Flasher or Graph locator on bow??

[iffwalleyes]

Ok so here is the question fellas. I am getting a different boat and I am trying to decide what to use for a locator on the bow of my boat. In that past I have used a a cheaper Lowrance graph but that broke last summer so I need to either replace it or make use of one of my flashers. I am thinking about putting my LX 5 on the bow. If it doesn't go there it will be getting put at the controls. So what does everyone else use on the bow of the boat? What is everyones opinion on this? I like the graph because you always have a built in memory of what you just went over rather than having to remember it in your memory. But I see Al Linder runs a flasher on the bow of his boat and if it is good enough for Al it is good enough for iffwalleyes .

[cold one sd]

I guess it is a matter of personal preference and what you are used to. I use a flasher for ice fishing,a Lowrance X97 for my trolling motor and and an X102c for the main.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I see more guys run a Flasher on the helm than on the bow. When you are fishing often times you take your eyes off the finder. A graph shows you what you might have missed while a flasher will not. A flsher will give you a quicker up to date read for running on plane. Personally if I had my way I would have 3 depthfinders on my boat. A flasher and a graph by the steering wheel and a graph up front. And if money was no object both graphs would have GPS...

I currrently run a Lowrance LMS 480 on the steering and a Lowrance X97 off the front.

[JohnMickish]

This might narrow it down for you, Minnkota does not make a harness to match a Marcum to a universal sonar trolling motor, if your going that route that is.

[Ray Esboldt]

I personally prefer a flasher on the bow. There's no deciphering in a flasher, I can glance at it and know the picture of things. I feel a graph takes a harder look. Since, you're moving fairly slow, you're not going to miss a ton if you don't have your eyes on it all the time. So, I don't think the scrolling log of where you have been is that big of a factor, but it might still be nice to have.

I would say the bulk of the old-school guys I fish with employ a flasher on the bow, the new school guys run a graph on the front, and usually don't run a flasher at all. I don't know what that dividing line is between the schools though. I guess it really boils down to personal preference.

[aanderud]

On Lindner's show on TV he says a flasher is better because you "can see right through weeds". I wish I was that good. I gotta say that with a moving boat, moving fish, waves, and weeds, I can't tell what's what if there's a lot of weed cover, whether looking on a flasher or a graph...I just pray at that point...

[PerchJerker]

I would definately go with a graph -- only exception would be if you are one of the "old school guys" that likes a flasher. Todays graphs have better / faster processors so the old argument about flashers reading faster just isn't true anymore. I think graphs give you more info, and definately display the info on the screen longer so you have more time to interpret it. I got rid of the flasher on my bow a few years ago and love having a graph up there.

I wonder what Al would use if he wasn't sponsored by Vexilar? I can't think of too many other Vexilar products you'd find in a boat, maybe that's why he's a flasher guy

[Ray Esboldt]

He'd use a MarCum.

I really don't think it boils down to sponsorship. Some people really prefer the feedback provided by a flasher. I agree that graphs have come a long ways in many categories over the last 5 years. I'm even going to use one this year. But, I never want to give up the instant, overall picture feedback I get from my flasher up front.

[ChuckN]

Get both, a graph and a flasher! I love watching both, the graph for history and flasher for immediate reads. For walleyes over mud, sand, rock...the flasher will show fish when the graph might not. More times the flasher has showed bottom huggers that saved the day!

I love vertical jigging sunfish with the flasher off the bow, in the right conditions of course.

For years I have used a flasher in the boat, sometimes it was my only depth finder, and there's no way I would ever give up the flasher in the boat. On the bow especially. I've had them on the dash and the bow.

[Eye-lander]

I have a flasher currently up front....old school I guess. But have many times in the last year wished I had my Lorance Global Map 2000 up front to follow the breaklines of a flat, provided by a $125.00 chip, when I'm many miles from shore and want to know exactly where I am on the structure without having to look to the back of the boat where my GPS is. Wish I could have the best of both worlds without breaking the bank!

[Paul Waldowski]

I'm with Chuck! There is NO WAY I would not have a flasher on my bow. I do a lot of vertical jigging, especially in the spring and anything but a flasher just won't do it for me.

LX-3tc and a H2OC on the bow for me

[ScottND]

I've got to get mine setup different too. On my old bass boat I used to run a Lowrance 2330 on the bow with a transducer on the trolling motor and one on the transom controlled with a switch. Worked awsome to drift on a break or transition by seeing the difference in that 16' between the two transducers by flipping the switch back and forth. At the helm I used a Hummingbird 60 for high speed and a Lowrance X-15 paper graph for searching. I loved this setup! Still have the paper graph and it still has better resolution and seperation than any of the 4 other cheapy LCD graphs I have. There's no doubt my LX-5 would be on my bow if someone made an adapter cable to utilize Minnkotas universal sonar.

[iffwalleyes]

Just getting back to the computer. Chuck you said you run both do you have two puck transducers on your trolling motor then? How does this work for interferance? I personally was think of doing what Paul said he does. I have my I finder Hunt C with chips I figured I would put a ram base up front for this as well as at the counsel. Man so many decisions and so little money .

[ChuckN]

I have my Marcum trolling motor puck transducer on my trolling motor, and my Lowrance transducer is a hull transducer under the floor.

I have ran a transducer for the front graph to the transom also.

I wouldn't run two transducers off the trolling motor, even if different frequencies it could create interference that close together? (I don't know) Plus the cables would be a mess, unless you have a cable drive trolling motor (which I don't, I have a MK AP).

[knoppers]

I have had both, a graph and a flasher on the bow. I like the flasher much better on the bow. currently I have my LX-3 on the bow, which also makes it better, since it gets used all year long.

[Genofish]

I have a X125 on the bow now, might put the FL18 up there also.As anyone used the flasher feature on the X125 before? Maybe there is no need for a another flasher?

[hitthebricks]

I have the LX5 also for in the bow like iffwalleyes does, so if I can find the right transducer for a trolling moter mount I'll use that, but don't most graphs have a fairly good flasher option on them? I know my old garmin 210 does and that would be my back up at this time! HTB

[ssaamm]

I might be off base here, but aren't there some graphs now that also have a flasher built in? Maybe these are not as accurate as the Vex and others. The 102c is such a combo platter I believe. What do you think? Thanks

[PerchJerker]

I know a bunch of you guys like using your flashers and that's okay if that's what you want to do, but I would strongly encourage you to rethink that approach before you buy a flasher just for your bow, or before you spend a bunch of money to get a transducer for your flasher to work on your boat.

A decent graph in the $200 range is just as fast as a flasher and provides more info than a flasher, although you need to be reading the right edge of the graph to get the real-time info since everything else on the display is history. Turn up the ping rate and the chart speed.

If you're using a flasher like a Vex or Marcum that's fine, but why would you use a flasher option on a graph? You're giving up at least 50% of the graph's functionality if you do that. I'd encourage you to take a little time and experiment with your graph and what it's telling you, and focus on the right edge and even the vertical bar display if your graph has one, and concentrate on reading it in real time. And look back at the history and analyze what you're seeing. Some of you will be surprised at how much more info you're getting, espeically if you do this with a color graph.

Al Linder was brought up ealier in this thread, but if you look at tournament boats and boats for guys who fish for a living, the vast majority of them do not have flashers on the bow.

This is just something you should think about before you spend a bunch of cash on a flasher just for your boat, or buy a graph mainly because it has a flasher option. Good luck.

[iffwalleyes]

Really for me it isn't sepnding a bunch of money it is actually going to be cheaper than getting a graph for me. The LX 5 is going on the boat one way or another otherwise it will sit in the corner and collect dust. If I don't get drawen for Elk hunting in MT I will be buying a 334 and that will take care of much of my problem. But, if I get drawn then I will be making do with the locators I currently have even if they are less than ideal. I personally still like a flasher better just because I have used them more and understand what they are telling me. But the graph would be nice for built in memory. I am liking Chucks method though. With two on the from and running the graph to the transom of the boat and having a puck on the LX 5. Great ideas something I wouldn't have though about thanks.

[Ray Esboldt]

I wasn't going to respond to PerchJerker, but I can't resist. I think you're wrong about telling people they're giving up half the functionality by using a flasher over a graph. Exactly, what half are they giving up?

Listen, flashers or graphs or a combination of both make for good front end electronics. I prefer a flasher because I know I can interpret more information from that unit by just turning it on than I can from a graph.

[PerchJerker]

I'm not saying flashers are bad, and if that's what you want to use, go ahead. But I think it's a mistake to use the flasher option on a graph.

The most obvious thing you're giving up by not using a graph is history, and the time to look at it and interpret it. 95% of the display on a graph is history, and it gives you time to look at it and interpret what you're seeing. A monochrome graph with a good grayline, and knowing how to use it, will let you interpret hard bottoms, soft bottoms, mixed patchy bottoms, changes in bottom composition, weeds, rocks, trees, suspended fish, suspended bait, suspended junk, and thermoclines. Color graphs are even better at showing these things.

Guys that know how to use flashers will say they can see all this stuff too, and most of it you can see with a flasher. But a flasher doesn't give you any history so you have much less time and info to decide what the flashes you're seeing represent. I say this as a once-upon-a-time die-hard flasher guy that no longer uses them on open water. Flashers work best in 2 situations, when you're flying across the water at WOT, and when you're sitting still or barely moving. I think graphs are better in all situations, but you need to put in the time to learn how to use them.

Does that mean flashers are no good, that you should get rid of them? No, not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying you should strongly consider a graph before you spend money on a flasher for your boat, and for the most part you shouldn't use a flasher option on a graph.

[iffwalleyes]

Quote:

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Does that mean flashers are no good, that you should get rid of them? No, not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying you should strongly consider a graph before you spend money on a flasher for your boat, and for the most part you shouldn't use a flasher option on a graph.

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As mentioned the situation I have is I already own the flasher so there is no cost for buying. You hit it right on the head when you say you need to know what your graph is telling you because I don't really understand them as well as I do my flasher.

[ChuckN]

Quote:

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The most obvious thing you're giving up by not using a graph is history, and the time to look at it and interpret it. 95% of the display on a graph is history, and it gives you time to look at it and interpret what you're seeing. A monochrome graph with a good grayline, and knowing how to use it, will let you interpret hard bottoms, soft bottoms, mixed patchy bottoms, changes in bottom composition, weeds, rocks, trees, suspended fish, suspended bait, suspended junk, and thermoclines. Color graphs are even better at showing these things.

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Exactly the point why I use a flasher AND a graph on the bow.

I don't think we were arguing the fact of using a good graph in flasher mode....I wouldn't do it either.