Camera or Flasher?

[saskbucks]

Camera or Flasher?
My buddy has an aquaview and I love it.  It really keeps my attention (I'm ADD).
I've never seen a flasher in use but I see a lot of serious anglers using them.  What are your thoughts?

[Schmits]

If I could have just one it would be my flasher.  I say that because I like the ability to have instant feedback on how deep the water is beneath the ice,  and they show the entire water column plus they are more mobile than cameras. I love to set up the camera when I'm in the shack and have no plans on moving, I find them fun to watch. It always ends up being used as a supplement to my flasher though.  Imo it's definitely flasher first,  camera second.

[Mike.]

Flasher all the way

[yank0073]

Flasher all the way

X2

[Jaybo]

The flasher for sure unless you are going with young kids.  The cammy keeps them interested for hours, but the flasher is a game changer.

[thinktwicez71]

flasher , hands down

[Kyle_J]

Flasher, i have both and use the flasher more.

[nova]

Flasher without a doubt, tho I have both I usually leave the camera at home.  I have left the flasher at home one time, I drove back home to get it.  Won't fish without it kinda sad but true!!

[whitetail/walleyefreak]

sonar or flasher for sure! There are moments when a camera is handy, but a sonar is way more useful with a lot more upsides! Especially if you want to be mobile

[dsab]

Flasher

[IM-POUNDING- R -U]

Flashers work in muddy water.    Cameras don't.

[Dust Devil]

without a doubt go flasher.

Aslo don't worry about not knowing how to use one. five min after you put the transducer in the hole and switch it on you'll figure it out. They are dead simple.

[BlueDevil]

Flasher hands down!  Cameras are good too but with a flasher you will see the entire water column.

[colt25]

Can't beat a flasher

[Big Burk]

Flasher. I have both and use the camera for checking structure and keeping the boy entertained, flasher gets a lot more use out of it. Use the flasher in the summer in my small boat as well

[SaskWatch]

I have both. The camera gives you something to watch but only covers a few feet of water column. There could be a whole mess of fish above your camera. This is where you'll see the advantage of a flasher. I use the flasher in deep water for Lake trout. With it I can cover a hundred feet of water column. Without it I tend to bounce hook off the bottom and have no idea what is above me. I started using flasher in shallower water for perch and walleye. The flasher was catching 4x as many fish as the guy fishing blind. Simply because you can watch how the fish react to your hook. If you can get the perch to come off the bottom a couple feet that seems to induce a strike. With a camera I don't want to get my hook out of frame so I can't really lift it too high or I won't know what the fish is doing off camera. It's been said on her numerous times: A camera is a toy, a flasher is a tool . 

[sidescan]

I walk around the area I plan to fish with the Hummingbird shooting thru ice to find depths and fish marks, drill some holes then I drop Marcum down hole to look at structure and to find what depth the warm water thermocline is, I find warmer water I usually find more fish. Slip camera cable in panner, use the built in compass to find jigs super fast, pop up the portable, game on. I leave the camera down when Perch or Pike are seen, with the camera 6-7 feet from jigs, Perch and Pike seem to be attracted to the Perch shaped camera, walleye I pull camera and use the graph only, as I find the larger Walleye can be camera shy some days. Draw back I have had my camera swallowed numerous times by large Pike.  Camera and cable have a LOT of bite marks but still working fine after three season's. Just bought video capture device for the Marcum and want to try record the last thing a small fish see's as he is eaten. I find both camera and flasher usefull tools. If on a budget I'd get flasher first.
 

[saskbucks]

So,can the flasher be used on top of the ice? Will it mark depth from there or fish?

[coldazice]

Cameras can be good when stationary and the fish are lethargic. Also entertaining when young kids with short attention spans come along. A flasher improves fishing greatly and is extremely useful for hole hopping or just beaming through ice to check depth prior to drilling

[sidescan]

So,can the flasher be used on top of the ice? Will it mark depth from there or fish?

Mine works up to ice depths under four feet, saves time drilling holes.  It will mark fish if they are active and not sitting tight on bottom. Fish safe

[iceberg]

you note the flasher can see the whole column, how wide would that column be on an average and when you detecting thru the ice I presume the snow has to be cleared so the unit is sitting on the ice.

[Hard_H2O]

you note the flasher can see the whole column, how wide would that column be on an average and when you detecting thru the ice I presume the snow has to be cleared so the unit is sitting on the ice.

How wide depends on the angle of the cone the transducer sends out. Some are 19°, some less. Some have the ability, either through a switch or automatically, to use multiple cone angles depending on the depth of water. Generally shallower water calls for a wider cone angle and deeper water calls for a narrower cone angle.

When scouting without drilling you will generally need to clear the snow and sometimes wet the surface of the ice so the transducer has good contact with the ice.

Vexilar has some good videos on their site that explain a lot about flashers.

In shallower, clear water the camera will do fine. In deeper water and in low visibility the flasher will rule. I would go with a flasher to start and add a camera later.

http://vexilar.com/pages/tips--articles

http://vexilar.com/pages/product--fishing-videos

[dougie782]

buy a flasher cam are okay if your sitting in one spot all day or if you have kids keeps them from being to bored

[DBK81]

Cameras for kids, sonar for the big boys.

[ToonFisher]

Sonar sets up quicker, works in deeper or murkier waters, and covers a larger space. Camera is more fun, helps optimizing lure presentation, helps choosing the right moment to set the hook, and reveals the fish habitat.

[ToonFisher]

I have two of each. The cheapest flasher, Marcum Troller under $200 on Boxing Day, works great. The only missing part from expensive sonar is color. One can still estimate the size of the target by blackness and width of the bar.  The cheapest B/W cameras under $200, Aquaview CRT models, have noticeably less coverage in low light conditions. Missing color is not affecting much. Lower sensitivity by about 10 fold is really bad. 

[saskoutdoorsman]

The flasher is a lot better for deep/dirty water and over all I would pick the flasher.  The camera works great for shallow water or clear water, or if you aren't planning on moving. Only dislike for the camera is fish tangling in the cable

[CHRIS4WALLEYE]

Markum lx9 best of both worlds

[SaskWatch]

you note the flasher can see the whole column, how wide would that column be on an average and when you detecting thru the ice I presume the snow has to be cleared so the unit is sitting on the ice.

I was just using my LX7. Ten feet of water from bottom of ice. It calculates how big a foot print you are making using each cone. With the 20 degree cone I was covering 3.4ft of bottom. With the 8 degree cone is was a tight 1.4ft of bottom.

[Warren_G]

A camera is a toy, but a flasher is a tool.