flasher in shallow water

[icefishnrancher]

well i have begun the search for a flasher, can't find much as far as how they work in very shallow (6' or less) water. Any help?  Brand, model etc.?,
Oh, and the water will at times be real weedy and the lakes will mainly have a mushy, soggy bottom, where as if you were to try to stand up in them you will sink to your knees in mud. Is there a flasher out there that will work well in this scenerio?
Scott

[laker24taker]

never had a problem with my vexilar fl8 in shallow water... I just turn the gain off

[Purple Floyd]

That would actually be a very good place to use a camera. Other than that a vex or marcum would work.What is your budget?

[WiMeatHunter]

well i have begun the search for a flasher, can't find much as far as how they work in very shallow (6' or less) water. Any help?  Brand, model etc.?,
Oh, and the water will at times be real weedy and the lakes will mainly have a mushy, soggy bottom, where as if you were to try to stand up in them you will sink to your knees in mud. Is there a flasher out there that will work well in this scenerio?
Scott

I purchased the new Vexialr FLX-28 this year and there is a Weed Mode. I tried it last weekend in a weedy area we fished that was between 4-5 ft deep. The weed mode removes almost all of the weed marks and just displays your jig and the fish that are down there. I have used low power mode on my other flashers and I still noticed alot of clutter from the weeds. The Weed mode REALLY cut that clutter out so I could see what I was looking for, fish!!!

[JimQ]

Yeah, I'll definitely second the recommendation of the FLX-28 for shallow weedy stuff.

That's about all I fish around here.  Over the years I've owned/used FL-8, FL-18, FL-22, ICE-55, and now FLX-28.

The 28 does much better than the others in the shallow stuff.

The 8 usually comes with a 20deg and offers no low power mode (low power cable is available)  This mean lots of clutter on the display.

FL-8 and 18 have a minimum scale of 20ft.  At 6ft, you will only use approximately 1/4 of the display area.

FL-22 I was never happy with.  Had 2 both with tri-beams.  Vexilar traded them out twice but I wasn't happy with them.  Surface clutter would take up the top several feet of the display and the marks were blobby and I was always messing with the gain to try and keep track of my jigs.

ICE-55 Not bad...

The FLX-28 has been great in the shallow weedy stuff!  10 ft scale to take advantage of the display area.  The Weed Mode is great at eliminating the clutter caused by the weeds.  No big surface clutter blob at the top of the scale.  Nice crisp marks.  No need to keep messing with the gain once it's set.  Then there is the new display.  It looks great!  Clean and bright.

If you can afford to spend the $$$, go for the 28.

I have no personal Marcum experience to offer.  However, judging by the posts here, the new units being produced seem to have reliability issues.

Good luck.

[coboy]

I've been using a Vex FL-18 for about six years now and though it has the low power mode for shallow water I rarely use it because even in 6 fow I can turn the gain down and still be in
regular mode. Part of that has to do with the small jigs I tend to use and I also tend to fish out of the weeds. Too many weeds produces a lot of clutter which makes it harder to pinpoint the
fish and also clouds the water up after a fish is caught. Because the water is so clear even in 15 fow, I go in sight fishing mode after I get the initial red flash so I don't rely on the flasher at all.
I didn't realize the FL-28 had a weed mode which may be a plus. I'm not sure what the other brands have in that regard, they may not need it when fishing in weeds.

[kpd145]

I have no issues with my vex fl12 in shallow water with or without weeds.

LP mode shows me what I need.

But in that shallow of water, your cone area is going to be very small. Drill lots of holes.

[EssoxHunter]

Prob any vex machine with the appropriate transducer for the depth would exceed what yer lookin for.especially if you've never owned one before...they are magical once u catch on to it.good luck.

[fishbowl69]

I have no issues with my vex fl12 in shallow water with or without weeds.

LP mode shows me what I need.

But in that shallow of water, your cone area is going to be very small. Drill lots of holes.

.
  Same here. Never had any problem with my 12.  I don't use lp mode much and it still works get even in 5 ft of water. My buddy's 22 hd seems to be amazing in super shallow mode.  Cuts through weeds great. I just don't like low power mode takes to much gain for me.

[augergas]

I use an LX5 in those conditions and it works well. You need to keep the transducer as high as possible.

[bullpine]

I use the narrow beam on my Hummingbird 45 in the shallows as it penetrates the weeds and a lot of the clutter goes away.  Any dual beam would work that way.

[WANNAKETCHUM]

I have an older Vex FL-18 and both a Marcum LX-3 and LX-5. I recently fished a VERY shallow pond with a friend who was embarrassed after I was able to show him the depths that he thought were 7-8' (as a kid) were actually only 3-4'!!! I had both the Vex 18 and the Marcum 3 that day and both did their jobs respectively. The Vex showed the bottom, the jig, and the fish, but with a lot more "blob'" to the display than I like, and that was with the gain turned off and in LP mode. The Marcum on the other hand, showed all of the above but much more precise...I had to tweek the gain a bit, but I caught fish 3:1 on him because I could ascertain my readings more accurately.

WK

[after-4]

Have a fl 18 never had a problem with the low power zoom. 3-6' depth.