Ice fishing, flasher vs sonar?

[cnelk]

I use a Marcum for ice fishing.

 

[AKG]

I have a couple marcums lx3 and lx5 and a Garmin uhd 93sv with LiveScope. The marcums are a lot lighter and easier to hole hop with, especially with a lithium battery. I think they have a faster refresh rate when a fast moving fish is coming in to bite. The LiveScope is great for suspended fish, especially when they're roaming around out in the open water. Heavy weeds in shallow water with bottom hugging fish and the benefit of the LiveScope diminishes in my opinion. Even without the LiveScope the graph has the lake charts and ability to mark waypoints which is nice to have and a benefit over the flashers, though you can use your phone and/or a separate gps if that is why you have instead.

 

[Scoot]

Good options listed in the replies above, but not all are equally budget friendly! IMO if money isn't a concern, get a LiveScope. If not, get a flasher- Vex or Marcum.

 

[BarCO]

I have always wanted a vexilar for the same reason I own a recurve. I would be surprised if there was a lag issue with new sonar vs flasher if set up right these days,

 

[BarCO]

I use a Marcum for ice fishing.

Which model?

Any experience a lag with sonars vs vexilar type flashers with newer models?

 

[Horsepuller]

I use a marcum lx7 and like it much more than a vex. Far more detail from what I’ve seen. Live scope will be next after watching a friend fish last winter. In particular for lake trout.

 

[KurtR]

Which model?

Any experience a lag with sonars vs vexilar type flashers with newer models?

Marcum also makes flashers. The older graphs may have had a little lag but the newer ones dont. Marcum flasher will over power the vexilars and make interference bad. My buddies always hatted when i had the marcum as they could barley make their jig out.

 

[Lawnboi]

You can get a marcum flasher with a built in gps, they come with a screen now, not like the old days. I reccomend this over a traditional flasher only due to eye fatigue. You can also use different kinds of graphs.

Iv also used a live scope a bunch and it’s an amazing tool, but does not replace a flasher.

 

[Nick Muche]

The Humminbird Ice 35 or 45 is what I use. I spend a lot of time on the ice and typically only target Lake Trout, and a flasher is damn near mandatory. I like how it works with the way I fish. I want to see a mark and then make them chase. A graph would complicate this very simple method imo.

 

[BarCO]

The Humminbird Ice 35 or 45 is what I use. I spend a lot of time on the ice and typically only target Lake Trout, and a flasher is damn near mandatory. I like how it works with the way I fish. I want to see a mark and then make them chase. A graph would complicate this very simple method imo.

You can certainly do that with a sonar, no different you can just see the history of the fishes reaction as well if you like. All the new sonars have flashers as well, with vertical bar and zooms on different zones as well the circle flasher. I guess ultimately what is the benefit to a vexilar? I ordered the garmin, heave a helix, and oddly want a vex , just not sure why.

 

[KurtR]

You can certainly do that with a sonar, no different you can just see the history of the fishes reaction as well if you like. All the new sonars have flashers as well, with vertical bar and zooms on different zones as well the circle flasher. I guess ultimately what is the benefit to a vexilar? I ordered the garmin, heave a helix, and oddly want a vex , just not sure why.

Only advantage i have seen is fish hugging the bottom really tight the separation on the flasher with zoom can some times be better than the graphs but with the new transducers I dont know that is as much the case any more.

 

[IdahoElk]

I use a Garmin striker 5 plus, love it

 

[UtahJimmy]

I use a Garmin striker as well and would recommend it over a flasher because it does that too. Battery lasts days on high. Only issue I've had with mine is interference from buddies flashers.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

 

[cnelk]

Which model?

Any experience a lag with sonars vs vexilar type flashers with newer models?

Marcum LX3

I bought it used from my buddy but I like it

 

[Trr15]

Was looking at the garmin echomap 73cv, that allow for panopix and live scope if needed. Thanks

I just got one of these a few months ago. After using it 4 times on the ice this season, I’m very happy with it. I have nothing to compare it to, but honestly can’t see how you could go wrong with one.

 

[IW17]

Best option would be convince a buddy to buy the Garmin with livescope! My friend that I do 99% of my fishing with purchased one a year ago and it's fantastic. That said, I personally can't justify the price for most of my fishing needs. If you fish a lot of new water, it's a great tool for locating fish in large bodies of water. But if your familiar with area, it's easier to just hole hop with a flasher. My vexilar has been going strong for 7 years. Just keep in mind that you can run into problems with interference if another transducer is too close. But it's really only an issue if you're side by side in a flip over style shanty.

 

[budweiserlovr]

Best option would be convince a buddy to buy the Garmin with livescope! My friend that I do 99% of my fishing with purchased one a year ago and it's fantastic. That said, I personally can't justify the price for most of my fishing needs. If you fish a lot of new water, it's a great tool for locating fish in large bodies of water. But if your familiar with area, it's easier to just hole hop with a flasher. My vexilar has been going strong for 7 years. Just keep in mind that you can run into problems with interference if another transducer is too close. But it's really only an issue if you're side by side in a flip over style shanty.

That's how I ended up with a livescope and humminbird graph.