flasher help

[hardwater7]

I need some help. I got a Marcum flasher and don't know what I am doing. I read the manual but can not find how to interpret the the depth of the water. When I have it set on the 20ft. range, that is measured on the white numbers on the dial. In deeper water going to the 40ft. range I don't know what I am looking at.So if there is anyone could explain this to me I would appricate the help.I guess I should have stayed with old school methods.

[Indiana_Lou]

Hardwater, I just got one too so I'm no expert on it. I think you read the same outside scale but double it. So if your bottom "red" is at 14', your actually in 28' of water. See if that makes sense to you along with the book. You just got to play with it. I love mine and it really helps once you get the hang of it.   Lou

[hardwater7]

Hey thanks Lou. That is what I was hoping for. I was in an area where I knew about what the depth was but it just was not adding up. That makes sense. The only trouble is the thing has not caught any fish yet!!! But it sure does help pass the time.

[bigvfb]

Hardwater, I just got one too so I'm no expert on it. I think you read the same outside scale but double it. So if your bottom "red" is at 14', your actually in 28' of water. See if that makes sense to you along with the book. You just got to play with it. I love mine and it really helps once you get the hang of it.   Lou

yes you double it for deeper water . i have one and its amazing how accurate it is . the lighter colors show fish on the outside of the cone and when they are directly under you they are red . it will take you a couple times out to get the hang of it but its a great tool .
good luck

[Indiana_Lou]

As "Bigvfb"  said about the colors. They change from yellow to green to red. When it turns red the fish is either on your bait or very close to it. Often times you still won't feel anything until you slightly lift your rod. Other times they'll slam it . I've only had mine this season and it's amazing how much it has helped. You'll learn how to coax them in to striking as they follow your bait up. I had a bass today follow it up from 13' to 10' before it struck. Use it and you'll learn by trial and error.  Lou

[USMC130FE]

Hardwater7
What LX did you get?  I can help you through the range scale and using, if equiped, your zoom feature.  It is easy to use after a couple times.

Steve

[HenryDavid]

I just recently got a marcum also and it does take a little getting used to, yesterday I was showing a fellow fisherman who was interested in depth by a dam, I had it still set on the 20-foot depth and the reading was way off, switching to the 40-foot depth showed the correct readings, I discovered this after the curious tip-up guy left in disgust, lol, I'm sure he won't be getting a flasher anytime soon, my bad 

My suggestion would be to spend a few hours on the ice just experimenting with the flasher, to get used to it, I've managed to locate my lure dropping and in my opinion using the gain can increase your chances, I'm pretty sure I can mark more "perimeter" fish by increasing the gain, these appear to be fish just on the edge of the sonar range (in green), I've seen them come closer and become "red targets", with the lower gain setting I never would have known they were there.  The Marcums I believe have a 600-watt power rating which is 200-watts higher than the Vex's, maybe this is an advantage, my VX-1 has a 20-degree transducer, wider range than than most of the Vex's I have seen.

I also love the zoom feature, from what I understand when using the "zoom" the left side of the dial will show you the bottom 6-feet of water,
while the right side shows the entire depth scale, very useful if you're fishing near the bottom.  It "blows up" everything down near the bottom
giving you a much better view of what's down there.

"When it turns red the fish is either on your bait or very close to it"  Not sure if this is true, from what I've read it's showing the largest size fish,
not necessarily anything related to your bait.

One thing I learned right away is, "The only trouble is the thing has not caught any fish yet!!!"  they don't actually catch fish, lol, they're a great help
but you still have to catch the fish yourself,  good luck with it.

[Indiana_Lou]

Henry, I have the LX-TC3 and it has 1500 watts while the LX-5 is 2000 watts. You can also adjust and move the depth you want to zoom in on. Lets say you're in 60fow and want to focus on 30' to 40' you can do that. I think one of the best advantages is you can see how fish react to your offering. For the last four years I used a Garmin Fishfinder 100 LCD. Tells you the depth, temp. and what the bottom looks like but you don't get that instant reaction to your lure. and to me that's the biggest advantage.  Lou

[HenryDavid]

Lou, I know what you're talking about, I had just that experience the other night "jigging up" for crappies, saw them come up and make the take, neat.  I didn't know the higher end Marcums had that much power, it's amazing what they can do, that's a lot more power than the Vex's, correct?

[Indiana_Lou]

Henry, That's correct. I think all the Vex's are the same 400 watts peak power. I do know my friend's Fl-20 does have a high and a low power setting. He had it on the low setting and was having trouble picking up his jig in 12fow. I was concerned that the Marcum might have too much power and that the gain would not go low enough to get rid of the clutter. But that doesn't seem to be an issue. I'm glad I bought the one I did. I didn't think I would need the dual transducer that the LX-5 has. I usually don't fish in water much deeper than 20-30'.   Lou