The best ice fishing flashers for shallow water are an important electronic that is just a portable sonar unit. Utilizing a three color system to gauge depth and movement, the flasher allows the fisherman to estimate what’s going on underneath the ice.
Ice fishing has evolved immensely over the years, and now there’s all sorts of fancy gadgets and doodads to help you test the fish’s mood and see what viable fishing spots are.
- Dual Spectrum CHIRP Sonar: See high-resolution returns of individual fish, bait and structure on both the flasher and traditional 2D sonar views at greater depths and range, with target separation down to 3/4".
- CHIRP Interference Rejection: Six settings keep competing sonar signals from cluttering your screen, providing a clear view in both sonar and flasher modes.
- Adjustable Sonar Zoom: Hone in on fish, whether they are tight to the bottom, or suspended high in the water column. Utilize 2X zoom on the flasher screen, or up to 16X zoom on 2D sonar view.
- Ultra Bright and Detailed LCD Display: The ICE HELIX screen provides everything you need to know, on a crystal-clear display with adjustable brightness. Whether in a fish house or on open ICE, you'll easily be able to see digital depth display, sonar returns and more exclusive features, all shown in real-time.
- What’s Included: ICE HELIX 5 CHIRP G3 fish finder, Dual Spectrum CHIRP ICE transducer, 9Ah battery and charger, ICE shuttle, hardware, power cable and portable bag.
- TrueColor patented MBC Brushless Lighting
- 1000-Watt Peak to Peak Output Power
- 20 Degree Ice Transducer
- Target Sepertation down to 2-Inch
- Patented 12-Step Interference Rejection
- The power of simple - offers a keyed interface with dedicated buttons. The device is easy to use and easy to install. Available in 3.5-, 5- and 7-inch display sizes.
- Waypoint map - use the waypoint map to easily view, mark and navigate to locations such as brush piles, stumps and docks.
- Chirp sonar - chirp sends a continuous sweep of frequencies which provides a wider range of information. Chirp sonar is able to create crisper fish arches with better target separation.
- Built-in flasher - view your sonar data in the classic flasher format; Ideal for ice fishing or vertical jigging.
- Dual Beam Sonar: Choose from a narrow and a wide beam for great detail or a generous coverage area, helping you identify fish, structure and your lure
- 3-Color Fiber Optic Flasher Display: Indicates bottom, fish and your lure in real-time with a bright and highly visible display
- 2X Dynamic Zoom: Magnify your view of a specific depth range and rotate the dial to change the area you're zooming into - change on the fly
- Adjustable Gain: Dial in the sensitivity of your flasher unit to precisely match to your fishing scenario
- Adjustable Depth Ranges: Pick from 1X, 2x, 4X and 10X depth ranges, allowing you to fish depths up to 200’.
- Made with premium quality components. Shell made with durable hard ABS plastic, all parts are tightly sealed to make this LED lure tough and highly pressure resistant. All components are made from anti-corrosion material to make this a perfect choice for both saltwater and freshwater fishing.
- Automatically ON and OFF. With its advance design this LED light will turn ON when it hits water, and turn OFF automatically when its dry, saves your battery.
- This deep drop light will keep flashing and blinking even under 1000 Yards water depth. Diamond design helps the light to deflect to almost all directions. Highly visble and flashing light will drive the hungry fishes crazy under water, luring them to attack.
- Up to 200 hrs of life span. Much durable than a glow stick and affordable than a traditional fishing light. Excellent choice for deep sea fishing or trolling, and freshwater fishing for pike, walleye and other species.
- Pack of 5. 1/3 oz. Length 2.55 Inches.
- Package includes: you will receive 10 pieces deep drop fishing lights, they are practical tool for deep sea fishing, the enough quantity that can meet your multiple purpose
- Flashing automatically: the LED light will turn on automatically when it touch water, and turn off when its dry, don't require batteries, which is energy saving and easy to use
- Quality material: the shell of the LED fishing lures are made of durable hard ABS plastic, besides, all parts are sealed tightly, and the LED light is high pressure resistant, you can use under deep sea which makes it a nice choice for both saltwater and limnetic fishing
- Multiple purpose: the LED lighted bait flasher is specially designed for bottom fishing in offshore, inshore, boat fishing and so on, you just clip it to your rig and drop it into water, it is really practical for you and your friends who love fishing
- Long life time: the LED fishing lures can be applied more than 400 hours of life span, much durable than a glow stick and a traditional fishing light; You can use even under 1000 yards water depth, highly visible and flashing light will drive the hungry fishes crazy under water, luring them to attack
- Bright, sunlight-readable 5” fishfinder with built-in GPS, ice fishing transducer and support for ClearVü scanning sonar
- Includes high wide Garmin CHIRP ice fishing transducer for crisp, clear fish arches and excellent target separation
- Built-in Garmin Quickdraw Contours mapping software lets you create and store maps with 1’ contours for up to 2 million acres
- Built in flasher lets you see your jig or weighted bait and the depth of fish as they swim into the sonar beam
- Portable carrying case holds unit, cables and battery for a successful day on the ice
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Read customer reviews of good sonars for ice fishing on Amazon.
Picking the best ice fishing flasher can be a tricky task, as there’s quite few units out there on the market. Do you go MarCum, Humminbird, Vexilar, or another brand?
The following buyers guide and three reviews will supply you with what you need to know to add to your ice fishing gear such as your cordless ice fishing auger.
Top rated ice fishing flasher buyers guide
As with many other ice fishing accessories, choosing a unit that is lightweight and portable is key to an enjoyable fishing experience.
You don’t want to lug what feels like a cement block through the snow and ice along with your ice auger and other equipment.
Picking a lightweight unit, with a small but powerful battery will help solve this problem.
Finding a unit that has a depth range for the locale you’ll be fishing is important, as well as an interference rejection option to reduce interference from other flasher units.
A zoom option allows you to focus on a specific section so you get a better detailed image of what the jig and fish are doing.
Ease of use and how easily read the display is are musts for the best flasher.
Finally, cost will determine a lot, as many flashers are in the $200 and plus range.
So, researching about each flasher and if it will suit your ice fishing needs is crucial.
Interference rejection, depth length, dimensions, weight, gain controls sonar signal.
Humminbird ICE-55 Six Color Flasher with LCD
The Humminbird ICE-55 has a 200 foot depth capability, a unique 6-color fiber optic display with LCD center, and a 14.6 pound weight.
The unit has dimensions of 13.5 x 12.3 x 8.1 inches, so it’s fairly large compared to other models.
One Amazon reviewer mentions how big the display is compared to other flasher units, and how easier it made fishing.
A carrying case is supplied with the model, and it’s made of nylon with brackets for the head unit and battery.
Many Amazon reviewers remark how useful the backlight is in low light conditions.
A zoom option is available, as well as a dual frequency capability. Gain is adjustable from 0-50, so this model offers a lot of variation for the transducer’s signal.
Several Amazon reviewers note the ICE-55 has a very long battery life as well.
Marcum VX-1 Pro Ice Fishing Sonar System / Flasher – VX-1P
The Marcum VX-1 Pro features 1,000 watts of power, a 12-volt 7 amp rechargable battery, and a sleek, soft and protective carry pack.
Compared to the Humminbird’s weight, the Marcum is almost a third lighter.
Dimensions of the Marcum are smaller as well, being 9.2 x 10.2 x 8.5 inches, making this unit very lightweight and easily portable.
The manufacturer notes a patented 10-level interference rejection to keep your signal clean and clear, and an impressive 2 inch target separation.
Like the Humminbird, the Marcum VX-1 Pro offers a vital zoom feature when you’ve found your ideal location.
This product only has a 20-degree transducer, unlike the Humminbird’s dual transducer option.
Many Amazon reviewers remark how easy this unit is to use, and how the battery life performs as advertised.
Some Amazon reviewers do note that the extra cable is a bit unwieldy and cumbersome to use, so keep that in mind.
Vexilar Fl-8se Genz Pack Ice Flasher
With a blue casing, and black function board, and a weather-proof case make the Vexilar FL-8SE ready for the ice.
The manufacturer notes the base as being able to fit on a five gallon bucket for easy set up, and an easily accessed semi-enclosed battery compartment.
Boasting a 1 inch target separation, this is a step up over both the Marcum and the Humminbird that only offer a 2 inch target separation.
The Vexilar has a typical three-color LED display, and offers six depth ranges: 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, and 120 feet.
This unit has a lower depth range than Humminbird.
Vexilar doesn’t note the product’s weight in their description, but the dimensions are 11 x 9.5 x 8.5 inches.
This is just a tad smaller than the Marcum unit, and much smaller than the Humminbird unit.
One Amazon reviewer noted they had some interference issues if more than one unit is nearby.
Some say deciding on a fish finder can be a matter of brand name preference over functionality, but comparing the Humminbird ICE-55, Marcum VX-1 Pro, and Vexilar FL-8se shows that they are quite different in functionality and design.
Find the best ice fishing flasher for shallow water in 2023 on Amazon.
