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AquaView, Vexilar, or Both

AIRASSAULT

AIRASSAULT

PMA Member
I have an FL-18(I think that's what it is) Vexilar back home and that thing is by far the best $400 I have ever spent. I absolutely love it! I think my catch rate went up 10:1. Question is, I want to know what everyone thinks of a Vexilar in comparison to an AquaView under-water camera? I have had very little experience with the AquaView and I am trying to decide if I should buy one so I can have both camera and flasher in the ice shack with me at the same time... I think I would like to use the AquaView to find the fish and the Vexilar to catch them. What are everybody's opinions? I plan on spending a lot of time on the ice and snow when I get home from B.F.E.!

Thanks,
Bill
 
Boooooooom... finally some fishing stuff..... The Vex is sweet cause you can scan fast.... but you cant pinpoint a species like you can with a View..... I have 2 of them and also the 4way viewing system.. I use them when trolling for northern and muskie, but mainly for ice....All I do is whip out the gas auger, plow 12 or so holes in the ice.. leave them alone for about ten min.. then start drop'n... Its amazing to se the species that are down there.. just when you think its a school of blues... it's all slappies! also I have found that my view with the fish cam makes them more relaxed in the area that a wide eye, they will actually hang around longer.. I hate waitng for them to come back and forth in there "waves". Also I can record all of my fishing too! It's great fo the kids and me to play back!
 
Thanks for the info T!.. I probably dont need one, but they sure are cool.. and it would make fishing a little more fun for the people that go with me because there's only like one other person I know that even has a vexilar.. It's fun out-catching everyone for awhile.. but then I start to feel bad.
 
And... yep theres more.. when you lose a $150 COUSTOM GETZ rod thru the ice (like me last year) you can drop on down and find it... It was a blast catching my own rig, and seeing a giant eye swim by it
 
I think it would be a blast using the AquaView to find a bunch of catfish piled up in a pond.. I've accidently stumbled across the pile of catfish a few times and there is nothing more fun than catching a dozen 5-10lb fish on a tiny ice rod in an hour!
 
All ya do is take some pantyhose.. stuff some cheap dogchow in them and sink it to the bottom with a rope tied to it... You will get sick of catching them!
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Typical250</div><div class="ubbcode-body">All ya do is take some pantyhose.. stuff some cheap dogchow in them and sink it to the bottom with a rope tied to it... You will get sick of catching them! </div></div>

Hmm.. I never thought of that.. Actually sounds pretty fun! How long does it take a bunch of cold/sluggish catfish to find the dog chow? I was in Florida one time fishing in a pond where you pay per pound of fish and the owners came out and threw coffee cans of catfish food out.. I never caught so many catfish in my life.. It was a blast.
 
Not too long at all. I save about 30lbs of crappie scrap from summer for it too.......hmmmmm is that leagal :/...it works better.
 
well, i dont have either cause ice fishing is the biggest waste of time in the world.....
or, maybe im scared of it, cause fat kids dont like to walk on things that break........

either way, i did see something pretty cool once, the one time i went ice fishing.

my buddy dropped the aqua view down for a few minutes, then all of the sudden we saw a bunch of gills go flying by like they were being chased..... we turned the camera around to see what was chasing them.....
a musky was an inch from the camera, he opened his mouth and every thing went black..... one of the coolest things i have ever seen!!!! of course it wasnt being recorded.... and the ski didnt hurt the cam, just put a few scratches in the lense...

/forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

i wont forget that!!!!!
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: THA4</div><div class="ubbcode-body">well, i dont have either cause ice fishing is the biggest waste of time in the world.....
or, maybe im scared of it, cause fat kids dont like to walk on things that break........

either way, i did see something pretty cool once, the one time i went ice fishing.

my buddy dropped the aqua view down for a few minutes, then all of the sudden we saw a bunch of gills go flying by like they were being chased..... we turned the camera around to see what was chasing them.....
a musky was an inch from the camera, he opened his mouth and every thing went black..... one of the coolest things i have ever seen!!!! of course it wasnt being recorded.... and the ski didnt hurt the cam, just put a few scratches in the lense...

/forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

i wont forget that!!!!! </div></div>

Haha.. Wow! That would be awesome.. Did it make you guys jump? I've only seen an Aqua-Vu in action twice. First time was at that quarry along the Mississippi in Mt. Pielier and my dad and I were fishing through the ice, not catching anything and all we had at the time was one of those Fishin'Buddie fishfinder things.. There were these guys drilling holes everywhere and dippin the camera in.. One of them came to me and offered to drop the cam in the hole i was fishing in.. low and behold, there was a giant bass just sitting there.. never did get him to bite.. When i was at taxidermy school in Spirit Lake, I would go ice fishing in the evenings after class up in Anglers Bay.. I had my vexilar there, but another guy i was with had an Aqua-Vu and everynight about a half hour b4 dark, Huge WAVES of 12" crappie would start coming through. It was awesome to see that on the camera and we had a blast catching them.
 
Whatever dude! I saw the Muskie part before i even read the first word......This happend on a lake called "SKI" Lake did'nt it.... You and your ski pipe dreams are great knee slappers THA4 /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Typical250</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Not too long at all. I save about 30lbs of crappie scrap from summer for it too.......hmmmmm is that leagal :/...it works better. </div></div>

I know it would be illegal to use crappies as live bait, but, I wouldn't see anything wrong with using the scraps from them as chum.. I usually just dump the crappie/other fish scraps off of a bridge into the river for the turtles and catfish to eat anyway.
 
Both. A Vex always works in total darkness. My camera has an infra-red light but it picks up plankton & debris really bad in the dark. Some cameras don't have that problem at all.
 
i bought an fl-18 last year and dont see how i ever fished without it have always wanted to throw a camra in the hole with it but havent yet
 
If you had to have just one, the Vex is the only way to go. Works despite the water clarity, and allows you to see the entire water column, not just where the camera is at. The camera is great, but as much entertainment as anything. You can keep a young kid occupied for a long time just watching a bunch of bluegills.
 
Well, I bought the new Aqua-Vu 5".. Now I'm even more excited for ice fishing. I will have both units in the fish house with me.. It could get interesting!
 
Flasher is about 5x more useful than a cam.

I dont care to use the Aqua-Vu. It just makes me mad watching all these fish swimming around NOT eating my minnow.

I would save your money and spend it on something else icefishing related comapred to buying a AquaVu.
 
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