How to Use a Vexilar Fish Finder
- 1). Scrape away any snow or slush on top of the ice, looking for the clearest ice possible. Vexilar fish finders have a powerful signal that can usually travel directly through the ice without requiring you to drill a hole. Place the Vexilar's transducer on the ice and pour a little bit of water on it to eliminate any air bubbles between the unit and the surface of the ice. If you cannot find a clear patch of ice, there may be layers of slush trapped between sheets of ice. Drill a hole deep enough to get past the layers of snow or slush, then drop the transducer into the water, using the float to keep it on the water's surface.
- 2). Start off with the range on your Vexilar set shallow and keep increasing the range until you locate the floor of the body of water beneath you. It will show up on the display as a clear mark clockwise of the guide point at the top of the screen.
- 3). Check the screen of the Vexilar to find the position of any objects found directly in the cone below the transducer. The colors of the fish markers represent the location of the fish inside this cone. Red markers are closest to the center of the cone, orange are farther out and green markers indicate fish on the outer edges of the transducer's signal cone. The same colors are also used to designate the size of an object picked up by the Vexilar. This can make it confusing when you start using the device. Large items will be shown in red, medium items in orange, and small items in green.
- 4). Use an auger to drill through the ice once the Vexilar indicates that there are fish below your spot. Watch the screen to see where your lure lands so you do not mistake it for a fish later on.
- 5). Monitor the screen of the Vexilar, watching for movement in the fish markers. This is the best indication that the marker represents an actual fish and not a lure or sinker connected to your line. By watching the Vexilar's screen, you can adjust the position of your lure to bring it closer to the fish swimming through your area.
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