Vexilar ?

[kingkidfisher4431]

Will my vexilar still get a clear signal after shoting through 2 feet of ice? Because this year i plan on doing more ice fishing by myself and dont want to drill to many holes with the hand auger...Just wondering your guys opinion on the subject, Will i get a clear read with a little water on the ice?? Or not?
Thanks, The Kid

[wallydiver]

You'll get a clear signal if the ice is pretty good. If there is a lot of bubbles in there, the signal won't be as good. Since you already know to put some water down first, it'll work just fine.

[Matt Johnson]

Yep, clear ice will give you an accurate reading, although sometimes you might have adjust the gain setting and compensate for the ice thickness as far as the depth is concerned. I like to bring along a water bottle, that way I can squirt a little water on the ice which will help in getting a better signal. The LX-i by MarCum is a very handy tool to have for reading through the ice. It is designed just for situations like this, where you want to run and gun wasting no time. It will give you a fast, accurate reading, and you don't have to take your gloves off to fiddle with buttons and knobs like you would with the flasher. The flasher will work just fine as well though.

I think I saw my breath the other morning ...

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[The Grebe]

Yup, works for me!

[luckyc]

vex will work just fine, but rather than a bottle of water, I bring my small propane torch w/auto igniter. Don't have to worry about your water bottle being frozen late in the day, easy to store in the five gallon

[augernaut]

or, get a sport water bottle and mix some salt into the water to spray on the ice for your transducer. That way, it won't freeze - just don't forget it's saltwater and take a swig!!

[CRAPPIEBAIT]

Try one of the new hand held depth finders.They are worth the $$$ if you run and gun a lot.You don't have to carry the blue box alover the ice.Just use your 8 after you found your spot & start popin holes.I found I can get set up in half the time with this.

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Greg

[Chris-Neises]

I have an fl-18 and it reads fine at that depth. Handheld units do speed things up.

[pikerliker]

I have a Marcum but it works the same. I not only could read water depths through the ice but sometimes could mark fish! If the ice is very thick and cloudy it doesn't work so well though.

~piker

[Lost]

augernaut, what's wrong with a little salt in your water? It's just like eating tortilla chips and drinking water at the same time.

I've got me one of them handheld flashlight shaped depth finders. Gonna see how well it works this winter. Got it on hsolist, brand new, for $40.

[minneman]

lost, you are one thrifty fellar!

FyI, I picked up one of those pushbutton torches to replace the ever freezing water bottle. works great! dont burn yourself now.

[Lost]

minneman, when you live on my budget, you learn to be thrifty. Can you believe I used to live on $200 a month when I was unemployed? Hehe. Sure teaches how to spend money wisely. As a matter of fact, if the offer still stands, I'm gonna hop on a 6' ultra-light St Croix rod for $35. It's a refurbished rod but holds the same warrantee as a new one.

[Ed Carlson]

If the early ice is very cloudy and reading any sonar through it becomes a complication try this once.

Find a 4" panfish spoon type hand ice auger that is in good shape. It is much easier to spin 1 hole and check for fish then tinker with trying to read through air filled ice. Zip a hole, take a look, and move on.

A sharp spud bar works too, but you will not make too many friends whacking away at the ice in or near a crowd...especially at dusk Eh.

I like the torch trick, that is a smart deal!

FYI- You may also find that the LP mode on the FL-18 will work best when shooting through air filled ice, just adjust the gain up as needed. If your using an older FL-8 or SLT unit use the S-Cable to limit the interference generated by all the extra bubble targets trapped in the white ice.

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[This message has been edited by Ed Carlson (edited 08-29-2004).]