First time flasher use

[Crimson]

I have a helix 7 that has an ice fishing mode. Just had to mount it and buy the ice ducer. First drop, after a little gain adjust, saw a line rising to my lure. Sure enough it hit! Amazing. Had seen YouTube of flashers showing this very thing, but I always have to see things for myself.
The fish was a small crappie. Impressed it showed up so well.
[signature]

[EyLayo]

Anything you didn't like about it? What ducer did you use? They sell a specific one for the helix, just wondering if you tried a different one. Been thinkin of converting mine so I have the gps waypoints
[signature]

[L-D-R]

I run the same finder on my boat I use the flasher mode all the time works great the transducer that it comes with is just fine for ice use just mount your transducer to a pice of pvc so the transducer stays up right and on the right angle .. I don't think the original transducer is as sensitive as the ice one but it works great I have used mine on the ice before a few times . But the marcum is just easier to pack cause it's all one unit
[signature]

[SkunkedAgain]

Congrats on the success... I'm impressed with you guys that can translate the flasher display to tell the fish and jig and all... Heard someone tell me that flashers were known to give anglers whirling disease... but might have been a fellow Marcum user that likes the show down type graph... They are great tools and as long as you can understand them, they are wonderful... I wish I could get my head around them, but I'm glad I have the other tool that works for me... because they make all the difference in ice fishing.. Best of luck on your future ventures, I'm sure it will become an indispensable tool for you... Later J
[signature]

[bowdude]

Skunk... anytime you want a lesson on how to use a flasher, let me know and I will teach you. Of course it has to be out on the ice during a fishing trip. They don't work nearly as well when out of the water and sitting on the kitchen table.
[signature]

[Crimson]

I haven't used it enough to have any cons so far. I am not one to like a lot of controls, adjustments, to be able to utilize technology, and this was fairly straightforward. I got the XI 9 20 ice transducer. I read in the specifications it was supposed to work with the helix, except for DI models. There are other ice ducers that are supposed to work with it, so I recommend checking the literature and with hummingbird to get one that suits you.

This first trip, I simply put the transducer down the hole I was fishing, and turned it on. Saw a lot of lines throughout the water column. So found the gain adjustment and actually turned it down to about 25% or less. The noise went away, and I could still see my terminal tackle in 30 feet of water. the exciting part was that the lines that moved up off the bottom, turned out to be fish, not noise, so I was elated.

I found that being able to see your lure/bait, and the fish gives you a lot of advantages. You know the depth your bait is at precisely. You can see what jigging motions get some reaction from the fish. They may or may not bite, but you know you have found some fish. The only other thing I did with the finder was mark the spot in waypoints for future reference.


For LDR and Skunked, my standard ducer is mounted on my trolling motor so I wanted to leave it installed. But I didn't know for sure it might work for ice fishing mode with the Helix, so I might have tried it if I had some confidence it would work ok.

Yes, I envy the guys that get full use out of their electronics and was a little wary of the flasher type units. For me it turned out to be surprisingly easy and productive. We'll see after some more trips, because it is an extra item to carry in the sled, so it has to help or it gets left out.
[signature]

[Lve2fsh]

I had a vexilar fl8 since 1989 and rebuilt it twice. Finally had to retire it so I got the fl18 and love the bottom zoom. Almost got the flx20 with the dual zoom but I don't fish very deep water so the fl18 works great for me. Also the DD-100 add on is nice so you know the exact depth right away. I can see the swivel above the jig head with mine.
[signature]

[SkunkedAgain]

Hey that sounds like fun but some slow learners just can’t figure out the circle verses the up down. I run a marcum with the showdown type flasher and a graph next to it to show you what you seen. Got a little video clip that shows how it works. Hope this will post. I learned with a graph and now I can’t adjust to the circle. Know they say it’s better but it’s like I’m translating from a different language and so I don’t get it fast enough to react. Weird huh? Later J
[signature]

[Fishrmn]

Circles aren't better, just different. I learned with a flasher 40 years ago. Couldn't find a flasher when I had to retire the old one. Been using graphs for 30 years. I have the capability to use a flasher screen, but I won't.
[signature]

[bowdude]

Skunk... I watched your video, I am sure I could learn to read a graph like yours, but at first glance, it is confusing. For me, my circle is simpler. 3 colors, green (the hook) wide red band at the top of screen,(top of ice) and wide red at left edge of circle, (lake bottom). anything else that shows up on the screen (if the screen is clear after getting rid of the noise) is a fish, which will be orange (at the edge of the cone) or red (next to the bait). Sometimes a line will appear at the bottom and slowly raise, when my gain is set so my hook is green, the line rising off the bottom will be green also, which is an air bubble usually or another piece of debris rising to the surface. If it is big enough, it will be red. For me, it is pretty simple, but then again as has been stated, a matter of personal preference and what you learned on. With my Vex FLX 28, I have the option to change colors and add a 4th line if I choose to. The 4th line is to target larger fish. I haven't taken the time to learn how to use that function. The FLX 28 is Vexilars flagship flasher and has lots of options that I don't take advantage of. For the shallow lake fishing I do, it goes way beyond my mental capacity. I have an older Vex FL8, a newer FL8 that is my wife's and my son has 2 FL8's that are his and his daughters. We obviously are Vex fan boys. They play nicely together and sometimes I will have 4 of them running in the tent at the same time.
[signature]

[EyLayo]

Thank you
[signature]

[SkunkedAgain]

My Marcum will do the circular graph as well, but I just can't do it... I need the vertical lay out so I can tell whether the fish is above or below me and I know what to do... plus I love the graph that reminds me of the history of how things went down... Pretty sure just knowing what is going on is the important part and I've sure liked this LX-7 for showing me what I need to do... I can even tell when the fish has stolen my bait, so that's a really nice feature... I guess knowing your equipment is the most important part and whatever works for you is probably the best way for a person to go... Thanks for the support.. J
[signature]

[SkunkedAgain]

My color system works the same as yours other than I have blue as well, that is smaller or softer signal.. I didn't have my sensitivity adjusted as well as I should have in the video or it would have been more obvious that our colors work the same. But I know exactly what you're saying about confusing, I'm the same way when I look at a circular flasher... It shouldn't be hard, but I can't keep track of the top verses the bottom and that throws everything off... I'm sure if I used it for a day I could get onto it, but since I have something that I already understand and it works good for me... I probably won't ever learn otherwise... Kind of like snowboarding for me, I knew how to ski and taking the time to learn to board just didn't seem like it was worth the time investment when I had something that worked for me... Especially at the price of lift tickets... Anyway good luck and let's hope our ice lasts for a while yet... Later J
[signature]

[bowdude]

Skunk... That is impressive that you can tell if the bait is still on the hook. If we get a chance to get together, you will have to show me the features of your Marcum. I was reading the history of Marcum and Vexilar a while ago. Marcum has an impressive history. Not as old as Vex, not that it makes a difference, but interesting history of its beginnings. When I bought my first Vex, Marcum wasn't around. When they came onto the scene, they really took off here in Utah. They were cheaper to purchase and did the same thing as Vex. Now they are just as expensive and seem to be very feature rich. Both are good products and work well.
[signature]

[Fishrmn]

I proved to my brother 20 years ago that I could tell the difference between a ratfinkie with a perch eye on it, and one without, at 60 feet at Deer Creek. But nobody believes that a graph is real time, or that it is better. Go figure.



[red]⫸[/red][orange]<{[/orange][yellow]{{[/yellow][green]{[/green][size 4][green]⦇[/green][/size][blue]°>[/blue]
[signature]

[SkunkedAgain]

When I first told people I could see the bait on my jigs I was sort of joking, but turns out I really can if you adjust the sensitivity correctly. Then when they pull the wax worm off, my jig changes colors on the graph and I know it's time to rebate... I watched this on the camera last week so I know what I have been assuming as bait being taken off is really true... and I haven't been losing the worm on the way up...

Vex and Marcum are both great companies, I have finders from both. My vex is a sonar phone, and a graph instead of a flasher, but it works really well. I've worked with both service departments and they both treated me really well and fixed my issues... So I don't hesitate to do business with either of these companies... I was sort of surprised at how small Vex was as a company. I assumed I'd be a number in the que to them, but when I had issues it was a tight time line between when I was leaving on a big trip and needed my sonar to work and they bent over back wards to get me a replacement unit before I left on my trip... I was very impressed and when I called them back they knew me and my issue right off, no citing case numbers or anything, they just told me what they had done to fix the problem... I love smaller companies with a personal touch...

Anyway I'd love to share the ice sometime I think you're down south a little more than my usual range... Hope to be fishing Strawberry this tail end of the season, so maybe I'll get down closer to where you fish more often.. Bear Lake will probably have my attention for a week or two, I hope with ice, but I don't think we'll be that lucky... If so that would be a good spot to fish together... Anyway catch ya later... Jeff
[signature]

[Dunn13]

About to sell my Marcum LX5i and pick up the Helix 7 for ice fishing and kayak fishing double duty. The 2D sonar mode beside the flasher along with the vertical graph all on the screen simultaneously is impressive. There are so many bells and whistles on the Helix I'm sure it comes with a bit of a learning curve.

Anyone interested in my Marcum let me know! Looks new and works perfect.
[signature]

[MACMAN]

I’m with skunked on the graph side of things. I went to a flasher and just felt way limited. I bit the bullet 5 years ago and upgraded to a Lowrance 5 elite chirp with gps (boat and ice use). I thought that thing could do everything. My son was running the elite 3x non chirp. When comparing his to mine he felt he needed an upgrade. After him researching videos for 2 weeks straight, I caved and let him spend his lawn mowing and birthday cash to buy one. He picked the hummingbird helix 5 chirp ice machine. After messing around with it for a couple hours, I realized I think I need to upgrade too. This thing is sweet. The features I wouldn’t do without are movable zoom, split screen, amplitude scope, gps. The new helix features I don’t think I can do without anymore are- 8x moveable zoom, 7 preset interference filters, “a scope”width adjustment, incredible definition/target separation, super fast ping speed and wide a screen. I think your going to love that new helix 7. Learn to use all the features. I’m sure my sons has more I haven’t found, but he won’t let me touch it.
[signature]