MarCum noise?????

[beaverlakeman]

Ok, just used my marcum lx3 for the first time last night... I think im in love...
Although I couldnt see my lure or any fish, for the fact i was fishing a river with fairly high current.. but i noticed it makes a very loud clicking noise.. almost like the sound of a shocker... I called marcum today and the guy told me that all of them do that.. so my question is, For all of you that have this unit,, does that clicking noise spook the fish??? The guy at marcum told me that is you went scuba diving in 30+ feet of water that you would still be able to hear it.. He also said its the loudest unit as far as the clicking goes,out of all marcums competition..
I dont know if its just me, but I dont know if i care to hear that.. Im just worried it will spook fish.. and spook them even more in waters that are already fished hard..
Please tell me something to relax a little ...

thanks

[Steve Foss]

beaverlakeman:

OK, relax a little bit.

I don't own a Marcum, though I've fished near several people who do. They caught as many fish as I did using my Vex, in a number of different fishing situations. Ergo, whatever additional noise the Marcum may put out, it doesn't seem to put off fish.

In fact, until definitive tests have been completed on the effects of sonar units on fish, how do we know sonar doesn't actually stimulate bites in certain situations? Clicks can sound a lot like rattles, and we know rattles sometimes get a bite going.

------------------
"Worry less, fish more."
Steve Foss
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by stfcatfish (edited 02-02-2004).]

[Dan Wood]

I've fished with an FL-8 and now an LX-3 and have never noticed any effect at all on fish with either unit. From the previous discussion, the rep-rate is what you are hearing. This is not the main signal, but a lower frequency sound that is emitted from the transducer. The actual transducer signal is at 200 KHz, this won't be heard by fish or humans.

Once you learn to use the LX-3 effectively, you will catch more fish and bigger fish. I don't know anyone that has fished with a good flasher that would be without it.

[Guido]

I have read up to my eyeballz about the winter application of this unit, and it sounds really good, but what I am curious on is how this thing performs during open water.

This fella mentions he was using it in current....and he couldn't see his lures etc.

Obviously through the ice its so vertical, but can you see a spinner rig or a jig thats at a 45 degree angle or more vertical when in a boat trolling slowly ? Would it be a generalization to say that this flasher is better than a Depthfinder/Graph when it comes to target separation?

Anyone have any open water experience with this unit is basically my question?

[Northlander]

I dont know of any unit wether its a flasher or regular graph that will show you your bait behind the boat at a 45 degree angle. In deeper water I have seen some top of the line Lowrance's do it. Like trolling Lake Superior. But its nothing like watching your jig move up and down under your flashers cone! Nothing will pick up your jig in strong current unless you tilt the ducer down river.

[Surface Tension]

Your MarCum has a 20 degree cones angle. So if your in 10' of water you'll roughly be looking at 3 and a half feet directly below you.
Your not going to see your jig if its drifted down river. Nor will you see your lure while your trolling. You'll see whats directly under the boat. Makes no difference what type of sounder your using, the principles are the same.

[beaverlakeman]

thanks for the replies,,
now i feel a little at ease..
I just didnt want the thing to spook fish or end up haveing a lemon for 430 dollars..

about the current thing... thats the only place within 20 minutes of my house.. i just took it out there to check it out and stuff.. I knew before taking it, i wouldnt graph anything, just wanted to play with my new toy..hehehe..
boy, it sure is purdy when ya dim the lantern.. almost like a candle lite ice outing with the dog...

going to red lake for the ice leaders, so maybe i can lure those slabs in with my marcum (rattle)lx3

[Steve Foss]

This solution depends on three things: How much room you have in your fish house, how fast the current is and how shallow you are. OK, four things, adding how heavy your lure is.

Principle is this: If your lure is jigging bottom 6 feet downstream of your hole, drill a hole 6 feet downstream, put your transducer down that hole after unraveling all your cord and put your elecronics as close as the cord will allow, with the electronics facing you. Then,
Shazam, your lure is directly in the center of the cone.

On the Red/Red Lake River point near in Grand Forks/East Grand Forks, I could set up on a current break in 10 feet of water, placing my Trap II in such a way that I'd jig out of the upstream hole and read the jig with my Vex out of the downstream hole about 3 feet away.

I'd also, for my second rod, put a bobber rod in the Vex hole for those less active fish.

Keeping your jig in the Vex cone is sometimes challenging in these conditions, but, as well as keeping it where you can "see" it on the flasher, it gets you darn good at lure control in current.

------------------
"Worry less, fish more."
Steve Foss
[email protected]