ice fishing with out electronics

[iceniowa]

does any one do that anymore if so why

[Eric Wettschreck]

Plenty of people do. I'm going to take a stab at why and say because flashers arn't cheap.

Heck, I fished without electronics for going on 30 years. Not anymore. Now that I have sonar I won't ice fish without it.

[amateurfishing]

i would think it would be one of top 3 things to get with auger & rodnreel, otherwise you are fishing blindfolded....i did my very first year 2 years ago along with 3/4 of last winter (til mid Feb) till i read here how can u catch fish if u dont know where they are, then discovered showdown troller that can read fish & depth thru ice & everything changed.....switched to a spring bobber rod & only got better.

[EBass]

When you first start out - sure. Then your buddy that has all the stuff out fishes you all the time...

[Sonicrunch]

You can easily do it if you know you will be on top of fish or in a spot where fish will come wandering through.

For beginners, the wonder and amazement of ice fishing would be ruined with a flasher, IMO.

After a while, I think one would become more competitive, and then desire a flasher.

[RangeFishing]

We have been fishing this whole year without any electronics and using a hand auger. Measuring depth by dropping a lure to the bottom, walking backwards and pulling it up and walking the line to get an approximate depth. Been doing pretty good too!

[tsande00]

My dad is almost 70 years old and still doesn't fish with any electronics unless either my brothers or I let him use our flashers. He spends most of the winter in AZ so it's not worth it for him to make the investment when he only gets out a couple times each winter.

My nephew on the other hand is 13 and just bought his first flasher (VX-1p).

[TruthWalleyes]

You can walk without shoes too...but my feet feel so much better with rubber under them.

Just another advancement that you don't need.

Just like my shoes, i don't leave home without the flasher.

[Gordie]

grandpa was the greatsest fishfinder I ever knew..

Going fishing with out electronics now is like driving in the dark with out headlights on ...sooner or later you'll run in to something

The only time I dont use electronics when on the ice are when I'm spearing on certain lakes I use the layout of the land and shoreline to tell me where to set up and then I will punch holes to find out what depth I want.

And Late ice I never bring it with cause I'm site fishing

[AwesomZZ]

Did that a few times and was constantly out fished by someone with a vexilar. I'm talking me 2 blue gil's and him 25 crappies. I have a hummingbird now.

[Jim Uran]

I have a lot of gear, my dad doesn't.... he still catches a ton of fish. Mostly bluegills and crappies. Heck he even uses a hand auger still. He keeps himself light and mobile, and does just fine.

[WhiskeyPete]

Going fishing with out electronics now is like driving in the dark with out headlights on ...sooner or later you'll run in to something

Good one!

[marshmallow]

All I Need Is To Know The Depth .. Look At A Contour Lake Map .. Mix The Two Ingredients Together .. And I Have A Darn Good Cocktail .. I Don't Strictly Fish By Lookin' At A Screen .. I Don't Need To .. And I Am Not Required To .. I Do Just Fine .. Besides That .. Barrometer .. Wind .. Temps ..Moon Phases ..Etc.. Can Put The Electronics On Standby Sometimes .. Others Can Not Step On The Lake Without One .. It Does Not Bother Me At All ..

[Rippinlip]

Just the thought.....

I did along time ago, but now I couldn't see going out without my Vexilar.

Suspended fish would be almost impossible to catch without one.

[laportian]

I fish with electronics most of the time now. But it doesnt bother me not to. I used to get along well without electronics. I paid attention to where my lure was and focused on my jigging alot more, made note of what they wanted etc. Drilled alot of holes looking for whatever depth I was fixated on. Studied my lake maps and decided ahead of time what area I wished to fish. 90% of the time I'm up on Red nowadays and you don't really need one there. Drill sets of holes shallow, mid depth, and out deep and you got it covered. Everyone gets so torked up trying to keep up with the jones' we take all of this far to serious sometimes. "I just bought the new Marcum Lx-7 it's target seperation is to die for!" Or how about them vex snobs"Well my Fl 22 has a jack for my ipod and a heated handle on my softcase!" Leave it at home once in awhile and get a feel for it again.

[nofishfisherman]

I fish without a flasher 99% of the time. I've borrowed one a couple times but thats about it. I also fish without a gas auger 99% of the time as well, I've occasionally fished with a friend who had one but normally its a hand auger for me as I tend to either fish alone or with a friend who is in a similar spot as me without much fancy gear.

The reason I fish without the fancy gear is beacuse of money. Even a used FL8 can run $200 on the List o' Craig and used gas augers tend to start around $200 as well. Thats just not in the cards right now.

I'd love to have one though. I actuallw wish I had never borrowed my friends vexilar. Before i used it I was rather content ice fishing and didn't know what I was missing. Now that I know it makes going out harder and more frustrating now that I know what sort of information I am missing.

Someday I hope to save up some $$$ to invest in some gear but until then if you see a guy with a hand auger wandering around the lake with a map and a confused look on his face thats probably me. Stop by and say hi.

[thatoneguy]

I forgot my Vex in the truck a couple weeks ago, and did fine without it. I will say that is was less entertaining fishing without it though...it's fun to "see" the fish chase your lure, and get a quicker sense of what attracts them, what gets them to bite.

[hydro]

I fish both with and without the flasher, and I don’t own a camera on purpose. I enjoy smaller lakes and I usually take the flasher out the first couple of trips to locate the spots, but then I like to travel light and just fish. Like smart phones, electronics can be a big distraction and cameras can be just plain frustrating when you can watch the fish not biting. I do agree that for suspended crappies a flasher is the right tool for the job. The one piece of electronics that I do like these days is the Navionics app on my Galaxy S.

This year I have been mainly jigging for pike and have been using a hand auger in known areas. A couple of times I didn’t even bring the sled, just a bucket, the auger, and a backpack. I still caught fish on every trip this year.

[TruthWalleyes]

I actuallw wish I had never borrowed my friends vexilar. Before i used it I was rather content ice fishing and didn't know what I was missing. Now that I know it makes going out harder and more frustrating now that I know what sort of information I am missing.

Same story here bud. Ignorance can be bliss sometimes!

I used one, and next thing, i had one.

Tell ya one thing. Once you have the depth finder, your going to want a gas auger. Drill a few holes with that hand auger and put that flasher through the ice, after seeing no fish for a while your going to want to keep drilling until you find some. Or maybe just go home, depends on your style.

No more "Fish weren't biting" story at the end of the day when you didn't have a flasher. Buy one and you'll see them on the depth finder and then you can say they weren't biting. But if no fish show up on the depth finder, you gotta keep drilling, or your just staring at a hole in the ice KNOWING theres no fish..

I blew out my shoulder shortly after getting a flasher, and then got a gas auger real quick!

[leech~~]

Just the thought.....

I did along time ago, but now I couldn't see going out without my Vexilar.

Suspended fish would be almost impossible to catch without one.

Big Plus 1. Fishing for Crappies in deeper water would really be tough without one.

[minnangler]

It depends on where and when you fishing, in waterdepths of less than 10 feet you really dont need one. I fish the backwaters of the mississippi 99% of the time and I dont have one, yet. I have been sight fishing for three weeks now and its a blast to watch the fish cruise in. It takes alot of enticing to get them to bite sometimes! I'm looking for a great deal on a showdown troller as I need to be very light and mobile as many times I have a mile walk or more to get into the backwaters

[shintz]

I will turn around and go home if I forget my lowrance. with mine its dual duty boat and ice, so if anyone is worried about investment you can figure its half the cost. (thats what i tell my wife lol)

[cavalierowner]

I saw a cartoon in the paper years ago that showed a huge mainframe computer in a boat. The caption was "Use a #2 darting...".

But to answer the question, no I don't us electronics. I've caught enough fish in my life that I'm just not that driven to have catch fish to enjoy fishing; it's more about getting out and enjoying the outdoors. Same thing with deer hunting, I really don't care if I see a deer, I just enjoy getting out. But then I'm probably one of the last people left who still use a jiggle stick for panfish...remember that thread? In my case, it's probably an old person thing, at least that's what my nephews say

[KrabbyPatties]

I fished for a long time without electronics. Sometimes I did well, sometimes it was frustrating if I knew others were catching fish and I wasn't.

You can do well without electronics if you fish small lakes and fish for panfish. Also, even if you fish large lakes, you can often catch fish without electronics if you don't mind fishing in the villages and asking people what the fish are doing.

[HandGunner]

almost started the year without one but decided to just fork in the cash for a marcum off C-list and dont regret one bit of it. most I can think of is without one just start from bottom and find the depth fish are and to just walk around and ask others if they would dare to share were and depth. My marcum shoots thru the ice its the LX-2 discontinued flasher makes it easy to quickly move knowing I dont need to drill holes with the hand auger just pour some water on the ice and place transducer in puddle reads depth pretty accuratley decent but I dont think its great enough to read fish under the ice unless I drill the hole then drop it in