereas if one glances away for a second with a flasher one will never know that a fish passed through (unless it returns).


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## Jigz

wow, maybe im old fashioned, but i prefer to outwit the fish with my brain, not some electronic gizmo. kinda like throwing a grenade in the water. youre gonna get a lot of fish, but its just not as fun. I have used finders before, but it just felt like cheating.


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## Diesel

*In reply to:*
wow, maybe im old fashioned, but i prefer to outwit the fish with my brain, not some electronic gizmo. kinda like throwing a grenade in the water. youre gonna get a lot of fish, but its just not as fun. I have used finders before, but it just felt like cheating.

No matter how good your electronics are, they won't get the fish to bite. I guess that's our job to convince them to hit. It is nice to know that we are at least fishing in the right place!


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