Sonar technology put to the maximum test during 2009 North American Ice Fishing Championships
Jan 18th, 2010 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jan 18th, 2010 at 12:00 AM
Rhinelander, Wis. – reluctantly biting fish and the need for well-tuned electronics-everywhere lakes freeze, these two themes figure largely into the schemes of ice anglers. So it was during the 2009 North American Ice Fishing Championship.
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Eighty-four of North America’s finest ice angling teams recently converged on Boom Lake, Wisconsin to test their skills against both selective fish and extreme fishing pressure. At stake, $25,000 cash and the right to be called Ice Fishing Champions.
From the start of the two-day event (December 19 & 20), it was clear that this would be an elbow-to-elbow turf battle-dozens of teams vying for the same picky bluegills and crappies, all grouped into constricted depressions in the 20-plus foot lake basin. On key ice zones, scores of anglers and their flasher-sonar units were no less confined, literally packed together within ten feet of one another in all directions. This produced an explosion of sonar signal traffic. The result? Scrambled flasher screens and frustrated competitors.
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But there were exceptions.
“It was pretty obvious that the power of the MarCum units were taking most of the other flashers out of the game,” noted defending NAIFC champion Joe Pikulski. “A lot of guys just couldn’t tune out all the clutter on their screen, and couldn’t read their jig or the fish. It was like combat fishing.” Fortunately for anglers such as Pikulski and his partner Myron Gilbert, who finished third, as well as the second place team of Dave Young and Mike Boedeker, and perennial high-finishers Boshold-Horn and Gawlinski-Wojcik, MarCum LX-5s eliminated the signal interference, keeping visible their jig and the fish. The result was a final leaderboard dominated by MarCum users.
“This event was a real eye-opener for a lot these teams, as far as electronics go,” stated Boshold. “Everyone saw first-hand, that the guys using MarCums had a distinct advantage.”
“It was some of the most intense elbow-to-elbow fishing we’ve ever seen at a tournament,” said NAIFC Tournament Series President Jack Baker. “Really the whole thing came down to the anglers who had a MarCum, and those who didn’t.”
Manufactured in the U.S.A. by Versa Electronics, MarCum Technologies offers the highest standards in flasher-sonar units and underwater viewing systems available today. For more information and a 2010 MarCum catalog, contact Versa Electronics, 3943 Quebec Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55427. For customer service, please contact us at 888-778-1208 or email us at [email protected]. Website is www.marcumtech.com.