Flasher or Camera

[crblair]

Looking to get one or the other. What do you guys use and what would you recommend? Advantages or Disadvantages to either? Thanks

[skidderman]

I found the camera was a pain in the rear when moving a lot. Had the best of the best & sold it for that reason. If one always fished the same place then maybe not so bad.

[Kokanee9]

I prefer a flasher.

[fish gunner]

Couldnt give me a light bright (flasher) as todays sounders have vertical rts (real time sonar) for roughly half the price of mid 70's tech (with bottom zooom and splt ) . On its 9th year my hummin bird is in need of a new batt &charger and my transducer bit the dust 275 $ on sale at canuck tire ...where convienently I can order all the new parts.
If I fished 10' or less all the time I would only buy a camera , the new ones are a little pricier but have lots of cool features compass & such . If one fishes in a varied manner or for varried species then electronics win over a camera imo . Iirc some of the high end sounders have primitive mode (flasher screen) and every other bell and whistle you could want gps or ploters.. Cameras find fish , sounders or flashers help put them on the ice imo .

[Cory1]

For shallow water applications love the camera, deep water or dealing with suspended fish I perfer the flasher.

cons of camera:
Useless after the sun sets or murky water
Gives a view in one direction and at one depth

Cons of sonar:
Can't tell the difference between a walleye or a pike or a perch (running a showdown - new units should be more effective at distinguishing the difference).
Can't tell how the fish reacts to jigging/movement patterns.

List is much more extensive but those are the key issues I've encountered

Cory

[niwrek]

Flasher flasher flasher flasher flasher flasher flasher flasher flasher.
I only drop my camera in to see what the bottom is made of or structure.....flasher is the way to go,,,,,did I say flasher.......just incase flasher

[fish gunner]

For shallow water applications love the camera, deep water or dealing with suspended fish I perfer the flasher.

cons of camera:
Useless after the sun sets or murky water
Gives a view in one direction and at one depth

Cons of sonar:
Can't tell the difference between a walleye or a pike or a perch (running a showdown - new units should be more effective at distinguishing the difference).
Can't tell how the fish reacts to jigging/movement patterns.

List is much more extensive but those are the key issues I've encountered

Cory there is a camera with a 4 way 360 view . Early fish tv's are tru infra red and have a limited use after dark. With the zoom feature one can tell size of target (grey scale ) and reaction to presentation .

[Kim473]

A flasher will help you catch more fish. A camera will make you swear more like, "I should have got a ........ flasher" !

[Cory1]

there is a camera with a 4 way 360 view . Early fish tv's are tru infra red and have a limited use after dark. With the zoom feature one can tell size of target (grey scale ) and reaction to presentation .

True to the comment on the camera, but most do not have these features.

Target size helps, but it's tough to tell a 25" pike from a 25" walleye.

On reaction to the presentation, you can gather some info from a flasher (following the lure on a lift/drop) or coming in or backing off. But in my opinion in this regard you get more info off the camera.

[Fil_Can_Yakker]

Both..camera for shallow flasher for deeper water.

[canadiantdi]

I have a camera and it makes ice fishing a lot of fun. Even if you aren't catching anything I find it fun to see the fish down there swimming around. Cool to see how the fish react to different bait movements and presentations.

[huntsfurfish]

Also both.

But it depends on you! What you fish for, where and how you fish? Do you fish the same places?

Some lakes I fish I would have no problem being armed with just a camera.

You will likely want both anyway.:);)

[pikester]

I have both but the flasher is far & away the better tool over all. Cameras are cool when in 15 FOW or less & targeting picky perch but that's about the only time the camera is better.

[PerchBuster]

The Camera never lies!! Flasher is very useful as well. Get both! You can see how fish react to your offering with a camera making adjustments easier for changes in presentation. Very helpful on a tough bite. You can pull your bait away or drop it to the bottom when an unwanted species is present on your screen. This helps reduce fish mortality as well. You can scout for fish with run and gun approach with the Flasher until you find fish, then confirm species with camera. I mean why waste time fishing around a bunch of Jack when you're looking for some walleye or visa versa. Flasher only shows fish present, camera never lies. Nothing like watching the fish of your dreams come in on the camera and hammer your bait. Flasher is the choice for a search tool, camera is a must when you want to hunker down and camp on a spot. :fighting0030:

[Mackinaw]

I have 2 cams and 3 flashers each has its own use if I could only have 1 it would be the flasher the camera is fun to watch but for serious fishing the flasher.

Mack

[CK Angler]

Flasher, hands down. My fishing partner has a camera, he rarely uses it, half the he leaves it home, but I NEVER leave my flasher at home, I have an ice 55 and love it !

[Fishslayer99]

Will trade one Vexilar color underwater camera for one used flasher in good condition. That's the boat I'm in right now, the camera is cool but I think a flasher is a better investment and a better tool to catch fish in a wider variety of situations.

[stinkynuts]

if you tend to chase for perch camera if you tend to chase for bigger fish that don't school flasher when perch school on the flasher you cant see a dam thing

[Brandonkop]

This is a silly question, these are completely different devices. One a sonar unit and one a camera. You need both, haha!

If you are even asking this question then you probably need to buy a camera first, then graduate yourself to a flasher in a year or two.

You really should just get a flasher though.

[THEREAPER]

FLASHER, before i had a flasher i used a camera and couldn't get a date. Once i bought a flasher the women couldn't resist me. All kidding aside if your doing a lot of punch and run to find fish its the only way to go!! especially trying to find eyes!

[Stryker2]

I asked the same question a year ago, and went with the flasher. Though I eventually got really good with the flasher, I still felt like a camera would be an asset. So I got one in the new year and absolutely love it! I got the Vexilar Fish Phone and we've had a blast with it! I still use the Marcum flasher to find the depth after I drill a hole, I agree they are 2 very different tools and both are very useful, but for myself in retrospect I would have got the camera first now that I have both. I hope this helps you decide whatever is best for you.

[Jamie Black R/T]

BOTH!!

I bought the marcum LX9

granted i use the flasher 90% of the time and dont set up the camera...but when i do set up the tent and take the family out its camera time....keeps kids interested and id be lying if i said it wasnt fun for me too from time to time.

the flasher keeps you fishing...when im perch fishing i dont fish a hole for more than 5 minutes without a mark before i move....you will not do that if you have to move a camera each time. you will set up on a hole and sit there catching nothing just so you dont have to pack the thing up

[Fishin' Fool]

I have both but mostly use the camera. It does limit mobility, but it also has positives.

It seems like there are two ways to ice fish, both of which can be successful.
Lots of my friends run and gun, looking for the fish while using one of a handful of favorite lures/presentations. They try a hole for a few minutes and then move on until they find the fish.
Once I'm reasonably sure I'm in the right area, I tend to sit in one spot and work on refining and tweaking little things and switching lures to bring the fish to me. For example, the other day at Wab, I stopped seeing fish. I switched to a slightly different textured spoon in the same size and color and immediately started seeing, and catching, them again. On the same day, as the light changed, I went from mostly silver, to mostly gold, and then back to silver in the afternoon. I fished the same holes from 9 till 4:30 and had good luck all day.

As I said, both cam and flasher are great. It's just a matter of picking the one that fits your fishing style the best.

[Bobby B.]

I went with the camera over the flasher. Last time out, SuperDave and I watched how the fish were responding to our presentations and then we adjusted accordingly. I've never used a flasher so I don't know if it would offer the same ability but I don't believe it can. It's a real education to see what the fish are doing.

However, in deep or murky water, or when fishing outside the tent, the camera is of limited use. On the other hand, in similar circumstances, the flasher would function normally.

Bobby

[Willowtrail]

I have both and can't say one over the other. Had camera first, then got flasher. It depends on what you're fishing for. There's no right answer.

Lake trout = flasher
Perch = camera
Walleye and pike = both

If you plan to take the wife and kids, then camera for sure. My GF loves seeing action on the tv, even if they aren't biting she enjoys seeing them.

Those are my opinions. Take for what it's worth.

[Hunter Trav]

I went with the camera over the flasher. Last time out, SuperDave and I watched how the fish were responding to our presentations and then we adjusted accordingly. I've never used a flasher so I don't know if it would offer the same ability but I don't believe it can. It's a real education to see what the fish are doing.


Once you get proficient with a flasher you can see how fish respond to your presentations as well just by changing what you are doing If they like it they'll bite, if not they go away and you know you need to try something different. You can also learn how to tell what kind of fish are coming in based on size of the return and how they behave as well. You're not always going to know 100% of the time whats what, but you'll have a pretty good idea a lot of the time. The nice thing with a camera is you can see when a fish takes the hook in and can set the hook before they have a chance to spit it out. With a flasher you have to rely on feel basically and if you don't have your rod/reel/line/hook paired properly that can be tough to distinguish... :cool:

[RavYak]

Get one of each, you won't regret it(wife might though lol).

Flasher Pros are
a) Work in deep water like Cold Lake
b) Quick and easy to set up/use to determine depth or move
c) Great for hole hoping when looking for fish
d) Tell you if there are fish around/interested in your lure
e) Work in low light situations
f) Longer battery life(especially on mechanical flashers)

Flasher Cons
a) If the fish aren't biting you have to guess why
b) Hard/impossible to tell size of fish
c) Can't see bottom to know structure etc

Camera Pros
a) They show you what is on the bottom(dead fish, rock/weed structures etc)
b) Highly entertaining, I love watching fish even if they aren't biting
c) You can read a fishes mind with a camera and know what to do in order to get them to bite. You can see if he is hesitant, hungry, bored, scared etc and change your lures/methods to catch them

Camera Cons
a) Battery life(need multiple)
b) Don't work in low light situations (dawn/dusk or during the night)
c) Take longer to set up and don't really want to move them that much because of it
d) Can avoid small fish and try to entice the bigger ones

If I could only get one it would probably be the camera as I don't fish deep water that regularly and I love watching fish on the camera. Both definitely have their places though.