Flashers: Vexilar Products
Original Post:
http://www.blogsmonroe.com/fishing/?p=247
Vexilar had been making units designed for ice fishing for many years, and over that time they have established themselves near the top of the food chain when it comes to their products. Little background, flashers are devices that will enhance your ability to catch fish in any situation, for this piece will focus on ice fishing. They show you the bottom, they show your jig, they show the fish coming up to your jig, and when the line representing your jig and the other marking the fish meet, just get ready to set the hook. It really is almost that simple, and the anticipation really gets the heart pumping.
In one form or another I have been using Vexilar flashers for the last seven years. My first unit was the venerable FL-8slt. I just sold the unit to a guy in the Saginaw area, he plans on giving it to his son to use. He told me about letting the boy use his while having some father/son time out on the ice last weekend. He said it was like fishing blind not having the unit with him. Most folks when they head down the road and realize that they have left their flasher behind, turn around and take the time to go back and get it. That kid is going to get many years of use from that “8″, it served extremely well in getting me to two North American Ice Fishing Championship events.
The next unit I picked up was the FL-8se. This unit is still available today, and is basically an upgraded version of the original “8″. This is the perfect starter unit for young adults and folks that just go out and enjoy the whole ice fishing experience. The difference between the 8’s is the brightness of the lights and crisp lines that anglers read. Both my units were mounted on what they call blue boxes, designed by Dave Genz. The original blue box was on the slt, while the new updated box was mounted on the se model. I liked it so much that I put the se back in its softpack when I sold it, and mounted my newest flasher to its box.
Next up is the FL-18, which was introduced the same year as the new updated FL-8. The 18 revolutionized fishing through the ice with a flasher. Just like the original 8, it gave something ice anglers had never had before, the ability to zoom. Zoom in this case lets anglers lock into the bottom six foot of the water column, or 6′ from the bottom up. With one half of the dial (left side) dedicated to that 6 ft area, what it does is give greater distance between the bottom, or in between different signals. If you fish perch or walleye, you know how tight to the bottom these two species can lay in wait.
The FL-12 is really the next update available in the “8″ lineup and was introduced last year. My 8’s were able to read down to 120 ft, this new unit can find the salmon in Lake Superior and its deep waters down to 200 ft. I like that feature even more than the new flat screen display that gives anglers the ability to read the flasher even while standing several feet away and looking at it from an angle. New and improved interference rejection capability makes the unit able to fish side by side with flashers from other manufactures. It also has a nice lower power feature for reading in shallow water, or thick weeds, enabling anglers to see better.
Along the lines of the FL-12 was the introduction of the FL-20 last year. This is the unit has the widescreen, the low power mode, the same upgraded interference rejection and reads down to 200 foot. In addition the next features set it aside from the other units; it has a built in low battery alert, special night time setting for “turning the lights down low”, 1/2 inch target separation, and like the FL-18 it has ZOOM. Unlike the 18, it has an expandable zoom. Not only do you get the six foot zoom, but fishing in deeper water, you can expand that zoom to 12 foot.
This is the unit that I upgraded to for this year, first I picked up the 20 back in December, then with the selling of my two 8’s, I just purchased a second one for a back-up, or for someone else to use on trips. I hate the idea of something happening on a trip, and being stuck without a unit to fish with. That’s why I had two 8’s, and why I picked up the second FL-20.
I will look over some of the accessories available from Vexilar dedicated to ice fishing tomorrow. Maybe the pic hosting site will be done with its maintenance this evening and I can get some pics posted by then.
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