Why are flashers relevant any more?

[chumster]

Changed because I got tired of the noise. Don’t use the flasher on my bird or Garmin. Prefer my gamin ice bundle in down view best. But to each their own.

[bigfoot86]

I own the marcum lx5i and have my helix 9 mega gen 3 set up for ice fishing because I like seeing lake maps for lakes I'm not familiar with.  I'll fish my lx5i any day over my helix.  Love my marcum!  Not to mention it hardly using any battery.

[slipperybob]

Terminator T-800 will always be more cool than Terminator T-1000. 

[Old Goat]

Yeah the reasons given don't really separate them from flashers. I've had several "old timers" replacing their Vexilars this year because their old (5 to 7 years old) Vexilars crapped out on them. In fact I don't see much of a difference between the number of Humminbird or Garmin units returned for defects versus Vexilars. Lowrance is a different story.

Would any of them old timers like to sell me a ancient vexilar 5-7 years old ? I like vintage junk

[Iceassin]

Yeah the reasons given don't really separate them from flashers. I've had several "old timers" replacing their Vexilars this year because their old (5 to 7 years old) Vexilars crapped out on them. In fact I don't see much of a difference between the number of Humminbird or Garmin units returned for defects versus Vexilars. Lowrance is a different story.

Crapped out after 5-7 years? Doubtful.

*see related topic in Equipment Board *

If wrong I'll eat my words.😉

[fishinjohn]

I'm going to chime in here...
We all are guilty of advancing our strategies for fishing AT SOME POINT!
As well as others, I still use the 1 oz lead weight on a gator clip for checking depth for my tip ups..(faster, less gear to haul hole to hole) however I use my marcum 5 (which is 8 years old and still working great) for jigging on lakes i do not use tip ups on..
Personally I think the industry is getting out of hand.. panoptix for ex.. man it sure it awesome technology but the price?!!!!
And honestly who REALLY CARES what guys use?
Does it matter if a guy uses a 24' HT M walleye rod versus a 36' custom build???
Sometimes I think we get caught up in the slop of "needing to catch fish"
Sure it's nice to catch fish and be successful, however... personally I go out to get away from life and enjoy the serenity that mother nature gives me

[masoneddie]

  Good Morning John,  nice post!   
  LX-5 user here as well, it has always been good to me since I got it...and I always have an old sounder clipped on my bibs for good luck!  I find these things “ relevant “ each trip.  Big fan of Ugly Stiks also...get the popcorn ready!   

[filetandrelease]

 

[masoneddie]

    

[bearnoob]

I fished with a buddy who has been ice fishing since he was a kid and had been using a Lowrance sonar for years. (I've only been ice fishing a few years and he basically showed me the ropes.) I bought a Humminbird Ice 35 (not touting the brand or unit, but for those who don't know, it is the cheapest round display flasher out there). After 2 trips out with me, he bought a flasher.

I find especially in weeds it is easier to distinguish fish from weeds with my flasher because you can see some  movement in the weeds that I can't always distinguish in the sonar, but that's just me. I'm sure if I spent more time with a sonar unit I would get better at that.

[mcflyfisher]

I started with an fl8se.  I literally wore it out.   I sent it to vexilar and they put a new motor in it and cleaned it up.   In the mean time I got a stryker 4. 
Flashes are like revolvers.  They are durable, and dependable.  They also hold value like an old farm tractor.   Look at Craig's list or marketplace.   10 year old fl8s are still going for $200.  A 10 year old graph has no value.   
The stryker4 was half the cost if a new fl8se, and it has the features that are close to an fl18.  If it quits working, it's disposable.   I highly doubt Garmin is going to take it apart and restore it to new condition.  My echo map 93sv is as much cost as a top end flasher, and is just as disposable as the Stryker 4.
The issue for me, that I don't think anybody else has addressed, is open water use.   My dad has a boat transducer for his fl18.  It's pretty hard to read.   Obviously, graphs are meant to used in open water.  To me,  this makes the graph am excellent choice for anybody that fishes on the hard and soft water.   The flasher certainly doesn't seem relevant on open water any more.   I think as 3d sonar develops the flasher will become less relevant on the ice too.  I thing it'll be 2030 before the 3d technology has matured, so the flasher is going to be useful for a while.

[gman51]

its petty well guaranteed the vast majority of young and or new to ice fishing people looking to purchase electronics these days for fishing will gravitate towards whats new and improved digitally. they just want to keep up with technology.and what people are telling them on youtube blogs..lol. as for the older crowd most are fine with what they know or are using in their units. some are stubborn, some don't feel the need to change what works, some can't justify the $. what ever it is it is what it is. nothing to get over.. or to concern yourself about what other people use. get out fishing drill a hole deploy whatever electronics you use and have fun.

[bootstrap]

another 5 years flashers will be a thing of the past.

[Iceassin]

another 5 years flashers will be a thing of the past.

That's what they said about the television. 😉

[Rugburn]

another 5 years flashers will be a thing of the past.

Really?  I#$@t

[Iceassin]

Really?  I#$@t

Not mine. Just bought it so I'm good for another 20 years. 😁

[RuttNutt]

From what I've seen, the Panoptix is a game changer. Being able to see 100' or more in any direction from your hole instead of just what is directly under you obviously is a huge advantage. But the price......................................I'll stick to my flasher until the Panoptix technology comes down closer to the flasher price range. No way am I paying well over $1,000 for a fish finder! 

[Nosaj]

I had an old Humming bird portable graph type that I had used going back 15 yrs.  It died and I bought a Lowrance X67C around 2012 which has the option for graph or flasher mode thinking I wanted the graph mode.  For years I have used it in flasher mode on the ice because I can see the fish moving in and out of the cone better than when it is in graph mode. 

[SirCranksalot]

From what I've seen, the Panoptix is a game changer. Being able to see 100' or more in any direction from your hole instead of just what is directly under you obviously is a huge advantage. But the price......................................I'll stick to my flasher until the Panoptix technology comes down closer to the flasher price range. No way am I paying well over $1,000 for a fish finder! 

But think of all the money you will save on food!!

[PazzoCorso]

Gone are the days of looking at a paper map, grabbing 'ye ole fish finding stick and catching dinner.
One the upside, there has to be a way to hack these new machines. Kinda like hitting your buddies rod while he's not looking. Just newerer and betterer
 

[Figure ate]

I think a lot of guys who use flashers rather than graphs do so because they already own them and it's hard to justify spending money on something that, in their eyes, they already have. Most of those people are casuals who wouldn't benefit from the advanced features (mapping, waypoints, sonar history, compound zoom, etc.) so their flasher truly is all they need. If you plop an ice house down in the same spot on the same lake every Saturday all winter long, drink 21 beers and catch a few fish, what good does mapping do you?

Graphs are for people looking for one more advantage when switching spots, switching lakes or working extremely difficult/negative fish. Some guys just don't care to put that much effort into getting drunk.

[Gunflint]

I think a lot of guys who use flashers rather than graphs do so because they already own them and it's hard to justify spending money on something that, in their eyes, they already have. Most of those people are casuals who wouldn't benefit from the advanced features (mapping, waypoints, sonar history, compound zoom, etc.) so their flasher truly is all they need. If you plop an ice house down in the same spot on the same lake every Saturday all winter long, drink 21 beers and catch a few fish, what good does mapping do you?

Graphs are for people looking for one more advantage when switching spots, switching lakes or working extremely difficult/negative fish. Some guys just don't care to put that much effort into getting drunk.

I think that there is a lot more truth in this post than many would care to own up to.

Some think that fishing is a recreational activity and excuse to get together with the guys. (Flashers)
Others think that it is a matter of life and death. (Graphs)
Then there are those that know that fishing is much more important than life and death. (Livescope)

That is how I see it...

[Doeslayer]

another 5 years flashers will be a thing of the past.

Idk ive had mine for 5 and unless someone gives me a panoptix for my birthday ill have it for 25 more lol

[Figure ate]

I think that there is a lot more truth in this post than many would care to own up to.

Some think that fishing is a recreational activity and excuse to get together with the guys. (Flashers)
Others think that it is a matter of life and death. (Graphs)
Then there are those that know that fishing is much more important than life and death. (Livescope)

That is how I see it...

Exactly, I don't see the reason for debate and getting butthurt about it from either side of the argument. It's all about what you want from the sport.

[DR.SPECKLER]

That crap doesn’t make any sense.**censored**getting drunk has something to do with liking a flasher or graph?lol im as hardcore of a fisherman as anyone and definitely not a casual fisherman and still prefer a flasher.maybe i dont need all the hoopla and spend 1000s of dollars to catch fish is all.i dont dont drink at all either.

[NateD]

I think a lot of guys who use flashers rather than graphs do so because they already own them and it's hard to justify spending money on something that, in their eyes, they already have. Most of those people are casuals who wouldn't benefit from the advanced features (mapping, waypoints, sonar history, compound zoom, etc.) so their flasher truly is all they need. If you plop an ice house down in the same spot on the same lake every Saturday all winter long, drink 21 beers and catch a few fish, what good does mapping do you?

Graphs are for people looking for one more advantage when switching spots, switching lakes or working extremely difficult/negative fish. Some guys just don't care to put that much effort into getting drunk.

Completely wrong.  Mapping and waypoints are both on my phone, still noone has said how sonar history helps at all, and most of my local lakes are shallow so I have no need for compound zoom? (is this where you can zoom on a certain level of the water column? Don't some flashers do that?), and I don't get drunk on the ice.

[bootstrap]

That's what they said about the television. 😉

it is like the difference between a tube tv and a flat screen.

[Gunflint]

it is like the difference between a tube tv and a flat screen.

Between a 20 inch tube TV (and 6 channels) and a 75 inch flat screen (and 400 channels).

[DR.SPECKLER]

Right but its still icefishing..pulling a fish up thru a hole in the ice.just depends how many $$$ a guy wants to put into doing it.

[NateD]

Like 1080p vs. 4k, no reason to upgrade, zero advantages, can barely tell the difference.