# Sonar for shallow weed beds?



## Rooster (Apr 8, 2004)

Here in the south west, the closest fishable ice it will be on shallow lakes that also have a lot of weeds.

Last year I started using the Lowrance Elite 4 on the ice. I only got out 6 days, but now I will never willingly get on the ice without some type of sonar. The graph is nice, but it is mostly about watching the amplitude meter. There is a learning curve with the Lowrance, and I still have a long way to go. There are a lot of settings, and it takes some practice to get it dialed-in. At times, in order to see my lure I would need to increase the sensitivity to the point where the screen is cluttered. It is a very small screen, and I’ve considered upgrading to the Elite 5. However, while that would offer a wider amplitude meter, it would not improve the vertical resolution (just a wider blob). I’m sure that I can get more proficient with the Lowrance, but I’m curious about the limitations of the Elite 4 vs a flasher.

I’ve watch a few “real world” demos of flashers, they seem so much simpler to use, and seem to offer a more delineated view of both lures and fish without the clutter I was experiencing with the Lowrance. However, I have never had the opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison over a shallow weed bed.

Will a flasher (Limited to those available in the $400 range) offer significant improvement over a Lowrance Elite 4 in identifying fish in water under 10’ with weeds?

I don’t mind making the effort to get more proficient with the Lowrance, but if a flasher ultimately has more upside in my most common fishing conditions, I want to make the switch.

Thanks,
Mark


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## Minnowhead (Jan 12, 2011)

Get one of these, and it will simplify your time on the ice. You already know the benefit of sonar on the ice. These units have shallow weed mode, transducers that allow you to select cone angle, etc. All in one unit. Since every lake is different and fish move around, you'll be able to adapt instead of being pigeon holed with one dimensional fish finder. So many makes and models offered now. My 2 cents...


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

I love my Marcums and find they ( even the VX-1---- cheapest model )are more sensitive then the FL8 Vexs and have a much cleaner screen, just my .02, but I use the Marcum LX-6 and love it to death!! just like all the sonars on the market, when you get into say 4 fow and have weeds down 2 ft from the surface, its a gamble as most sonar you loose the top 15-20" till you get into the cone which vortexes below the transducer to start picking up a little ways down the water column, so basically at the upper end of Kiser and most of Indian, your screwed with a sonar and should get a camera.. added another .02 so now Im worth .04 cents...


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## Scum_Frog (Apr 3, 2009)

Like already stated if your rockin shallow water predominately I would switch over to a camera.....10' of water or less most fish will be in the bottom half of the water column anyways so with a camera you wont be missing much! I used to be camera only but upgraded last year to the LX-9 and I love it.....Ive actually used it multiple times this year on soft water as well......on friday I took it out perch fishing on the lake and used the Sonar and knew when the school of perch came in everytime.....another capability in knowing your on the fish! Goodluck!!!


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## Rooster (Apr 8, 2004)

Has anyone used a camera on Kiser or Indian? I’ve considered getting a camera, but I assumed that visibility would be very poor on our lakes in SW Ohio.


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## backfar (Sep 24, 2014)

I use a vexilar fl18...greatest thing since sliced bread....the fl18 has a setting for shallow water....and yes they work great in shallow weedy water....the marcum units are nice also....but in my opinion the vexilars are more durable...


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## westbranchbob (Jan 1, 2011)

I've used my fl18 and my fl8 in water as shallow as 5 foot....always done well for me...as far as weeds...I dial the gain back as far as I can and still Mark my jig...the 18 is defiantly way better than the 8...as far as the Marcum goes..well I've never used one...just seems wrong..lol


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