Electronics Newbie

Utah Fishing Reports & Discussion Utah Fishing General
1

I think a fish finder is on the “to get” list for next year’s ice fishing season. Anyway, I understand how a fish finder works with sonar and all. But my newbie question is about those Vexilar things or whatever you call them. I was just looking at one in sportsman’s and was really confused on how they work, or more precisely how you read the thing. Fishfinders have a screen where you see depth and marks where fish are. On the other Vexilar type finders it just looks like something off an airplane’s instrument panel :blush: How do you find a marked fish on one of those. How do they work?? Any advantage/disadvantage between the two types of finders?

2

I own two regular fish finders and a Vexilar and I use all three for ice fishing. I have owned the Vexilar only for a short time, but I have found that I prefer it for ice fishing unless I am fishing in deep water for macks. In deep water my other units have more power and also I can zoom in on the bottom of the lake. When adjusted correctly, the flasher type (Vexilar and Marcum) fish finders show the jig as one color and a fish as a different color. On my Vexilar the jig shows as a green bar and a fish shows as an orange bar until it is in the center of the cone and then it turns to a red bar. An advantage of a regular fish finder is that one can also see the recent history on the screen; whereas on a flasher type there is no history. A flasher fish finder typically shows what is happening slightly faster; however, I believe this is overrated because one can’t respond and set the hook instantaneously anyway. I like a flasher because of the simplicity of operation and one gets the data that one needs to know if a fish is in the area and also when it moves next to the jig.

3

[reply]
I own two regular fish finders and a Vexilar and I use all three for ice fishing. I have owned the Vexilar only for a short time, but I have found that I prefer it for ice fishing unless I am fishing in deep water for macks. In deep water my other units have more power and also I can zoom in on the bottom of the lake. When adjusted correctly, the flasher type (Vexilar and Marcum) fish finders show the jig as one color and a fish as a different color. On my Vexilar the jig shows as a green bar and a fish shows as an orange bar until it is in the center of the cone and then it turns to a red bar. An advantage of a regular fish finder is that one can also see the recent history on the screen; whereas on a flasher type there is no history. A flasher fish finder typically shows what is happening slightly faster; however, I believe this is overrated because one can’t respond and set the hook instantaneously anyway. I like a flasher because of the simplicity of operation and one gets the data that one needs to know if a fish is in the area and also when it moves next to the jig.

[/reply]

thanks!