What we see with a VEXILAR

I have had the opportunity to speak to hundreds of people around Iowa this fall/winter about the upcoming ice fishing season.  Although many of us wonder if it will ever happen...soon my fishing friends...soon.  While speaking at a couple different seminars and doing a couple more in-store promotions one of the biggest things I try to help people with is understanding what their Vexilar is telling them.
Your Vexilar is telling you A LOT, how an angler takes all that information and processes it is up to the user.  One thing that really gets the attention of a crowd at a seminar or when speaking to a Vexilar owner is the amount of water your transducer is actually reading.  To be real honest, it isn't that much, with any transducer ever made, on ice or open water.  We as anglers want to believe that electronics are showing us the underwater world with vast readouts, but that is not really happening.  Knowing the facts will, and should open your eyes to what you are really seeing when using your Vexilar on the ice.

THE FACTS:
~ Cone angle gives you your underwater picture
~ 9-degree, 12-degree, 19-degree, 20-degree will all give a different picture down the same hole
~ The Pro-View transducer begins at 9-degrees and can expand up to 40-degrees
~ The type of transducer you own is imprinted at the top of your transducer
~ The graphic below shows us exactly what we see

This chart shows us the diameter (in feet) of the "circle" of lake floor that the ice-ducer is showing us.  If you are targeting a specific pieces of cover, rocks, brush etc, you must drill...drill...drill.
I hope you have learned a few things while we await for good ice.  Stay safe out there and always take a friend, picks, rope and flotation device during early ice.