Zercom Clearwater Classic

[MaxGoldman]

I got one of these flashers with the boat I bought this summer. It didn't come with an ice ducer and it seems finding one is almost impossible. I don't want to put much money into making it ice friendly since the unit itself can't be worth much. Anyone know if there is even an option for me or if I'm better off leaving it in the boat for summer use?

[laportian]

Did you check hsolist or do a google search? My cousin still uses one of these for ice fishing. Very good units.

[mwal]

They have been out of production for many years. i would call Fish Lectronics in Colombia Heights on University and see if they can recomend a transducer that may work. Or look on hsolist. Other wise perhaps a used FL-8 may be priced right. I still have my Clearwater Classic and may be upgrading. It still works but is getting hard to read I will think about it.

Mwal

[MaxGoldman]

I haven't check HSOList but I searched the web, hsolist, hsolist. From the google search I found out a vexilar ducer could be modified but that all isn't worth it to me. I'll be buying a new vexilar regardless, I just thought the zercom would make a nice backup for buddies I'll be taking ice fishing with no electronics if it could be done cheaply, and this forum would be a good shot at finding someone who might have an answer or an old ducer itself.

[brian6715]

My dad has an old transducer attached to a blue genz box with a vexilar float, he used to use his clearwater classic until about a year ago. I am not sure what it is worth or if he wanted to sell it, but I could talk with him. I will say when he did use it, the sensitivity was better than an FL-8! It was an impressive little unit.

[MaxGoldman]

I had read that about the sensitivity. Any help wouldn't go unappreciated that is for sure. There is no urgency it's just somethin I'm interested in but if it doesn't work out then my buddies will just have to hope were on some fish or they'll probably get bored quickly! Nothing passes the time on a tough day of ice fishing like staring at that flasher every second haha.

[palisade1kid]

I get the " want to help my buddies cheaply" but that unit will pick up so much interference it would be near impossible to ice fish if any other flashers were near by. I would pick up a used vex for a back up and then you'd have one for them. If they get the ice bug then maybe sell it to them or suggest they go buy one as a flasher is a must have tool for ice fishing...why fish blind these days?

[JSK76]

I have one I'm not sure on what beam it is, but it's the bigger sized transducer I think its a narrow beam. Years back on this site a guy was looking for one and I told him to try a vexilar fl8 ducer and cut off the end and go to radio shack and get a male rca plug I told him I wasn't sure if it would work but they looked the same to me, a few days latter he posted thanking me and that it worked great.

[brian6715]

I get the " want to help my buddies cheaply" but that unit will pick up so much interference it would be near impossible to ice fish if any other flashers were near by. I would pick up a used vex for a back up and then you'd have one for them.

This is not true at all, me and my old man shared the clearwater classic for 10+ years as I was growing up, and never once had interference issues. In fact on LOTW we used it was in a wheel house with an LX-1, Humminbird 55, and a FL8. The only flasher that had any issues was the FL8, it was basically unusable when the Zercom was turned on. Do not worry about interference at all with this unit.

I will talk with my old man and see if he has any interest in getting rid of it.

[20lbSloughShark]

You should be fine with interference. Before last year I was known as the guy with "sub-par gear". Obviously it was just a joke, but I used to use old flashers. I had 2 lowrance flashers, a colorpoint, and a clearwater classic. The colorpoint got sold before I ever tried it, I was offered twice what I paid for it. One lowrance was a lo-k-tor lfp-150, and it worked ok. I really only needed it to pick up fish and bottom. I don't use 1/16oz jigs to finesse panfish. That broke, and I replaced it with a clearwater classic. It was decent, but the screen always seemed to mess up on mine. It had been converted to run off an external battery, but I liked the remintong rechargeable batteries. Somehow when I was turning it back into a regular lantern battery flasher, and for some reason it never worked again. Then I got my next favorite, an old "green box" lowrance, and it was free. I used the transducer from the other lowrance, and used it for 3 years. I still have it, but now I use my fl-8. The thing I noticed with all of them, is the more similar they are, the more interference. My fl-8 hates other fl-8's and especially the fl-18. With my fl-8 next to my lowrance they both work fine, but an old lowrance, and an old lowrance, and they don't work at all.

The clearwater classic had kind of a puck shaped transducer with a mount for a boat. All I did was put one of those foam vexilar floats on the wire, and stuck it in the hole. The only thing you have to be careful of is that it is facing straight down. The wire is much stiffer than that of vexilars ice-ducer, and it would often point off to the side because of a kink in the wire.

[MaxGoldman]

I'll have to look at it more this weekend, I'll probly put the boat away for the winter.