Marking Fish in Open Water on a Vexilar

[wayne123]

Any hints on using a Vexilar to mark fish in Open Water? I have not had much luck and think I am missing something.

[Deitz Dittrich]

First, keep in mind that the flasher units only tell you what is down there at that exact moment. If you pass over a fish and are looking at something else you will miss it. Which is why the lcd graphs are so popular, it has a memory and tells you what you missed.

Ok.. things to consider, is your tranceducer level? Are there fish down there, you cant mark a fish that is not there. Turn your gain higher, go slow with the boat.

[wayne123]

Thanks for the help. I may need to adjust the transducer. The locator works at slower speeds but I do not have to go very fast and cannot tell the depth. I am not sure if this is normal.

[Deitz Dittrich]

No, that is not normal... I can read 100 foot of water depth at 55 mph in my rig... Sounds like youmay have an issue of where your ducer is located or the angle of the ducer. Both are very important to the success of marking fish.

[wayne123]

Do you think with the bottom of my boat (1975 fiberglass 16 ft Starcraft) shaped like the picture below I should buy a transducer that glues to the inside bottom of the boat or stick with the transducer on the outside of the boat? The transducer I have on the outside is V shaped and has two metal brackets on the sides.

[image]c:\junk\boatbottom.TIF[/image]

Sorry the picture did not work like I thought. I found the FAQ and will try to make it work later. The bottom of the boat at the stern is basically V shaped so there is not a horizontal edge on the bottom/back of the boat to mount the transducer.

[wayne123]

I found some good information on Vexilar's HSOforum that shows how to adjust the transducer and the maximum V you can have on the bottom of the stern. I need to check if the V on the back of my boat is too large.

I still wonder if I should go with a transducer inside the hull.

Also if I use the high speed transducer on the stern do I put the bottom parallel with the water or the bottom of the hull?

Sorry these questions sound kind of basic but I want to get this issue fixed.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I have my tracduder mounted to shoot through the hull.. When you do this you sometimes will loose sensitivity. Mine seems to work fine, but I have a glass boat, not aluminum. To do this. I used an epoxy and made a pool.. I then set the tranceducer in the epoxy. ITs not an easy process.. You have to first sand down the inside of the boat.. and you need to be sure you do not have any bubbls in the epoxy.. then use a level to level the tranceducer as you do not want it to be level to the bottom of the boat.. that would be bad.. Its much easier to mount on the back of the boat... and you dont loose any sensitivity that way. I did it because I fish a lot of shallow water and was constantly knocking my ducer out of wack hitting things with it. .so, mounted it in the floor of the boat.. works great now.. Like I said, I get a great bottom reading at 55 mph.. in as deep as 100 feet of water.

FFor you, I would suggest you mount it off the back of your boat... but it needs to be in the right area..

[Joel Taylor]

I have found that the best position for the vexilar is infront of my couch/bed! I get sick of open water and wanted a little ice fishing action year round!

nope you just can't beat locator jigging from bed in the middle of summer!

[Skeets]

Wow!

That looks like the boat I need to buy!

[Pikeslayer]

I put my duicer level with the boat,Vexlar works very fast,no need to wonder about what angle the boat plains out at!Just so its level from right to left!!

[hovermn]

Oh wow, you're ice fishing on soft water. Talk about getting a fix in the off season! I'm pretty jealous!

[shorefisher]

I put mine on the back and just followed the dir. that came with it. They said where to mount it and never had any issues. I can jig fish over the side and see fish come in just like hard water. One thing I did find is it picks up everything in the water (a day with a camera gave me a much better understanding of what I was looking at on the Vex). And using a map with the Vex will also give you a good idea of how to read it in the summer and know what you are looking at. Mine will read true to 70' and as fast as my boad will go what ever that is (75hp 15 ft. glass boat) and I have just not fished an deeper water then 70'. If you still have issues I could send you a picture of what mine looks like if that would help but is sounds like I have the mounting set up as you have. Any way good luck.

[palisade1kid]

I have my transducer taped to a suction cup that mounts on anyones boat.

It's the cat's meow for real time readings.

[BLACKJACK]

I'd like to see the picutre of your mounting!! My Vexilar doesn't work worth a darn on my boat!!!!

[palisade1kid]

Quote:

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I'd like to see the picutre of your mounting!! My Vexilar doesn't work worth a darn on my boat!!!!

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I'll try to take a pic of my tranducer setup.I fish with a lot of guys and I'm always bringing my 8 with me so I have a real time locator.

[wayne123]

I would like to see the picture too. I am still having trouble with mine. I did get it to work better but still cannot go fast and get a reading. I suspect there are air bubbles going over the transducer.

[wayne123]

Great picture. That would be perfect for slip bobber fishing at night. I know just the spot and have been there plenty of times in the rain and cold.

[palisade1kid]

Here's how I have my ducer set up and it sticks to the back of any boat.