[annis_2006]

I do not have the money for a flasher ($400!?!?), but I DO have a Humminbird 561di I can take off my boat very easily.

I think this discussion has likely been done to death elsewhere, but most of what I read is people saying "get a flasher" or "get a fish finder," but no one says WHY. What are the advantages/disadvantages to each?

Personally, I was considering mounting the transducer to a rig similar to a tip up that can swing down and lower into the water. However, I'm not sure if the transducer would be okay in the freezing water, nor how the display would do in the cold air.

 

[GuppyII]

I would bet your hummingbird has a flasher mode.... Hbird probably makes a ice ducer that'll fit, get a power cord and make your own ice pack...

 

[BluesHockey42]

People always tell me to get a flasher but I use my sonar from my Kayak and I love it! It gives me a clear picture of the bottom and surrounding features. I personally like the standard fish finder setup a little more for whatever reason. I use the Piranha Max 175 btw.

 

[fishrod]

Hey I tried using my kayak unit for ice fishing, but when I drop my jig down I get a straight line all across my unit, since my screen is always scrolling, from my jig. Any thoughts. Fish on.

 

[bigbuck]

Personal preference, I use a flasher, have for years, just set in my ways I guess. To me its easy to tune, a power knob and a gain. Zoom function for deeper water. I will say that my flasher seems to drain a battery quicker than my sons fish finder.

 

[Matt V]

Personal preference, I use a flasher, have for years, just set in my ways I guess. To me its easy to tune, a power knob and a gain. Zoom function for deeper water. I will say that my flasher seems to drain a battery quicker than my sons fish finder.

You may have a bad battery. My HDS 5 drains my battery in about 6 - 7 hours... I could use my Vexilar for days without charging it.

 

[sbooy42]

graph..I have the low67... love it.. everything a flasher can do plus goes on my boat.. And when I was researching them I would have had to spend a couple extra hundred just for a flasher to reach 300'...
Fished next to a vex this weekend and IMO not as easy to read. And with 3 jigs down the hole it made it more difficult... we ended up using the graph most the night...

But it all comes down to personal preference.. research and figure out what works best for you..

 

[toppm]

Ive had my vexilar FL 18 for fifteen years. Just had to buy a new battery a few years back. Not as fancy as the newer ones but keeps me in the fish if they are biting.

 

[ibthetrout]

I have an old Humminbird Piranah Max 20 that I use on the ice. Turn ping speed up a fast as you can and turn off fish ID feature if it has it. I know I have fished in 20 -30 foot water with it and I can see my jig and mark fish. I made a tee out of wood that my transducer is attached to, much like your idea of using something like a tipup, that is exactly what I did. I run mine off an old Dewalt 12v drill battery. I can go all day and never had it die. I fit the whole thin in a Tide detergent bottle (gallon size) with a cut out, keeps it dry.

If you would like some pics just let me know.

 

[Mr B]

:yeahthat:

You may have a bad battery. My HDS 5 drains my battery in about 6 - 7 hours... I could use my Vexilar for days without charging it.

 

[bigbuck]

You may have a bad battery. My HDS 5 drains my battery in about 6 - 7 hours... I could use my Vexilar for days without charging it.

Could be but my son has a x67 ice I have an older Marcum lx5, he can easily go longer than mine. I do know that Marcum claims quite a high power out put in the lx5, don't know if that has anything to do with it or not. He can go multiple days without recharging, I can't.

 

[Jim_MI]

Hey I tried using my kayak unit for ice fishing, but when I drop my jig down I get a straight line all across my unit, since my screen is always scrolling, from my jig. Any thoughts. Fish on.

Sounds like exactly what you should be seeing! Turn the scroll speed up to max. Zoom in and adjust your gain to just barely show the jig going up and down as you move it. You will learn how to read the jig (moving up and down) vs nearby deadstick (straight line) vs fish (come and go up and down, hopefully chasing your jig). Very easy to see multiple fish coming and going. You can easily keep pulling the jig up nnd just out of reach of the dinks and hopefully draw the larger more aggressive keepers up out of the pack. You can leave scroll speed on max all season, but gain, depth and zoom should be adjusted for each hole and for each jig.

 

[VintageFish13]

I have been using my summer fish finder so far and it's been great. I just ran the transducer cable through a PVC pipe and the design is like a tip up. Make sure your transducer is level and under the lip of the ice. Mine even has an ice fishing setting. I found a 12v battery from an old battery backup unit that works great.

 

[msfcarp]

You have nothing to lose, go ahead and try it. I am sure your transducer should be fine, and I am sure your 561 is new enough not to have problems with the cold. I know older lcd units did not do well.

For what it's worth, I own a vexilar FL-8, have had it for more than fifteen years, and a Lowrance elite 4. I prefer using the Lowrance.

 

[benster]

Hey I tried using my kayak unit for ice fishing, but when I drop my jig down I get a straight line all across my unit, since my screen is always scrolling, from my jig. Any thoughts. Fish on.

this might help

 

[annis_2006]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone! I rigged it up using a toolbox and a cutting board (stole the idea from another thread). It looks like something my Grandpa would rig together, but I'm darn proud of it and I'm taking it out tomorrow!

 

[rwing7486]

Flashers are for the men who speak with phrases like "back in my day..."

 

[plugger]

Flashers are for the men who speak with phrases like "back in my day..."

They also speak phrases like here kid you want a few of these slab gills? I have my limit and I hate to see you go home completely skunked!

 

[rwing7486]

They also speak phrases like here kid you want a few of these slab gills? I have my limit and I hate to see you go home completely skunked!

hahaha nope. I have heard "hey kid, where you catch those monster fish, what were you using? I can only catch dinky small gills"

 

[rwing7486]

In all seriousness though, if you are going to shell out $300 to $500 it makes no sense getting a flasher. With today's technology you can have a nice LCD screen show visually multiple fish at different depths along with the structure you are fishing and total depth. Heck most new finders have a flasher mode for those who are too stubborn to get with the times, but hey I guess they don't want to catch more and bigger fish