# Flashers?



## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

What does a flasher do for an ice fisherman? What advantages/disadvantages are there to fishing with one?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I always got more strikes with a flasher. Kastmasters are my favorite, chrome and orange in Northern Utah/Western Wyoming. They are easy to pick up on the flasher when a tiny ice fly or small bait alone on the terminal end may go unnoticed.

Downside is two more knots and more line twist.

Bright-colored yarn is a good flasher. I like a piece of blaze orange yarn on a swivel 16" above my jig for walleyes. Put your favorite scent on the yarn if you like.


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

I guess I should've specified... I'm referring to the electronic ones. Vexilar, or whatever they're called.


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## americanforkdude (Sep 13, 2007)

I would feel comfortable saying out of all fish finders i've used flashers are by far the most accurate. They let you know when the fish come in, how close they are to your bait, whether they are hanging around and checking things out or whether they are just on the move and not in the feeding frenzy. Camera's are fun and entertaining while flashers are more productive and useful. A camera only focuses on a given depth where as a flasher gives you all the depth and can be zoomed in on any range of 10 feet of water you prefer. I can drop the smallest rat finkee down an ice hole whether its in 10 feet of water or 50 and i can see it plain as day on the flasher where it's sitting in the water. They are simple to use and understand after you grasp the concept. I would dare say the flasher is my most important possesion of ice fishing equipment i have.


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## americanforkdude (Sep 13, 2007)

Oh yeah, and mine is the Marcum 3. I hear the vexillars were the first ones out on the market and i hear they are just as good.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Chaser said:


> I guess I should've specified... I'm referring to the electronic ones. Vexilar, or whatever they're called.


Oh, my bad.

The original flasher was the Fish Lo K Tor, by Lowrance. They came out in the 1950s. I had two of them, circa say 1971, at one time. When the digitals came out I gave mine away.

I'm still using two old Eagle Ultras, kinda heavy, 6 volt battery for crying out loud. They have a built-in digital flasher that works like a normal flasher. But the neatest feature for ice fishing or jig fishing is the "Fast Tract" ("Fas Tract" on Lowrance). It's a bar graph in real time. You can pick up a jig smaller than 1/8" ounce at 25 feet and see the fish come and take it. IMHO it's easier to read than the flasher wheel. The units are a normal fish finder too and you can plug-in a skimmer transducer for boat use. Mine old antique Ultras have been all over N. America an dstill work like new.

Now the ice fishing portables are super lightweight, have swing-out transducers, dual angle beam, and have GPS. Batteries are tiny and rechargeable naturally.

Some of the new flashers are one-piece and shoot thru ice, kinda cool. You can shoot thru ice with most fish finders, just fill a pint ziplock bag with water and lay on it the ice.

A flasher or fast tract bar is the only way to go for ice fishing because it's real time.


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## Greenguy88 (Sep 7, 2007)

I picked up a vexilar 20 for cheap for this ice fishing season and i absolutely love it. It shows you whats going on in the entire water column, and mine also has a zoom feature that shows the bottom 6 or 12 feet as well. I feel like I was fishing blind before i got it. I never watch my pole anymore, I just watch the flasher till a fish comes near my lure, then i concentrate on my pole. I can pick up my lure dead on in any depth i have used it on so far. I like the flashers because it shows real time whats happening down there, as i jig i can watch my lure move at the same time, and mine was very easy to learn how to read. I too would say its my most important piece of equipment out on the ice.


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## moabrocks (Nov 11, 2007)

I haven't used a flasher but have heard good things about accuracy. I really like my Fishin' Buddy with side finder. It works slick. I poke a hole ... use it to look down ... if there are no fish then I just turn the finder in a circle watching the side finder until I see something ... it tells me which direction and how far to go ... I poke another hole check it out and start fishing. I have found some great spots that way. Only looking directly below you is good if you’re in deeper water but to be able see sideways under the water and find the fish are I think helps out a lot. Just my two cents.

- Bryant


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

So how do they work? Is it a sonar type thing that displays objects it detects as a certain color of light on the meter? How would you tell the difference between your lure and a fish? Band width of the light?


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## Hellsangler69 (Sep 26, 2007)

You can adjust the power to make your jig a small green dot and if it gets orange or red a fish is right on it . Check Out Vexilar website videos for instructions . I have a Genz Pack FL-18 with 12 degree cone angle , but I have just purchased a dual cone transducer to try next time out . 
http://www.vexilar.com/pages/support/support_videos.html


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## Greenguy88 (Sep 7, 2007)

Hellsangler69 said:


> You can adjust the power to make your jig a small green dot and if it gets orange or red a fish is right on it . Check Out Vexilar website videos for instructions . I have a Genz Pack FL-18 with 12 degree cone angle , but I have just purchased a dual cone transducer to try next time out .
> http://www.vexilar.com/pages/support/support_videos.html


Its fun to be watching your green jig line when all the sudden a red line comes darting up off the bottom right at it! On my vex you tune what is called the gain as low as possible to make your lure appear green on the screen. Hells is right, a fish with go from green to orange to red progressively as it gets nearer to the center of the beam being shot down from the finder.


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## k2muskie (Oct 6, 2007)

We're 'sold' on flashers...real time display of fish with lure unlike LCD sreens which have an image time delay...gain is great for tuning out clutter and interference including having an 'interference control'...well worth the investment IMHO...that's if you're into ice fish'n as sonars are a little pricey...and if I can understand it plus show two 8-9 year old boys how it works...well do I say more... :| :|

...got ours out-of-state...yea have to wait for delivery  ...but you don't pay any sales tax :wink: ...heres a link to 'da' place...

http://www.thornebros.com/winter/electr ... xilar.html

:wink: :wink:


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## Hardwater (Sep 14, 2007)

The advantages have been discussed, namely super accurate and fine detail display. Once you figure things out, it is very exciting to see what is going on in the water column. 

Disadvantages: 1)Cost, because they are not too common outside of the icebelt yet, it is hard to pick up a used one on the cheap. 2)Learning curve, learning how the round dial display relates to the vertical water column. 3)Interference, they are sensitive to the sonar of other fish finders, unless you get one that blocks/filters the interference. (If you don't the sonar from the other machines can look like fish coming through.) 

I think the biggest disadvantages (or is it an advantage??) is seeing all of the fish sniffing your offering but not biting! You know you need to change your offering or presentation but frustration arises when your changes don't trigger a bite.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

k2muskie said:


> We're 'sold' on flashers...real time display of fish with lure unlike LCD sreens which have an image time delay...gain is great for tuning out clutter and interference including having an 'interference control'...well worth the investment IMHO...that's if you're into ice fish'n as sonars are a little pricey...and if I can understand it plus show two 8-9 year old boys how it works...well do I say more... :| :|
> 
> ...got ours out-of-state...yea have to wait for delivery  ...but you don't pay any sales tax :wink: ...heres a link to 'da' place...
> 
> ...


K2,
My Eagle 320 has real time and gain.
The biggest thing that my son's Flasher has over my finder is that he can cause my finder to get a lot of static from his.
His Flasher can be adjusted to keep mine fron interfearing with his.


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## k2muskie (Oct 6, 2007)

Grandpa D...I guess its all in what works for the angler when it comes to fish finders. From our extensive pre-buying research and talking with knowledgeable sales folks about finders we settled on the Vexilar FL12 Pro Pack and FL12 Ultra Pro Pack.

Vexilars are expensive when compared to other finders. We decided on the Vexilar because it allows us to have a 'real' time display of our lure in the water column and allows us to have a 'real' time display to see if any fish are below us and at what depth. In deeper water we can actually see both of our lures as we use two poles each thus allowing us to work a variety of water column depths and targeting fish in the upper columns.

As Hardwater indicated it can be very fustrating to see fishies come up to your lure than back off. However when we see that we'll vary the presentation by jigging and/or bringing the lure up a couple of feet than drop it back down. We've had a lot of success this season with the Vexilar in combination with using quality spring bobbers because the bite is so very soft.

Here's a link to an instruction video on the Vexilar FL12 and it provides a better description of 'real' time display than what I can describe...

http://vexilar.com/pages/support/video/ ... m_high.php

This link is to other video presentations.

http://vexilar.com/pages/support/support_videos.html

:wink: :wink:


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

K2,
I agree that a Flasher is a great tool for ice fishing.
I just don't have the money to buy one.

For $150.00 I got the Eagle 320 and it does everything that you said the Vexilar does, with the exception of telling when a fish is getting closer to my jig.

My Eagle will show a fish that's in the area and I get ready for the bite.

I would love a Vexilar but I will make due with the Eagle.
It does a great job for the money.


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