Handicapped by a flasher

[Duke M]

The flasher power topic brought this to mind. I didn't want to hijack so I started a new thread. Bear in mind my primary ice fishing spots are shallow river back waters and my target species are gills, crappies, and perch. My goal is to catch fish, not to be entertained by marks on my flasher. As I watched and learned I noticed the most successful ice river rats were not using electronics. They were using holes, a lot of holes. They did not camp out on a hole either but quickly fished from just beneath the ice to the bottom. Some only fished two or three drops, some two or three minutes. As I adopted these techniques my success rate went up. I was now catching bigger, aggressive fish instead of teasing a green mark to turn yellow, to turn red and finally into a bite. Friends who are married to their flasher exhort me to look at all the marks on their screen as I hole hop around them. I remind them that marks on a screen do not trump fins flappin' on the ice. I never caught decent crappies until I gave up the flasher because I was fishing beneath the fish. How small is your cone area covering one to three feet beneath the ice?
Lastly, if I had a dollar for every time I heard a friend bemoan the loss of a decent fish because it wrapped around the transducer I could buy more gas to go fishin'. When you are pulling fish up from 5' of water and less you don't have time to pull the transducer and the larger harder fighting fish tend to wrap the line.
Just some observations from 149 trips the last four seasons. One of these days I'll post about hole size versus catch numbers and fish size. The bigger is better crowd aint gonna like that either.

Duke

[Mr.Seaguar]

The only way you will ever be handicapped by a flasher is if it falls out of an airplane and hits you on the head

[openingact]

The only way you will ever be handicapped by a flasher is if it falls out of an airplane and hits you on the head

x2

[pirkaus]

The only way you will ever be handicapped by a flasher is if it falls out of an airplane and hits you on the head

 

[bpiatt]

If your fishing 5ft of water and less I can see not needing a flasher, but any time else a flasher is a neccessity.

[Dizzy]

Duke,

You do know that you don't have to use a flasher if you don't want to... right? 

[da man cave shack]

At least with a flasher it looks like you know what you are doing. Thats why I got one. LOL

[CZMark]

How small is your cone area covering one to three feet beneath the ice?

1’-3’ is sight-fishing territory, not flasher territory.

[fishin mt]

I agree with u duke if you fish shallow and move a lot and r catching them then why use one. But if you r in a area like me where you need to find the fish and there at different depths then u r crazy not to use one.  It has tripled my catch rate

[Toxic fisher]

At least with a flasher it looks like you know what you are doing. Thats why I got one. LOL

Ditto

[openingact]

Duke's next thread...

Handicapped by a power auger


j/k Duke, but seriously did you really expect to see any different in the replies your getting

[ice dawg]

Can't say that I have ever used a flasher for it's entertainment value. I usually find it to be a valuable tool when on the ice. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

[da man cave shack]

Can't say that I have ever used a flasher for it's entertainment value. I usually find it to be a valuable tool when on the ice. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

I use it for the entertainment of catching more fish.  I bet you do too. Right?

[Skipper]

I've never lost a fish because it got wrapped around a transducer.

 You can also use the flasher to determine the mood of the fish by how they react to your jig. teasing a motionless green mark pinned to the bottom is poor technique. The angler needs to learn what the flasher is telling them, not stop using it because they dont understand what it is telling them.

[mealworm]

this thread makes me lmao, cant WAIT! to see the hole size thread 

[Chris338378]

I've ice fished since 1996 and until last year I never had a flasher but now that I do I'm sure I'll catch more fish.  At least I'll know if there are any fish below me rather than fishing blind.  As for the shallow watter I just site fish also but mostly I fish in more than 10 feet of water as a minimum.  I don't think a flasher can hurt, just help.

[Osage]

I'm a first time flasher.........well there was a couple times while in high school me and a couple ......oh never mind

[wyoutdoors]

I find if you put your flasher in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket, it'll keep it from blowing away. Now if I could only remember why I bring the bucket? 

[addicted to ice fishing]

The only way you will ever be handicapped by a flasher is if it falls out of an airplane and hits you on the head

Lol.  Good quote.

When I lived near the Mississippi river and fished the shallow back waters I never had a flasher, or even felt the need for one.  Now I fish much deeper water, and a flasher is an essential tool.  If I were to go back and fish those shallow water sloughs, you can bet that my flasher would make the trip too.  Jmo

[Reel_Force]

In that FOW a flasher can tell you a lot - hard bottom - soft bottom - weeds or no weeds - learn how to read it ...

[nitram]

There is a time and place for Evey thing and I fish sallow often.and have lost fish to a wrapped up cable.
In thin water there is little time for all that stuff when hole jumping. Drilling lots of  holes right away goes with the territory. I have found that in sallow water fish tend to spook. When sallow a bigger window you see in better but they can see out better too. Light penetration can make a difference too. I have seen guys leave the slush in the holes. My two cents.

[ICE WANDERER]

I've ice fished since 1996 and until last year I never had a flasher but now that I do I'm sure I'll catch more fish.  At least I'll know if there are any fish below me rather than fishing blind.  As for the shallow watter I just site fish also but mostly I fish in more than 10 feet of water as a minimum.  I don't think a flasher can hurt, just help.

I fished for 30 yrs. before I got a flasher, I caught fish but now I catch more fish w/it. I fish in 5' of water for walleyes @ night w/tip-ups, I don't use a flasher then.

[Lowrance25]

I don't use my flasher to jig shallow water but I use it to set my baits up and I have seen with my own eyes that it does catch more fish. I catch a lot more fish than my buddies do when I set my Jack Traps up with my flasher opposed to them just guessing what depth they're at and where their bait is. When it comes to fishing deeper water you can't go wrong using a flasher. I use a X67C and I love it because I can turn it on sonar mode and read exactly what's on the bottom because I know what the structure looks like from bass fishing and reading my electronics on my boat.

[Jig4M]

We usually drill a bunch of holes and then set up on them, and I can't count how many times I looked down them with the flasher and said, " aint nothin' down this one!, time to move on to another." Before even breaking out any tipups let alone jig. I think it definately increases yuor catch rate.

[Gillfisher]

When fishing for gills in the shallows (2 to 3 feet of clear water under the ice) I prefer to search with the camera because your "view cone" is much larger. Once I find an area with fish I drill a bunch of holes and hole hop without the camera or flasher. The water is clear enough to sight fish so there is no need for the flasher, you can watch the fishes reaction to your presentation. If the water is not clear enough to see then I use the flasher.

[chfishon]

LMAO!!!.... I love my vex....

[BudMan]

I personally have stopped using hooks and tie spikes directly to the line. No more spooked fish! I also wear all white and paint my face white so fish can't see me walking above their heads.

[chfishon]

I personally have stopped using hooks and tie spikes directly to the line. No more spooked fish! I also wear all white and paint my face white so fish can't see me walking above their heads.

LMAO!!!

[RWD12]

A lot of your tournment guys that fish the NAIFC etc. put ther transducer 1/2 to 2/3 down ther hole, and they dont have a lot of fish getting wrapped up, and when i fish in 5 f.o.w i just have my transducer an inch-2inches under the water at the top of my hole... and im fishing in 4" of ice+

[Rebelss]

A lot of your tournment guys that fish the NAIFC etc. put ther transducer 1/2 to 2/3 down ther hole, and they dont have a lot of fish getting wrapped up, and when i fish in 5 f.o.w i just have my transducer an inch-2inches under the water at the top of my hole... and im fishing in 4" of ice+

x2. Guess I've never had my transducer farther down than a couple inches below the bottom of the hole...