What is the best fish finder for your money?

[scopey42]

I'm looking to buy a flasher fish finder, which is better Vexlar vs. Hummingbird.

[Northlander]

Thats totally up to you and what your needs are. Go to a store with them all and check them out and buy what you can afford that has what you will use. Every brand Marcum, Vex and Humminbird make great models these days.

[CrappieNut]

They all pretty much do the same thing, show you where the bottom is, your lure, and hopefully if they are there, the fish.

i've used three different brands and all three did the same thing.

you wont regret the one you purchase.

[bigbad401]

Look up all three on the web, write down all their specs, and do a process of elimination based on the features you like the best. That is what I did.

[scopey42]

I can't decide witch to get, vexlar has been around for a while. Hummingbird is pretty new to icefishing, it has more features for the money, but is it as reliable as the vexlar?

[CrappieNut]

take a look at the other post. the flasher poll

i found it helped

[river rat316]

I have a showdown and love it, great target seperation, battery life and chepaer than the rest of the flashers

[life=outdoors92]

i personally think marcum is the best. the LX 3tc, and the LX 5 are just superb for anything. Vexilar and hummingbird pick up a lot of interference compared the to the Marcums excellent "Interference Rejection" system, and its zoom feature is amazing to pin point fish. the color flashes on them is also outstanding

[bigbad401]

Vexilar and hummingbird pick up a lot of interference compared the to the Marcums excellent "Interference Rejection" system

The Bird has no interference at all. It runs on a completely different frequency band than Marcum and Vexilar. So that info is wrong.

[bogwalker]

Originally Posted By: life=outdoors92

Vexilar and hummingbird pick up a lot of interference compared the to the Marcums excellent "Interference Rejection" system

The Bird has no interference at all. It runs on a completely different frequency band than Marcum and Vexilar. So that info is wrong.

I agree. There is a lot of misinformation being put out by at least one very well known Vexilar rep. about Humminbird ice flashers. Very unprofessional in my opinion.

[silverbulletguy]

I bought a bird-35 last year and like it. Vex makes good flashers also. I have no exp with a marcum. I prefer the bigger screen on the bird. Easier on the eyes if you're gonna run it for a look at it for any length of time.

[scopey42]

so what your saying is that hummingbird will not pick up any interferance. because it runs on different frequency

[scopey42]

why did you go with the bird

[Woody61]

so what your saying is that hummingbird will not pick up any interferance. because it runs on different frequency

Thats suppossed to be true although one day had the vex and bird gong and bird had a little interference. One click and it was gone.Never had a issue again. IMO the 35 bird has the most options for the $$ it's about 30-40 more than the showdown but the dual beam ducer makes it worth it. I had a showdown also and while a good unit the bird seems to be more useful.

[bigbad401]

I am not saying that it will not pick up any interference, because everything will pickup interference, but it is less likely to do so because of the different frequency band. It is like running remote controlled cars, if you have the same frequency band you wouldn't be able to control the cars very well, so you need different frequency bands to operate the cars correctly.

I did a lot of research for the 3 brands (Bird, Vex, and Marcum)in the $300 range. What I found is that the Bird has a couple more features that I wanted than the Marcum (dual beam transducer and movable zoom). The Vex didn't even show up in the comparison. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt; do the research yourself.

[Rodbldr4fun]

I use a Lowrance LCD for both open water and ice fishing. Just needed to add the portable carrier and transducer. I find the separation is good and I can see the smallest split shot on my line. I also prefer the chart mode over the lines. If something comes through you have a chance to see it even if you happen to be looking away.

[JSK76]

I have had a Clearwater classic, Marcum Lx-3, Lx-5 Hummingbird Ice 55, (for a day) and just picked up a Showdown 5.6 today, and I can say they all work great, some better then others in some situation.

I got a chance to try out the Showdown tonight and wow, what a great unit, I had the LX-5 in one hole and 3 feet over I had the Showdown, and I had to set the noise rejection to 1 on the showdown and it was perfect, the LX-5 took a few tries and then it also was perfect. I got the Showdown for my girlfriend and I didn't really expect much out of it. I hardly even looked at my LX-5, my eyes where on the Showdown. I got it on sale for $250.00 and I truly think this is the most underrated flasher out there. The only 2 things I would like to see on it would be a on screen battery level readout, and 4 plastic feet on the bottom of the case, because it was kinda stuck to the ice when I went to leave.

Other then then that, the Showdown was awesome!

[DoubleLunger]

FL-20

[rcatcherman]

I second the motion.. Vexilar Fl-20

[scopey42]

why

[newoodhntr]

I've had the Marcum lx3 for a few years and I picked up the Bird Ice 55 and can't wait to try it out. Maybe next weekend.

[Esox_Magnum]

Former Vex owner current owner of 2 LX-5's worth more than the $450 they sell for. Havent tried a bird yet maybe talk a guy I know into an evening after walleyes to see it in action.

[GAGIETEK]

hey im borrowing a older zercom clearwater classic,have not used it yet but when iturn it on in the house i get like one cluster of lines rite near the 0. what might that mean?

[KyleM.]

New to the area, have to chime in here.

if money's not an issue get the Marcum LX5 It gives you the most bang for the buck.

if you are like a lot of folks go with the vexilar preferably fl-18 or fl-20.

I say this for 3 reasons

1. If you are after Perch or other tight holding fish you want something with great target separation and power to pick them up. You can read all the info online about a product you want, countless times on lake Erie in MI we would be on a school of perch and in our group people had different models from hummingbird to marcum and everything in between. in the same hole, Marcum and the vexilars would pick the fish up and the humingbird would not until they came a few inches off bottom.

and in response to a previous post the fl-18s and 20s have great interference rejection you just push the gain in, and I've had 5 within 15 feet of each other going no problem.

2. If you fish in a shelter which most do, any of them will be great, sometimes I don't for mobility and more than 2 people I know have had problems with LCD screens freezing up in very cold weather (like 12 degrees f) and not working right. (mind you this was 3-5 years ago and tech. may be better now with the hummingbird)

3.Reliability and company name. Hummingbird has been around for a long time, just not on the ice scene. I've had my fl-18 for 7 or 8 years now and it still fishes like, new even on the same battery.

just some food for thought, in the end you go after the one you feel is right for you, as your the only opinion who counts at the end of the day