MarCum LX-3 Test Report

[CNY Tim]

I caught 7 keeper crappies 10 - 13.5" and kept a dozen nice gills and 3 big perch. Caught alot of small perch today. 5" any where we walked on the lake with 4" of snow on top. We fished 8' to 16' best depth was 15'. Crappie were riding at about 10' along with the nicer gills. You had to keep it off the bottom on that lake or you'll get nailed with dink perch. Not a great trip as far as bluegill action but it was great to use my MarCum and we can fish close with Vexilars and no problems 1 I.R. off, 1 on I.R and one on I.R. plus one no problems. I had the zoom on 10' when I was fishin 15' and it was awesome. Funny seeing your jig and fish on both sides of the screen. Gotta train my eyes a little more to stay on the left side. What the zoom feature allowed me to do was keep the bait away from the smaller fish and the decent gills and crappies when they popped on the zoom I thought they were bass or pike, awesome machine. I am glad it's compatable with Vexilars that was a big issue.

[CNY Tim]

Been fishing 3 out of 4 days and loving it! The MarCum and the FL-18 performed flawlessly. Fished with the 18 today in 15 to 24' of water and caught 22 nice perch. The separation of the Marcum LX-3 and FL-18 are identical as far as picking up a jig within an inch off the bottom in zoom under 40'. The Fl-18 like the FL-8 does deliver a broader band signal than the MarCum, which means the LX-3 is more clearly displayed and separated. The 6' zoom on the 18 was sweet. I prefer the colors of the FL-18 over the Marcum but the target separation of the MarCum is way better than the 18 from my experience. Each units show fish well it's just the MarCum does not clump like the vex does. The 19 degree transducer on my 18 worked as good as the 12, I know alot of people recommend the 12 but in 40' or less water the 19 is my choice.
Fishing today was not fun we had whiteout conditions and 10" of blowing snow but the fish did not seem to mind. Perch hit small glow perch buckshot rattle spoon and chartreuse glow perch shearwater thumpers tipped with 3-4 spikes.
Both of these unit's are exciting to fish with so it all comes down to preference.
The FL-18's vibrant new colors are explosive and better in bright sunlight than the MarCum. I fish out of a trap so I don't usually fish out side with it unless I am running and gunning which is hard to do now that we have so much freaking snow here...
Hands down you can't go wrong with either unit.

[Mr. Pike1]

Mykal and I had both our units on the ice on Saturday. The FL-18 and the LX-3. This was my obeservation after using both. I like the packaging of the LX-3, its power for target seperation, it quiter operation, and the multiple zoom capability. I however prefer the FL-18 because I like the color display of the green and red better and the zoom feature is more user friendly. Overall each unit will do what it is marketed to do. They will mark targets and increase your fishing production. In the end it will come down to choice.

[CNY Tim]

CNY Frank received his new MarCum LX-3 from Cabela's yesterday so they must have a fresh shipment in...

[Mykal]

CNY Tim, MrMuskie, or anyone? Have you run the FL-18 and the LX-3 side by side in over 30 feet of water. This is a case where the 20 degree ducer overlapped the FL-18 ducer and I can see my buddies jig on my screen at 35 feet. At this point I have problems with interference. Another buddy had an FL-8 that was about 30 feet away also gave me problems. I tried all of the IR settings and even adjusted the gain down, It helped, but then I could not pick up my jig unless I moved it. Even in zoom mode. The FL-18 had interference but didn't seem as bad as on the LX-3. Any feedback?

[This message has been edited by Mykal (edited 01-22-2003).]

[CNY Tim]

Mykal - Never had a problem fishing 35'of water with 20' between the 18 and LX-3 as long as one of us had the IR on or off it was not a problem. Leave the FL-18 in non IR mode and push the IR 3 times on the LX-3 and that cleared up my IR problem and it was not even a big problem compared to the UFO signals I got on my Colorpoint. This cleared up with 3 pushes on my LX-3 button. Now we were not exactly really tight either within 20' of each other, never tried both side by side in a shack maybe I will some day.

[MrMuskie]

Mykal, Just got back from LOTW, Fished both side by side over 33ft. Had some interference , But nothing we couldn't tune out. Don't get me wrong there was some. But didn't keep me from marking those walleyes that were up off the bottom. Some were only 2 ft under the ice. I feel that both will do the job. It"s just that I got used to the colors on my Vex & have a tough time with the Colors on the LX3. It's all in what You want. I do have trouble around the older fl8. This is just my thoughts. GOOD FISHIN DOUG

[MrMuskie]

double post. sorry

[This message has been edited by MrMuskie (edited 01-23-2003).]

[Mykal]

Thanks, CNY Tim and MrMuskie. I have been doing a lot of research. I also found out one more important point. The FL-18 is designed to go after Walleye and Perch on the bottom. The 12 degree ducer significantly reduces the dead zone under the cone as compared to the 20 ducer on the LX-3, especially on steep edges and structure like rocks. I am trying to find out if Marcum will make a dual ducer option in the future because I mostly target Walleye and fish structure. Otherwise I may end up returning the LX-3 and going with the FL-18. The LX-3 is a GREAT unit and designed better than the Vex from an engineering standpoint, clarity, and packaging, but it's not designed for what I will mostly us it for. Tough decision to make.

[CNY Tim]

Mykal - I have to agree with you there especially for steep breaks and such unless MarCum has a narrower ducer it's useless for your application.
I wonder if the 9/12 degree ducer on an FL-18 is compatable with the MarCum LX-3 since they are both 200kHZ?
I wonder if any one has tried swapping the ducers on these unit's?
It's a tough decision I grant you that, I know how you feel the thin line display on the MarCum is sweet. And now that your used to it, you will miss that when you go to the FL-18. However you will appreciate the functionality of the FL-18 and it's better display colors and with a variety of transducers to meet your needs. Tough call...

[Mykal]

CNY Tim, I sent an e-mail off to Marcum to ask them about future transducer options. I will post the results. Still stuck in the middle on this one.......

[Mykal]

CNY Tim, Mr. Muskie, and all, I decided to stay with the LX-3. The separation and clarity are too good to let this unit go. I tried it in 41 feet ( in the 80 depth setting) and only had 4-6 inches of dead zone on a steep break that drops to 50. I can certainly live with that. Zoom at this range was fantastic, which was a concern for me with the 20 degree ducer. I assume they will make a 12 or 9 degree ducer as an option in the future.

[MrMuskie]

My, Glad you like the LX3, Both units will do the job well. I just wish they used different colors. Well enjoy & GOOD FISHIN.

[Zimm]

Well I have both units and I will tell you what I have found out. I really like the LX-3 softpack, how quiet it is, and ducer arm. I don't like the display colors, dead zone, and graphing depth through the ice.( it really stinks)
18- better colors, easy to graph depth through the ice, smaller dead zone. I don't like the noise, no softpack. If I am going fishing and choose to bring one of the two, it will be the 18. Both are good units, and I don't think you will make a bad choice. If your color blind like a friend of mine you better get the vex, because all he can see is gray lines on the LX-3. 18 fits in a 5 gallon pail too. I gave the LX-3 a fair shot I have used it for the last 10 days. Zimm

[This message has been edited by Zimm (edited 01-27-2003).]

[Guest]

I bought an lx-3 last thursday. Used it 12-14 hours friday, saturday, and sunday. Fished hard all 3 days. I have an FL-8 and an lx-3 used them both side by side. I used the ir setting on both units and could not get the lx-3 to settle out completely. The screen jumps around a lot on the lx-3 compared to the vex. Was fishing 18' to 30'. I came to the conclusion that the fl-8 and aquaview is a good enough combination for me and the lx-3 is going back to cabela's. Main dislikes. I don't like the zoom feature in 30' of water. There is not enough dial to read. The colors on the lx-3 stink. I fished some steep drops with trees and the camera was the only thing that could pick up the fish.

[CNY Tim]

I just wanted to say to the guys that have sent me emails reguarding this debate, Thanks!
Some of you asked where am I located and such...
I am from Central NY (Rome area) I fish with my buddies and with the ice shanty gang. I have one tournament win and a first place in the special awards category in the NY State Whitney Point Crappie Derby. I fish central NY but travel to points north,south and in between during the ice fishing season. My favorite quarry is bluegills and crappies and am learning perch fishing with varying degrees of success.
I generally save my vacation days from work for a hot bite.
I visit this site and a private site as well to communicate with my extended family... Great guys they are! Whitney Point Crappie Derby was awesome this year... The menu alone would knock your socks off.
7 pd's perch and wallet fillets deep fried in Peanut oil with Zatarin's fish fry seasoning
home made oatmeal cookies
venison cheese and cracker trays
venison spiedies
pickled beans
deep fried smelt
Lupo's sausage with peppers and onions on fresh italian bread
Washed down with Haunenstein Beer.

When we party down we don't stop eating and laughing.
Of course the gases that permiate are less than inviting to your loving spouse in the evening.
We managed to catch quite a few fish as well. Auger Boy and Dark Cloud had some nice keepers.
Maki passed out rocking reels to the attendees.
Fish4walleye was there and Mahoney. These guys all enjoyed themselves and left heavier than they were when they got on the ice that's for sure.
My new cabela's suit smelled of peanut oil on the ride home, should have worn some type of apron I guess... Oh well it adds character.
Bottomline they are my family and have in each there own way shared life and fishing experiences that I will treasure the rest of my life. What a gang they are...

[Guest]

If you want a different transducer on an LX-3 you can splice one to the appropriate connection. Worked great for a friend of mine who needed an ice-ducer for a model of locater that there isn't one available for.

[Cyberfish]

Tim, I almost had to loosen my belt a notch after just READIN' that menu yummmm

[Mykal]

no_spam, the LX-3 has 1500 watts of power. My concern is if I put a VEX 12 or 9 degree on that is for 400 watt system, it would not work correctly. Would this make a difference?

[Guest]

Mykal,
When you are dealing with such small amounts voltage and current I don't think there would be any problems.

I'm not an expert on this stuff though, so you may want to ask Vexilars tech guy about it.

[Borch]

For those looking to buy a LX-3. I was just at Fleet Farm in St. Cloud. They have the LX-3 combos on sale for $350. Cheapest I've seen them for so far. Wife wouldn't let me pull the trigger on that one though. The lack of transducer options is also keeping me away. I'll stick with the FL-8 for now.

[JWB475]

Thorne Brothers has the Marcum LX-3 marked down to $349.95...

I just picked mine up tonight and can't wait to try it out.

For that price it totally blows away the competition. The additional features are also extremely nice, including the padded soft case, and the one-who-thinks-I-am-silly proof digital charging system...

More features, AND 50 dollars cheaper than the Fl-18...

Great buy, get them while you can...

[muchowja]

Last year the FL-18 was at 350 at the end of the year too and I'm sure it will be at that price soon this year.

[IceC]

I've used my lx-3 flawlessly all year until yesterday.After 5 min fishing the screen went blank.The surface mark was still there, but I had to turn the gain all the way up just to get a bottom reading.wouldnt mark the jig or small fish. I know I cant fix it myself,but does anyone have any ideas as to what might have happened?Battery was fully charged and there were no other vex\lx-3 on the lake.

Talk about a bummed out day fishing. Looks like another trip to cabela's

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Have an Ice day

[Mykal]

ICE C. Did your battery monitor show life in the battery when the unit was on? Also, pick up the transducer and listen for the ticking sounds. It should be consistant and fairly loud. Also check the connections to the battery and on back of the unit. It may have come loose, especially if you aremoving the unit up and down alot. One last thing, make sure you are not at the wrong depth setting. I was fishing a hair over 40 feet and thought I had problems seeing the bottom until I bumped it up to the 80 foot setting. I thought I was in 37. Maybe switch to the maximum setting and work your way down until you can see the bottom in red. The gain should NEVER be turned up all the way. Other than that, I don't know what to tell you except to contact Marcum. I really had mine put to the test yesterday with 3 Fl-8's and one FL-18 fishing within a close area. I tapped the IR until I cleared almost all of the interference and I was fine.
One more thing, I have been talking with Marcum and they are looking at additional transducer options for steep edges and really deep water. I have run mine in 42 feet on the 80 without any problems except for the 4-6" deadzone on very steep breaks. Sound like next year we will be able to pick up a ducer to cure that problem.

[This message has been edited by Mykal (edited 02-02-2003).]

[IceC]

Thanks Mykal, I did check all the connections, battery monitor, and depth. I know the gain shouldnt be turned up that high,but I had to try it to see if I got anything. Sounds like its the transducer, it consistantly ticks but I have to hold it to my ear to hear it.Back to Cabela's

Thanks for the transducer update. it will be nice to have a few options to choose from. Did they mention a dual beam for next year?That would be sweet. But I guess that would mean a whole other model. Maybe I'll just return it and see what next year brings

Thanks for the help

IceC

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Have an Ice day