Camera vs Depthfinder…

I should preface this by saying I don’t ice fish much. Maybe 5 or 6 times a year.

I have been ice fishing for a long time and haven’t used a depthfinder for fishing. I haven’t seen where the expense of getting just a depthfinder for fishing would offset the need when I only go that few times. But I’ve had a (different) camera(s) for about 10 years and it’s worked fine for me. I cut a bunch of holes and drop down the camera to see if there are fish down there. If not I move. Typically I’m fishing on smaller lakes in less than 20 fow. The nice thing about the camera is I can see what depth (and size) that the fish are at. But it takes me longer to find the right depth/structure because I have to drill the hole first then stick down the camera then pull it up and measure it off by arm lengths. I drill a lot of holes!! Also, if I’m fishing and not getting bit I don’t know if the fish are swimming above or below the camera? And or I can’t see them in dirty water. So what’s my point? Does anyone else fish like this and are there any tips that I can use that might increase my chances of getting on the fish rather than searching so much? I did (just yesterday) get an ice transducer and power cord for my Lowrance lms 520 so now I will have both.

??? Can I use the camera in one hole and put the depthfinder in another hole (further away like more than 6 feet) to keep an eye out to see if they are traveling around just out of camera view? Or keep the camera down then use the finder to see where the fish are in other holes?

Also…does anyone use the camera in the downward set up and how does it work?

I know most of the answers to these ?? but hopefully it help someone reading this that is maybe thinking about getting a depthfinder and or a camera.

Thanx

I used to fish like you too. than i got a flasher, its so much better in finding fish and catching fish, but less exciting because you just dont see the fish.

I guess I’ll go backwards through your post.

I’ve Actually enjoyed using Cameras face down. I feel like I’m looking at the big picture. MarCum Cameras have a hook for the cord so you can face it down.

You said you ice fish a little and you punch many holes. Thats a good thing. now In my eyes you need to effectively search those holes out. A flasher would definately speed up your search time. I don’t know if the 520 has a flasher mode or not.

So you ice fish a few times a year huh? It certainly sounds like you’re motivated to get on the fish. If I may,….I’d suggest you purchase a basic flasher such as the V/LX1. This unit has the features you need. Its just a hunch but I think your hard work may be better rewarded using a flasher. You’ve got the motivation, now you need the right tool. You’ll be able to fish 5 times faster.

Hang on to your camera. Its a great learning tool to have along side of you when you do find fish.

It does have a flasher mode.

imo flashers are almost always the best way to locate fish… you know ur a redneck if your camera cable has duct tape marking off the depth!

another thing i could suggest is a topo map of the lake you’re using. electronics play a major role in fishing today… i never leave my home without my flasher, marcum camera, and my handheld gps. without that lakemaster chip, i would have no idea where i was. and to me, thats like fishing blind… even a blind squirrel finds a nut once and a while, but you will greatly increase your chances when you know what the heck is going on under the ice.

and using your electronics is all personal preference, i like to keep my flasher on the hole im fishing, and use my camera for exploring when things slow down.

hope that helps.

Thats going to help you,…….but………I’d like to see the results of your ambitious fishing with an actual ice flasher. Just try it. If you’re interested in borrowing one for a day just let me know , but I’d fear you not giving it back after you see what it can do.

Just a tip for your camera, mark your camera cord for depths, you could use different colored elec. tape (white for each foot and red for every 5 foot)or some of these permant magic markers will stay on anything.

I must be a redneck

I broke my camera last year..i enjoyed using it but now that its gone I don’t miss it hardly at all. The flasher is a much more valuable tool for locating and catching fish. I always noticed that when I’d have fish on camera I caught fewer fish because you don’t have the range of bait motion that you have on a flasher. Sure you can fine tune your wiggle and call them in that way, which I really like on a camera. But when I get fish to look at my bait, I want to either raise the bait up and make the fish chase it, or lower it down to entice them to bite. With a camera you can only raise/lower the bait so far before it goes off the screen. With a flasher you can see your bait at all times and it allows you to “work” fish far more efficiently.
You can fish with a flasher next right next to your camera, but in deeper water this may become a problem because you will mark your camera cord on the flasher which will take up the whole screen from top to bottom.

Try out your Lowrance and see how you like it, and once you have located a pile of fish, drop the camera down and have a ball. I almost never used my camera unless I had located a brushpile or some other major structure where I had fish grouped up to the point where I could stay in one spot with steady action. My style of fishing usually involves hole hopping on an average of every 5-10 minutes or so and the camera just slowed me down.

HHmm…Not give it back?? Me?!

And I do use my camera in the summertime, too. It’s kind of a toy. Also the kids like to see the fish on the camera. It’s kind of like live video game. It really hooks the kids.

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I must be a redneck

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i knew i would get someone with that one!!!

dont feel bad, i’ve macgyver’d tons of stuff like that in my day! great minds think alike… taping markers on the cable is the easiest way to tell depth. at least thats what our great-great-great-great grandpa’s thought!

I most cases the flasher is faster in finding the fish. But your camera can teach you a lot of how the fish react to different baits and colors of lures which in my mind catch the fish especially when they are finicky.

i agree with cazadar, the flasher is faster if you are on fish and if you know what to use, but when it comes to watching the fish it is better to use the camera, I happen to use bot together, I likt the flasher when i am hole hopping, but when I am settle down I like the camera better. either way its good to have both…

An ice fisherman without a flasher is like an infantryman forced to carry a musket. I am cheap and you don’t have to spend a lot of money. People with flashers are catching 10 fish to your one. You would fish more and enjoy it more with the tools you need to do the job

Fishing without a flsher is refered to as “fishing blind” I recommend not fishing blind. That flasher will quickly eliminate ares with no fish and effectively target fish that are under your hole you can see the fish as blips on your screen and like was said before its a video game effect.

I agree. love fishing with my flasher, but then again when we were on Mille lacs for the GTG 2 years agoa BK brought out the camera as we were looking at what we were marking and the fish would just lip it. with out the camera we would not have caught a fish. So it sounds bad but both is kind of a good idea as it was neat to set the camera in 1 hole awayt form the jigs and see the fish come in and out of there.

the frustrating part about flashers is you see the fish and if they do not bite then you get cranky

Broncs

All these suggestions are great and exactly what I’m looking for.

Ok…so BK…now that I’ve seen your post on the Marcum camera…I want one of those, too!!!

Sorry guys…but your flashers won’t pick these fish up on the bottom…well they will, but you’ll think it’s structure!

Seriously a good flasher is your best bet 90% of the time looking for fish and then getting them to bite. Just look at the IDO fishing videos. Those guys are working the fish while watching them on the flasher. It’s hard to work a fish and move a camera up and down!

That other 10% of the time, when the panfish are fussy a camera is the only way to catch them. They suck in the bait and spit it out so fast that by the time anyone could detect that light of a bite on topside the fish is gone. Using a camera I can see when the hook is gone….set the hook!

One important note. You will always catch less fish with a camera. Camera = more time spent looking around at structure and the bottom and much less time fishing….guaranteed!

If I could only have one, the flasher is the clear choice…and it better not have any interference either.

Sometimes a 14 year old with alot of ambition armed with a good auger in one hand and a camera in the other makes for easy hole hopping for the old man with the flasher.Kid + auger + camera = more fishing time.Hope it works again this year at least once.

Been there!

what do you mena BK? that is structure. not fish.

Broncs