Flasher help pls...

[Gootz]

My brother in-law and I were fishing at eom today, we both have bird 35's.  Now these flashers are our first for both of us so we really don't know exactly what we're doing but have been givin a basic over view and have general understanding of the workings of the flasher.

We've only used them twice but both times we get a lot of interference. We try hitting the noise button and playing with the gain but it's always there. Guy at the store said we would be able to fish holes beside each other and just hit the noise button and no interference.

I've also read on this site the birds are no good within 20 yards of one another.

We fish in a 6 man tent in opposit sides about 10-12' apart.

Also I can only see my 1/4oz jig if I have my gain all the way up. I was told it only needs to be up a little to see the jig. If I turn my gain down from full my jig dissapears.

Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated. If not I'm gonna return it tomorrow and get a marcum.

Thanks

[ryan johnson]

i never owned a hummingbird but Reading the manual right now..fist like my marcum it says there are ten settings for noise rejection.. if you guys are turning them on to the same level ie. level 1 then your gonna be in the same boat as where you started from..(the same freq.)  looks like your display will show  what level your on by the width of the blue line on the top of the dial..usually only one of you has to put your rejection on..to be effective..

now for the problem about having to turn your gain way up to see your jig..  the most probable cause is that your fishing at the eom. and that means your in a river...which means current.. which means your jig is in the verry outer part of your cone...and the only way your gonna see that little jig way out there is to turn the gain waaaay up..
solution: drill a hole 3-4 feet down stream ,plop your transducer in there ..and bing you will be able to see your jig
on a lower power..

[Gootz]

Thanks for the help. I know exactly what ur talking about but I don't know for sure if we were on the same frequency or not. I'll have to give it another go and double check to make sure we aren't on the same frequency.

As for the current problem I guess me transducer hole wasn't far enough down steam because I was told you shouldn't have to turn ur gain up much at all to pick up a small jig

Thanks again.

[tommy jr.]

Try this it may help........

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=204129.0

[ryan johnson]

oh yeah and i would probably switch to 3/8 ounce if you cant get the 1/4 to show up

[HighlandGlen Guide]

birds are known for interfering with eachother, ive always had problems, having one guy on wide beam and the other on narrow beam helps, changing the noise dial has never helped for me, not to say that it wont though.  i started with a 35 and have buddies that still have them and they always have their gain way up, but i wouldnt say cranked all the way. ive upgraded to a 55 and barely touch my gain, but still get some interference from my buds with birds.  vex's and marcums fishing side by side to my bird...no interference, would think they would make the birds so they wouldnt interfere with eachother, but what do i know!!

[Gootz]

Well I'm thinking I'm gonna give it one more go with 2 birds at the same time before I go and return it for a different brand. In talking to my brother inlaw sounds like we might have been on the same frequency.  They are a little complicated to figure out how to setup all your settings. But I think I figured it out on demo mode.

I'm sure we'll be heading out in the next couple days and I'll try everyone's suggestions to see if it helps.
I'll post some results as well.

Thanks for all the help guys.

[HighlandGlen Guide]

i wouldnt be returning it, like i said there was 3 of us that had 35s and we all fished within 30 feet of eachother, even with a bit of interference, its manageable, change your beams, it will help alot!  they are good units for the price they are!

[fishin_guy]

I have never fished two birds side by side but I would play with only one first.  Adjust the noise on one bird and leave the other till they stop or reduce between the two.  I have had my gain about 1/2 way or less on my 35.  When fishing for pike I use a leader and it will pick up my jig and leader swivel no problem.  I turn it down until my swivel disappears.  When I have the zoom on I have to turn down my gain also.  For being new with it I would play first.  Try not flowing water tests and see how they work without having your hook on the outside edge of the cone.

[tommy jr.]

Well I'm thinking I'm gonna give it one more go with 2 birds at the same time before I go and return it for a different brand.
Thanks for all the help guys.

Give the bird a few more trial runs first.
Once you figure them out they are great little units (especially for the price)!

[fishhead 83]

I have a Bird 35,got lot's of interference when I used it for the first time, took the atenna off, thats the wire/rubber  thats about 3 feet long and has a clip on it that hooks up to the sonar, and since then never get any interference working side by side withe any flasher

[mikeypikey]

My brother in-law and I were fishing at eom today, we both have bird 35's.  Now these flashers are our first for both of us so we really don't know exactly what we're doing but have been givin a basic over view and have general understanding of the workings of the flasher.

We've only used them twice but both times we get a lot of interference. We try hitting the noise button and playing with the gain but it's always there. Guy at the store said we would be able to fish holes beside each other and just hit the noise button and no interference.

I've also read on this site the birds are no good within 20 yards of one another.

We fish in a 6 man tent in opposit sides about 10-12' apart.

Also I can only see my 1/4oz jig if I have my gain all the way up. I was told it only needs to be up a little to see the jig. If I turn my gain down from full my jig dissapears.

Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated. If not I'm gonna return it tomorrow and get a marcum.

Thanks

i own a 5.6 marcum showdown and its the future of the flasher, return the bird and buy the showdown, its easy to read its powerful and theres no interfernce or very little when other flashers are around.  i love mine.. never leave home without it..

[greenbackhunter]

i own a 5.6 marcum showdown and its the future of the flasher, return the bird and buy the showdown, its easy to read its powerful and theres no interfernce or very little when other flashers are around.  i love mine.. never leave home without it..

Wow, that's quite the statement.... the showdown in definitely NOT the future of the flasher!! This thing is a POS that lots of people have had issues with.... do some research on this site before you believe what mikeypikey has said. Have you used the flashers one at a time? Use one first, make sure it's ok, then shut it off and try the other. Or put some distance between you on the ice and run them. That close may be causing the 2 sonars to ping off each other, causing your interference.

[carcus1]

i own a 5.6 marcum showdown and its the future of the flasher, return the bird and buy the showdown, its easy to read its powerful and theres no interfernce or very little when other flashers are around.  i love mine.. never leave home without it..

Bird 35 is a way better unit than the POS showdown, trust me I had 2 dual beams last year, first one didn't work as it should, marcum sent me out a new transducer, still not working, the sent me out a new unit , this one did not work at all, told marcum I didn't have any confidence in the unit and they sent me out a new lx3tc, now I'm happy. 

Also had the family out yesterday my cousin brought his showdown troller, set it up for one of the kids, that lasted 10 min, terrible unit, only way you could say a showdown is better than a flasher would be if you haven't used a real flasher before.

[mikeypikey]

Wow, that's quite the statement.... the showdown in definitely NOT the future of the flasher!! This thing is a POS that lots of people have had issues with.... do some research on this site before you believe what mikeypikey has said. Have you used the flashers one at a time? Use one first, make sure it's ok, then shut it off and try the other. Or put some distance between you on the ice and run them. That close may be causing the 2 sonars to ping off each other, causing your interference.

lol never had a problem with mine , you must of had a lemon showdown, it seems your one of those guys who handles his equipment poorly.. and before you trash talk maybe you SHOULD think before you talk. every product has its down falls, it seems this guy who needs help maybe needs a more simple approach and the showdown gives you that, the  flashers can be difficult to run and read!!!!!!!!!! thats my opinion

[mikeypikey]

Bird 35 is a way better unit than the POS showdown, trust me I had 2 dual beams last year, first one didn't work as it should, marcum sent me out a new transducer, still not working, the sent me out a new unit , this one did not work at all, told marcum I didn't have any confidence in the unit and they sent me out a new lx3tc, now I'm happy. 

Also had the family out yesterday my cousin brought his showdown troller, set it up for one of the kids, that lasted 10 min, terrible unit, only way you could say a showdown is better than a flasher would be if you haven't used a real flasher before.

WHERE DID I SAY IT WAS BETTER?? i just said it was the future and my opinion was to go with the SD.. guys like you are the one who ruin sites like this!!!! he asked a question i gave an answer, dont need to put me down!!!

[Bazinga]

While we are on the topic of the 35....I got one for xmas and have only been out with it once.  All day I had two thin green marks at 1 and 2 feet.  despite adjusting the gain and attemtping to fine tune it, i could not get them to go away.  I madfe sure my ducer was deep enough and even tried taking the support cord off to make sure it was hanging flat.  Also, i made sure the hole was clear of slush and that the ducer was clean.  Any ideas?

[greenbackhunter]

lol never had a problem with mine , you must of had a lemon showdown, it seems your one of those guys who handles his equipment poorly.. and before you trash talk maybe you SHOULD think before you talk. every product has its down falls, it seems this guy who needs help maybe needs a more simple approach and the showdown gives you that, the  flashers can be difficult to run and read!!!!!!!!!! thats my opinion

had it as a back-up, and it didn't work right out of the box. I also run 2 LX-5's as my main units, so ya, I know how take care of my gear.... No trash talk at all... you made the blanket statement, not me. A 10 year old vex is head and shoulders above the showdown. But hey, if your happy that's great.

[oldccm]

Don't forget "my bird is bigger than your bird" + "my dads showdown can beat up your dads showdown". This is starting to sound a lot like dodge is better than Chevy + vice versa. Use your flasher a few times, if you don't like the feel switch to another model. It doesn't automatically mean one is better than the other. Perhaps switching to a bird 55 would work too.

[carcus1]

WHERE DID I SAY IT WAS BETTER?? i just said it was the future and my opinion was to go with the SD.. guys like you are the one who ruin sites like this!!!! he asked a question i gave an answer, dint need to put me down!!!

Just didnt want anybody to make the same expensive mistake I did, I have alot of experience with flashers and from my experience they are all OK except the showdown, and I didn't mean to ruin the site, I am sorry I offended.  Hope your showdown keeps working for you.

[Diehardiceguy]

My showdown works awesome as well. It's all prefrence to what peoples wants/needs are. All of them will find fish, and I've read about problems with every single unit out there even the new almighty lx7. There's no reason to bash any product of any manufactures. There will always be some units that are faulty from vex,marcum,lowrance,birds,  when someone can show me a product that has been out for more than a year with zero complaints/ problems then I'll call it superior.

[mikeypikey]

Just didnt want anybody to make the same expensive mistake I did, I have alot of experience with flashers and from my experience they are all OK except the showdown, and I didn't mean to ruin the site, I am sorry I offended.  Hope your showdown keeps working for you.

Its all good, caught fish today and now its beer time.  i was just trying to help the fellow fisherman out, everything has a flaw even flashers and the showdown lol (just haven't seen it yet lol) CHEERS AND GOOD FISHING TO ALL!!!!!

[buckster]

ahhhhhh   i remember the days you couldnt see  them not biteing 

[skrazydoo]

Greenbackhunter , carcus1, and the others are giving good advice!!  Stickydicky is just mad that he owns a showdown that he paid way to much for!!!!
 Fished yesterday in the fatfish with 2 35s and my vex 18. One 35 had interference the other one was fine. They are a nice unit with low power and nice return, just a little tricky to adjust. no problem with the vex from either

My showdown stayed in the back of the truck where it belongs!!! I hope I never have to us it again.

[mikeypikey]

Greenbackhunter , carcus1, and the others are giving good advice!!  Stickydicky is just mad that he owns a showdown that he paid way to much for!!!!
 Fished yesterday in the fatfish with 2 35s and my vex 18. One 35 had interference the other one was fine. They are a nice unit with low power and nice return, just a little tricky to adjust. no problem with the vex from either

My showdown stayed in the back of the truck where it belongs!!! I hope I never have to us it again.

LMAO SKIDMARKDOO .... i guess this must be a showdown heres mine today!!! wheres yours? the showdown seen this one from a mile away( like the wpg jets "winning")

[fishinn]

My brother in-law and I were fishing at eom today, we both have bird 35's.  Now these flashers are our first for both of us so we really don't know exactly what we're doing but have been givin a basic over view and have general understanding of the workings of the flasher.

We've only used them twice but both times we get a lot of interference. We try hitting the noise button and playing with the gain but it's always there. Guy at the store said we would be able to fish holes beside each other and just hit the noise button and no interference.

I've also read on this site the birds are no good within 20 yards of one another.

We fish in a 6 man tent in opposit sides about 10-12' apart.

Also I can only see my 1/4oz jig if I have my gain all the way up. I was told it only needs to be up a little to see the jig. If I turn my gain down from full my jig dissapears.

Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated. If not I'm gonna return it tomorrow and get a marcum.

Thanks

OK.......so back to Goot'z original question.

All flashers will interfere if you are using 2 or more in proximity if you dont make the adjustments, doesnt matter what brand.

Same process.

Give your manual a good read and as the best post said (the one where they were running 3 units successfully)........ make the adjustments in the field.  Also, go to a guy who knows his stuff......try ProAM and they'll likely grab 2 units and show you what to do via "dry land training".

the Ice 35 is a great unit as are some of the others mentioned, but you need to know the fine tuning.

Also the river current issue is likely part of what you were experiencing.  The other day at EOM I got the best signal from 2 holes away at 2 foot spacing.  Drill 4 in a row and play around.  That's half the fun is figuring out the flasher's little details.


Tight lines.

Fishinn

[fishinn]

While we are on the topic of the 35....I got one for xmas and have only been out with it once.  All day I had two thin green marks at 1 and 2 feet.  despite adjusting the gain and attemtping to fine tune it, i could not get them to go away.  I madfe sure my ducer was deep enough and even tried taking the support cord off to make sure it was hanging flat.  Also, i made sure the hole was clear of slush and that the ducer was clean.  Any ideas?

That's normal Bazinga.  You likely also got a thin green line at the half way depth of the total depth on ocassion ... ie. if you're in 20 fow you might see a line at 10 fow (no it wasnt a suspended perch).

You can adjust the gain to decrease these lines but you'll also loose your definition of the lure and bottom fish if you do. 

Good luck

Fishinn

[reel]

I have a Bird 35,got lot's of interference when I used it for the first time, took the atenna off, thats the wire/rubber  thats about 3 feet long and has a clip on it that hooks up to the sonar, and since then never get any interference working side by side withe any flasher

OMG....what??...."antenna"...??!! that is the support cable supporting the the hanging transducer, taking the transducer's weight off the main signal  cable.....and that's it, nothing else ....nothing to do with interference 

[reel]

LMAO SKIDMARKDOO .... i guess this must be a showdown heres mine today!!! wheres yours?the showdown seen this one from a mile away( like the wpg jets "winning")

....ommyyyymyyyyyy decent pike,  but no biggie in "pike country" so don't get too wet,  whereas "scrazydoos" biggest walleye today was 27"   yesterday 26" very respectable sizes for couple days I'd say ......that said, we may look you up at FPB for some pike catching tip exchange 

[mikeypikey]

....ommyyyymyyyyyy decent pike,  but no biggie in "pike country" so don't get too wet,  whereas "scrazydoos" biggest walleye today was 27"   yesterday 26" very respectable I'd say ......that said, we may look you up at FPB for some pike catching tip exchange 

we should start up a trash talking page lol but hey i showed you proof, where your 27" proof?? this is green back country and 27" is small dude!!lol but forsure i'm on this site cause i believe in sharing info with your fellow fisherperson and are backyard is a mecka fishery should be treated with respect!! heres a 35" walleye i caught this fall. NOW thats a greenback!!