How valuable are Vexilar type flashers?

[chuckwagon]

Q from a new B >>>>> thin line on a vex means what kind of bottom ..... think line means what kind of bottom?

[TonkaBass]

Thin red line=soft Thick red line=hard

[Cecil]

make sure you look for the double echo. If you have two bottoms, one at say 12' and another at 24', you have a hard bottom.

[fishcast]

i also would highly recommend a flasher.

it becomes a little bit of an art reading the things for bottome content. gain, bottom type, depth, and probably other factors effect the reading. The easiest way to learn is to be on the water with known bottom types and see what shows up. Find a lake with some soft bottom that leads into rocks, and watch how the signal changes.

the harder the bottom the more signal it will return, potentially giving thicker signals and double echos.

for only open water use, I would get the fl-12. I have the 20, but i only use the zoom feature when ice fishing.

I always have the gain as low as it goes, and sometimes when looking for depth in thick weeds I will flick on the low power mode. It is pretty convenient.

[BassProAddict]

Vexilar versus Marcum versus others...

who ya got?

[TonkaBass]

I like the vexilar because they 'made' an FL-10 flush mount which looks really nice and, if you can find one, should be cheaper... I had Zercoms before and I like the Vexilar better...

[andrew chadwick]

I use mine in the summer just like I do in the winter. and almost always out fish the others 3 to one beacuse I can see the fish and change my presentation accordingly

[BassProAddict]

So how do you guys use it exactly? I mean, I normally use electronics this way:

1.Go to fave spot

2.Scan DEPTH and sometimes bottom of spots on fave spot using my finder

3.Drop lures depending on depth or cover

Where does the flasher come in here? Since flashers are real-time, is it mostly for vertical lures?

[TonkaBass]

I look at my vexilar while idleing over areas to find the hard to soft bettom transitions... it can also be used for finding weeds, baitfish, and gamefish... But like I say, for bass fishing, I primarily use it for finding bottom content (hard bottoms).