There is no doubt if you want to catch more bass; you need to position your boat where the fish will be holding. It is the dirty little secret many super-star tournament pros fail to mention when they are on stage and talk about their victories. If you read between the lines, it is clear the winner put their boat in the right spot at the right time and kept it there so they could win. We agree that the secret lure was a factor, so did the Brand X rod, but let’s be honest, it is about holding the boat near or over the fish better than the other guys to win.

For over 20 years, the use of LCD Sonar has been the stable of most bass fishing rigs. The problem with all LCD sonar’s today is that this type of pure-digital technology only shows a digitally processed history of what you have passed over with your boat. Bass anglers need to know current information about where the boat is holding at any given time. It might sound strange, but in some regions of the country, bass anglers never even use their sonar systems for bass fishing. Most feel using sonar is no real advantage to them since they simply cast or flip the bank anyway. Most LCD displays seldom work in waters less than five feet, so why even turn the darn thing on? When the idea of heading way from the bank to fish a creek channel or to fish deep structure, make many anglers nervous and they run back to the docks.

The goal of every bass angler is to improve their skills with every tournament and look for tricks and secrets to enhance their fishing success. Strange enough, but more priority is put on the type of line or lures in use than to address the ultimate fish catching technique — better boat control.

Bass fishermen need an easy way to know exactly where the tip of a brush pile is located or the exact inside turn of a creek channel. The classic liquid crystal sonar technology, whether in black and white or the new TFT color displays, only shows the recent history of lake bottom that your boat has passed over. Granted, it is a big help to mount your sonar transducer on your electric trolling motor, but again, if you hold over a spot, the signals are distorted. If a fish or tree limb is below you, you see a long cloud shape on the screen. No classic fish hooks are displayed if you are holding on a spot while fishing. Signals are processed digitally to filter out small objects in the water like shad, shiners and even weeds to give the unit a nice clean TV-like display.

Needless to say, getting your sonar to reveal an uncensored sonar and a true real time response for a display is the key to good boat control. This is what the pros are not telling you. They may be fishing a bottom transition of mud to gravel, a change from coontail weeds to milfoil or simply looking for depressions in thick milfoil patches for flipping.

The ONLY sonar technology that delivers this type of performance is a sonar technology that has been around even longer than LCD recorders. They are called “flashers” and like LCD sonar, there are a wide variety of performance features available.

The clear leader with this type of sonar technology is the Vexilar Marine Electronics company of Minneapolis. They were the first to develop a hybrid flasher sonar that takes advantage of both digital and analog technology for the first super bright, three-color LED display. This gives you a way to see what is below your boat in real time and in an unfiltered way. You will be able to see the tiniest of objects in the water and can decide if the displayed signal is telling you something vital to your fishing success.

Many older anglers are familiar with old-style flashers from yesteryear and have used them with great success, but many have simply forgotten their advantages. A Vexilar Flasher of today has come a long way and can easily let you shoot a signal through the thickest of milfoil to find true bottom, a big advantage for Texas bass anglers for sure.

A Vexilar Flasher shows the slightest change in bottom content or weeds instantly. You are able to fish individual limbs of a tree in a brush pile and lets not forget that this flasher can also read bottom in 6 inches of water.
The new Vexilar FL-10 and FL-12 Flasher sonar systems use a unique flat panel display that is visible on a sunny day and will fit most bass boats on the market. Many bass anglers love Vexilar Flashers for their real-time signal response at high speeds because it is impossible to outrun the sonar signal if the transducer is installed properly.

Boat control is serious business to serious bass anglers. If you take advantage of what a flasher sonar can do you will be amazed how quickly you will be able to pinpoint fish holding structure. Is catching fish faster and easier with better boat control? One hundred percent yes is the answer, so maybe it is time to learn how a flasher sonar system can help you catch more fish this season.
 

Copyright 2008 Bass Club Digest.

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