12-31-2013, 05:09 PM
[quote RockyRaab]Flashers are better for ice. Scanning fishfinders are better for boats.[/quote]
This seems to be one of those things that is stuck in lore, and many seem unwilling to let go of. The only reason I find flashers better is because of the selection of ice-specific setups. But, they are simplistic machines built for a very simplistic purpose.
Last Sat I tried out my mods for my HB 596c HD DI on the ice for the first time. Not a chance I'll ever bother with a simplistic flasher after that experience. Sharp real time info, tons more options, all around much better.
Fish were holding very very tight to the bottom. They were not showing well on either the flashers, or my unit. I set mine to split screen, with left half of the screen on an 8x zoom. Then I could see a change in bottom density when a fish was within my 16 degree cone, and could track its real time movement to my jig. Every bite was preceded with a signal showing a fish rising from the bottom, or descending from above my lure. My kastmaster, and my 1/32 ice fly were 12 inches apart, and both showed independently on the screen, clearly discernable 20 ft down.
When I wasn't marking fish in my hole, I switched to the dual beam, and ran the 455khz 16 degree and the 200khz 28 degree simultaneously on a split screen to see if fish were moving by off to the side.
I played with the RTS window a bit. If I wanted simplistic flasher-like data, I would much prefer it in the linear real-word representation than in a circular format. And if I wanted a circular flasher output, I had that option with my machine (with bottom zoom capabilities as well). From what I saw of my companions' flashers, the flasher screen on my HB was just as fast, just as responsive, and just as detailed.
The only reason I would go with a flasher is the setup, and not having to monkey around with methods to mount a standard transducer. I opted to forego getting an ice ducer as I wanted to maintain the dual frequency capability.
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This seems to be one of those things that is stuck in lore, and many seem unwilling to let go of. The only reason I find flashers better is because of the selection of ice-specific setups. But, they are simplistic machines built for a very simplistic purpose.
Last Sat I tried out my mods for my HB 596c HD DI on the ice for the first time. Not a chance I'll ever bother with a simplistic flasher after that experience. Sharp real time info, tons more options, all around much better.
Fish were holding very very tight to the bottom. They were not showing well on either the flashers, or my unit. I set mine to split screen, with left half of the screen on an 8x zoom. Then I could see a change in bottom density when a fish was within my 16 degree cone, and could track its real time movement to my jig. Every bite was preceded with a signal showing a fish rising from the bottom, or descending from above my lure. My kastmaster, and my 1/32 ice fly were 12 inches apart, and both showed independently on the screen, clearly discernable 20 ft down.
When I wasn't marking fish in my hole, I switched to the dual beam, and ran the 455khz 16 degree and the 200khz 28 degree simultaneously on a split screen to see if fish were moving by off to the side.
I played with the RTS window a bit. If I wanted simplistic flasher-like data, I would much prefer it in the linear real-word representation than in a circular format. And if I wanted a circular flasher output, I had that option with my machine (with bottom zoom capabilities as well). From what I saw of my companions' flashers, the flasher screen on my HB was just as fast, just as responsive, and just as detailed.
The only reason I would go with a flasher is the setup, and not having to monkey around with methods to mount a standard transducer. I opted to forego getting an ice ducer as I wanted to maintain the dual frequency capability.
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