Flasher and Camera, Sittin’ in a Bag…
Photo: Dave Genz, who
embraced flasher technology and
brought it to modern ice anglers,
did the same with underwater
cameras by developing the
downviewing method. In this
article, he points out the strengths
and weaknesses of each. As he
holds this brute bluegill, you can
see the Vexilar Double Vision,
which joins a flasher and camera,
behind him. (Photo:
davegenz.com)
The ability to see what’s going on down there under the water’s surface is the
difference maker in any kind of fishing, and that’s certainly true in ice fishing. In some
situations (clear, shallow water) you can see with your own two eyes. But much of the
time, modern icers use electronic underwater eyes.
Dave Genz, the man who brought us the modern ice fishing revolution, also gave us
the recipe for using both flashers and underwater cameras effectively and efficiently. In
early editions of the old Ice Team Annual and Ice Team Report, he offered real-world
advice on what each was best at, and how to use them to complement each other. In
those same reports, he showed us his idea for zip-tieing the camera to its cable so it
would hang straight down. He called it downviewing, a system now in general use.
Genz has insisted from the start that flashers and cameras are indispensable for
specific things, each having a wheelhouse with complimentary strengths and
weaknesses. Still, the question comes up constantly: which one should you buy, if
you’re only going to buy one?
“I get that all the time,” says Genz, “at stores, seminars, out on the ice.” He
understands the question, because limited discretionary income is being used to
purchase gear for a hobby. “I just try to help them understand what each one can do
separately, and what they can do when you use them together.”
What are these complimentary strengths and weaknesses? What can you expect in
the way of performance, if you choose one over the other? Are there compelling
advantages to having both and using them side-by-side?
These questions are timely this winter, because for the first time you can get both in
the same rig, with the Vexilar Double Vision. So, whether you ultimately choose one or
the other, or decide to get both, here are those complimentary strengths and
weaknesses.
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Underwater Camera
* You can sight-fish at any depth, as Genz likes to say – as long as you can see
clearly enough on the camera. (In deep dark water, and/or in the middle of the night, it
can be difficult to see enough to make the camera a useful tool.) “When you see the fish
come in and watch their reaction to your presentation,” says Dave, “that’s the best
learning experience. I still learn things from being able to study the fish and what they
do in response to what I do with the bait.”
* You can often be selective about which fish ‘gets’ the bait. “It doesn’t always work,”
Genz says, “because little fish can be aggressive. But a lot of times you can pull it away
from the small fish and give the big fish a chance to come in and eat it.”
* You can clearly see fish in the weeds. “Advantage camera on this one,” laughs
Genz. “It can be really hard to figure out which signals are fish and which are weeds on
a flasher. But when you’re looking at a camera picture, it’s fairly obvious which ones are
the fish.”
* You can see the condition of weeds and other cover. “We always want to find
upright, green weeds,” stresses Dave. “On a color camera, in decent light, you can see
if the weeds are green or not. If they’re ‘brown and down’ less fish will be in there.”
* Cameras are the ultimate tool for learning to interpret a flasher. “Now we’re getting
into real complimentary strengths,” says Genz. “If you are running a flasher and camera
in the same hole, you can look at the flasher signal, then look at the camera to see
what’s down there. It doesn’t take long to get confident about looking at the flasher by
itself and knowing what the signals are.” He acknowledges that the learning curve
associated with flasher interpretation can intimidate some anglers into shying away from
getting one. “This is probably the best way,” he says, “to figure out what the flasher is
telling you.”
* The fun factor is huge. This one is an intangible, but most people are simply
hypnotized by being able to watch the underwater world on a camera. You get to
observe the goings on in the fish’s world, and that adds significantly to the enjoyment.
“You have to be careful with the fun factor, though,” says Dave, “because people
tend to sit there too long just because they can see what’s down there. You can’t let the
camera anchor you in position if you’re not catching anything.”
Flasher
* You can see equally well no matter the conditions. “Clear water, dirty water,
shallow water, deep water, in the daytime or at night,” says Genz, “the flasher signal
comes through the same. There are no limitations in terms of lighting conditions or
water depth.”
* You can check many more holes in less time using a flasher. “This is the biggest
advantage of the flasher,” says Dave. “When you’re searching for fish, drilling holes,
looking down every one, you cover way more turf with a flasher. You don’t have to lower
down all that cable to get to see things. Just set the transducer in the hole and see
what’s down there.”
Genz and his fishing partners, when in high-speed search mode (one example
would be looking over large flats for roaming schools of perch), often use one person as
the hole driller and another person as the hole checker. The hole checker moves quickly
from hole to hole, sometimes kneeling on the ice to fish for a minute or so, even if fish
don’t show up on the flasher right away. In many holes, the transducer is simply set in
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the water, while the flasher remains in hand. The ‘ducer is often rocked side to side, so
it ‘looks’ in various directions. That lets you pick up on fish that are off to the side of the
hole.
You cannot check this many holes, this quickly, with a camera.
* When downviewing with a camera and using a flasher in the same hole, the flasher
acts as early-warning system. That’s because the flasher’s sonar signal reaches farther
out to the side than the camera can see. “You see the fish show up on the flasher,” says
Genz, “and as the signal turns from thin and weak to bright red, you know you’ve got a
fish coming in. You can shift your focus from the flasher to the camera, and pick up the
fish on visual as it comes all the way in.”
Bottom Line
The bottom line, Genz advises, is that if you’re going to buy one unit it should be a
Vexilar flasher. “This is especially because of the search process,” he says. “You have
to find fish before you can sit there and watch ‘em on the camera. Even a small lake has
a lot of ice to cover. It would take a long time to check it all with a camera. Plus, a
flasher is the best tool in dirty water and after dark.”
Just above the bottom line, Dave mentions that he loves using both a flasher and a
camera.
And has been using both, taking advantage of their complimentary strengths, for
years.
Mark Strand Outdoors
3077 Meadow Brook Drive
Woodbury, MN 55125
651-578-7676
strandoutdoors@mac.com
© 2011 by Mark Strand
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