Opinion, you rather fish with a flasher or a under water camera?

[Mojo Rising]

Why?

[This message has been edited by Mojo Rising (edited 12-17-2003).]

[Matt Johnson]

Flasher.

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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First Choice Guide Service

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Catch-N Tackle and Bio Bait
MarCum

[Tofishem]

Both at the same time, in the same hole.
Vexilar FL-18 and Aqua Vu XPS60.

[This message has been edited by Tofishem (edited 12-17-2003).]

[gilliweed]

Flasher for me

[LocalGuide]

In shallow water (less than 10') id go with a camera 66% of the time. And in water deeper than that, I would go with a flasher 80% of the time.

But really my preference is both of them.

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aka PikeEye

[korn_fish]

flasher all the way. cameras are nice, but only if I am not moving around.

[SCHAAKATTACK]

Thanks for asking this. I am trying to decide which one I should buy first. I want a camera somewhat for entertainment for my boy when we go out. I thought it might keep him interested longer on the outing. I want the flasher because I would be able to target the fish better instaed of being blind and missing opportunities. decisions...decisions.

[Dennis Steele]

Flasher!
You can "see" all you need with the flasher.
You also don't need to drill a hole when looking for fish.Heck I don't usually drill untill I see some fish on the Marcum.
I do however believe that the camera is a very usefull tool.You can watch the reactions of fish and learn from it.You can also pick off a few light biters by watching them put their lips on the bait.

[Dan Wood]

Flasher without a doubt. The camera's are great and I wouldn't be without one, but the flasher does a lot more for you to get you on fish quicker. The flasher is much more versitile. You can shoot through the ice and locate fish/structure before drilling holes as noted by Dennis. The flasher is a must have for serious ice fishing in my opinion, the camera is a "nice to have".

[canvasback kid]

FLASHER WITHOUT A DOUBT

[Mojo Rising]

Ok. Who makes the best Ice fish finder?

[can it be luck?]

I agree with the flasher, for reasons mentioned. The camera is very nice to have, but the flasher comes first. The neat thing about the camera is that you'll be sooo surprised at the amount of fish that are hitting your bait without you knowing. When fishing panfish in a nuetral mood, these bites cannot be detected most of the times. Fish sucking in the bait without the faintest tap on the pole.

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http://groups.msn.com/canitbeluck

[Ron Anlauf]

I've used the Marcum LX3 and really like it. It has an adjustable zoom and a neat digital gauge that gives you an accurate reading of the remaining charge. The flasher is the first piece of equipment you should purchase followed by the camera. The flasher will allow you to find structure by shooting through the ice and you can't do that with a camera. The camera allows you to see exactly what's down there and will help you interpret what you're seeing on the flasher and can be a real educational tool and a whole lot of fun. The new Marcum 560 is going to be fantastic for low light viewing and puts it well ahead of other cameras and should be available within a week or so.

Ron Anlauf

[mnrstrider]

You can open a whole can of worms with the "which one is better thought" Get either a VEX or a Marcum, from everything I've gathered, you be more than happy with either of them, Look at them, I kind of like the look of the vex a tad better than the marcum, screen wise color wise, plus the vex came with a nice starter video, I thought that was a nice touch.

[Philo]

Absolutely no question about it - the flasher is more important than a camera. Falsher allows you to check for depth and sometimes fish without drilling holes. The flasher will also tell you the depth of suspended fish and is not vunerable to dirty or murky water. I have the FL-18 and I love it. I have not fished with a LX-3, but I have heard good things about that unit. Either one would be an excellent addition to your arsenal.

[jr1318]

flasher, the most important thing about keeping a youngster happy is action i have a 13 yr old daughter i just took out the other day we didnt catch much but had a blast watching fish come to bite on flasher

[willowcat]

With the flasher you can tell the depth the fish are at for covering area in a short amount of time. Allthough I have had times when the only way I knew the fish were taking my jig is with the camera. The bite was so lite my line didn't even twitch. The camera also helps identify what kind of fish are down there. If I had to chose just one it would be the flasher. More of a finding fish aid as well as depth.

[BLACKJACK]

Does the camera help at all after dark? Or is it just a daytime aid? Which cameras have the infrared feature that really works?

[Dennis Steele]

You need to remeber that "best" is a relative term.There are a lot of things to consider when you are looking for the best flasher for you.
There are two companies that shine when it comes to the ice fishing flashers.Marcum and Vexilar.Both offer great products and will aid you in finding and catching fish.
I went with Marcum LX3 this year because of the adjustable zoom,(great for fishing suspended fish)better interference reduction,and a cleaner or crisper display.
If you wnat more info on which one is best for you check out this thread.You have to read through the "Chevy vs Ford" argument and decide on the features you want.

http://fishingminnesota.com/ubb/Forum30/HTML/003306.html

Or this one

http://fishingminnesota.com/ubb/Forum9/HTML/002811.html

The best thing to do is get out on the ice and see how both work and make you decision from that.
You can ask your buddies who have them if you can play with their units or heck get out with some one from this site.
You can also test out one of these units at one of the ICE Sereis events.

http://iceleaders.com/ICE-Series-rules.html

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Minnesota River Guided Fishing
www.mnriverguidedfishing.com
[email protected]
NPAA #863

[Chris Haley]

Another thing to remember is with the camera, you have all that cable to get tangled in while bringing up a fish!!

Get the Marcum first!!

[Ed Carlson]

A.Flasher..the.most.versatile.and.dependable.ice-fishing.tool.now.avalabe.

A.Camera..the.most.educational.tool.(under.most.but.not.all.conditions).

Both.offer.an.abundance.of.information.and.will.up.your.knowledge.of.what.is.going.on.below.

The.more.you.know...the.more.informed.decisions.you.will.be.able.make.

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Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

Backwater Guiding
"ED on the RED"
[email protected]
><,sUMo,>

[Animal]

I use a flasher. I have a friend who has a camera. If offered a choice, I would take the flasher because I can keep track of my jig. However, it sure is a lot of fun to watch the TV screen.

[EBass]

Yup flasher then camera.

[ChuckN]

Flasher without a doubt.

I've had days where the camera spooked ALL the fish, so I pull the camera up, put the flasher down and I'm catching fish. Walleyes are mostly spooked by my camera.

A flasher won't spook fish in my opinion, but a strange looking object with a long black cable coming from above gets them nervous.

[Guest]

Depends on the species you're targeting. Also, it depends on the mood of the fish (Positive, neutral, negative).

The reason I say this is:
I've watched crappies come in from a distance to eat my bait, only to turn up their nose at the last minute. If I wouldn't of changed my presentation to exactly what the fish wanted, I would of thought that they were "just passing through". Also, I wouldn't of known if there were crappies or sunnies down there.

Also, I've watched pike come in when fishing for panfish, and not knowing what was going on without the camera, I would of thought that the fishing had died. Instead, I caught the pike, then the panfish rolled back in, once the coast was clear.

MOSTLY!
With the camera, you can spot fish off in the distance. Your flasher is covering 2 feet on the bottom. The camera can spot fish as far as 10+ feet away. I've caught plenty of fish (Pike, Walleye, crappie, sunny) via my camera, when all others were not getting squat.

You can read the fish's attitude by watching them on camera. You can't with a flasher.......

If the water is clear enough, I won't use my flasher, I use the camera.

I'll be honest, the quantity of fish that I've taken on the ice is 10 fold of that with a flasher. If I kept all of those fish, I would consider it cheating. However, I'm not a big fish eater, so mostly of what I catch, I throw back.

My ice fishing buddy and I have become so addicted to using cameras, that we will even place them on our tip-ups to watch how the fish react.

Yes, using a flasher prior to drilling holes will help you find some walleyes.

However, when it comes to panfish that are on a specific large piece of stucture, I will punch as many as 30 holes, with my buddy scouting with the camera, before we set up.

Perfect example was fishing Lake Marion in the South Metro. There were probably 25 people out panfishing. We went out, punching holes all over, until we found the schools. While everyone else was catching one here, one there, we couldn't keep them off the line.

Also, dropping a camera on a reef looking for walleyes, will tell you where on that rocky structure, the fish are. Using a flasher can deceive you, if there is a large boulder in your way, interfering the fish that are hanging around the rocks.

I'll use my flasher, fishing deep water or at night, where the clarity is very limited. The "night vision" that is on the cameras will turn the fish "off". Probably because it "blinds" them. However, during the day, I'll use that camera and work the specific fish I spot, bringing them into the bait, the way they want it. That would be getting that walleye's attention, while he is 10 feet from your lure, and bringing him in. With the flasher, you would of never known he was there...........Then you go home, complaining that the fish weren't bitting. All because you were 15 feet off the "spot on the spot".

Good luck. Get the flasher, Go with a cheapy. I use my Eagle Ultra Classic portable that I take with me on Fly-In trips into Ontario.

The camera is something that I can't fish without.

Besides, it is much better entertainment!!!