marcum LX 5 for lakers

[iceman16]

i have heard that the LX 5 is to powerful and that the trout can acually feel the power of the flasher. is this true? usually when i go to canada i can use a friends vexlar but this year i am not able to get it from him. ust wondering if i should try and find a used one.

iceman

[andrew chadwick]

that's the biggest line of [PoorWordUsage] Ive ever heard.

[superbee]

I don't believe that. I usually catch as many or more than the guys using the Vex's

[waterbound]

I was at a seminar at Thorne Brothers last winter and I think I remember the speaker talking about using lower powered flashers for lake trout because the high power ones would decrease their catch rates. He was fishing for lakers in the same spots he fished muskies in the summer though, on areas like points with hard rock bottoms as shallow as 15 feet I think (maybe shallower, maybe not) and deeper. He didn't typically fish deep water like the 60-80 feet or more most guys would think of when it comes to lake trout though. I imagine that in 15 feet a high power sonar would bounce off a rock bottom pretty good and it could definitely spook the fish. If you're fishing deep I don't think you would have a problem with an LX-5.

[Steve Foss]

If you're fishing lakers in shallow water you don't need a flasher in the first place because the most you usually see is a lightning quick flash and then the fish is on. No room in shallow water for the laker to come in from underneath, so they almost always dash straight in from the side and you either don't see them at all on the electronics or barely see a fast flash.

As for the LX-5 being too powerful, even in shallow water, I don't buy that for a second. For all we know, that sonic disturbance is actually triggering trout rather than putting them off. Or it could be completely neutral. It sounds to me like folks are just making guesses. I've never heard any kind of evidence that shows it's detrimental to laker catches, shallow or deep. As an aside, I had a laker charge and strike my transducer Friday on laker opener. Red band appeared 15 feet down and came up like lightning and my 'ducer cable bounced hard. I reeled up fast (I was over 53 FOW) and jigged 10 feet down and he hit. Nice 5 lber.

The LX-5 is easily one of the best units on the ice. I have a handful of friends and laker clients who use them (so I've been able to fish with the unit from time to time). I'd recommend it for anyone who wants a top-line unit.

And no, I'm not an LX-5 owner. I fish with a Vex FL-20. I DO like the fact the the FL-20 has a weaker-output shallow setting for 20 feet or less. Not because I fear it'll alert the fish at full strength, but because when I'm fishing shallow pattern lakers for long periods, it's nice to extend battery life if I actually have the unit on. Maybe Marcum will produce an LX-6 with that same low-power feature. I think it'd be a popular feature anyway, especially since the high-powered unit drains batteries faster than a Vex.

[BuschPilot]

I am going to stick to the theory that thats the case about the marcums. I do think the trout can tell! I was in canada last year on a outing with about 16 guys, only 2 of us had marcums. I have fished lakers before and the 2 with the marcums were the only ones that didnt catch a laker. We were all using the same basic tube jigs and what have you but the marcum users couldn't connect. I have a lx3 and the other was a vx-1. Not sure why but the last day the guy that had the vx borrowed a vex and he got trout that day. I think the trout are very sensitive and can tell the difference. Thats why the guides use the vexs as well. just my 2 cents...

[Gas Man]

I’m not buying it. This last weekend in Canada, fishing with other guys with similar gear, I hooked ten times the number of trout as one of the other guys in the group. I also put that many more miles on the sled as he did. Too many other variables to consider than sonar. When he connected, he was parked in the same spot for six hours. In some of those large lakes, waiting for a trout to come to you is as productive as waiting for a 1972 lime green Volkswagen bug to swim by. There is just too much water. I also sat next to another guy at dusk and put fish on the ice as he watched. Same everything gear wise. I was also the one handling the ice drill and fuel bare handed all day. Go figure. Myself and another guy caught many fish all four days. Another two had fish three of four days and the fifth guy had fish on just the one day. In that case, I think that his persistence paid off.

[superbee]

I would be willing to bet my LX5 against a group of guys using Vex's that I will ice more trout most days over them individually, and not because I am using a Marcum. Technique is the key. I use my LX5 on every outing and I rarely am outfished on lakers. I am on the ice lots and have never experienced this.

Here is another scenario, the higher sonar pulses may attract more fish, just like the baits with rattles. I have had good success with Rattl Traps for lakers.

[DTro]

My money is on the guy with the big Laker in his Avatar

[iceman16]

waterbound thats were i heard it from. i didnt know what to think. now that i have iced a couple trout i am gonna bring the LX-5 up. hey busch any word on the trip yet?

iceman

[waterbound]

If you have access to a lower powered unit try using them both throughout the day and see which one you have more success with. It sounds like the LX-5 shouldn't be too powerful but it also sounds like most of these guys have never used both the higher power and the lower power flasher themselves on the same day but rather had a buddy using a different one. There are definitely other variables to include such as technique in addition to the flasher.

[Nate McVey]

I'm with dtro......seems like some [PoorWordUsage] being fed.......

[Jim Almquist]

I have to agree with the [PoorWordUsage] part. When someone wants to fed you that line about too much power its because they don't own a Marcum LX5 and want to throw some doubt into why you had or will have problems catching fish. I think it is more important to be on a good spot with a lure that you have confidence in and work the area thoroughly. There will be those days when the person next to you will out fish you but that just what happens sometime.

[BuschPilot]

Still waiting to see if vacation gets approved, I had a change in roles here at the Big P so I am in different position now after 15 years. I am packed and ready to go already. Who are you bringing up this year?

[harvey lee]

I was laker fishing this past few days on the Gunflint. Some used a Bird and some a LX-5. I did not notice any difference between the two and I used both. Some were using a Bird and others a MarCum.

No proof here of a MarCum with to much power to catch a laker.

Other years I have used my LX-5 with NO issues in regards to icing Lakers.

[iffwalleyes]

Here's an idea if you think that is what is causing you not to catch fish then don't use it. Better yet how about no one uses a flasher at all and then seen who catchs the most fish a real test to who is the best fisherman in your group.

You know back before I started using a flasher and even now when all my buddies and I are using our flashers it seems to me there was always someone that didn't catch fish when all the others did not always the same guy either. I really don't think it can be blamed on the type of flasher being used.

I remember fishing with Marine_Man and my dad one weekend in a resort fish house. Exact same tackle even down to the same colors. My dad and I just hammered fish I while using a flasher and my dad while not I would say it was fair to say we caught similar numbers and probably near that 100 fish mark. I am pretty sure Marine_Man could count the number of fish he caught on one hand oh wait it might have taken both hands. We even switch holes the second day just to see if dad and I had the storied "magic holes" I proceed to move to his holes and pound fish there too. I think it is more a luck thing than anything else.

[NoWiser]

I don't believe that. I usually catch as many or more than the guys using the Vex's

I don't know, seems to me out of our group of 7 guys one afternoon the other weekend with 6 using a Vex and 1 using a Marcum, the only guy skunked was the one with the Marcum

All kidding aside, while I don't think it is impossible that the high power of a Marcum could have an adverse affect on lake trout, I do find it very, very highly unlikely. I have never noticed much a difference in catch rates between the Marcum and Vex guys. Everybody has their good and bad days. What I have noticed is the same guys (Superbee and his Marcum included) consistently put fish on the ice more often than others, regardless of flasher brand. They are the ones that can judge the fishes mood on a given day by watching them on their flasher, fish hard, know where the proven spots are, and can recognize new productive spots well. A little dumb luck on any given day never hurts either......

I would recommend taking the Vex (because I'm a Vex guy), while the Marcum owners would say take LX5. Either way, I don't think it will affect the number of trout you catch whatsoever.

[superbee]

NoWiser - that is why I said usually. That was my one day so far not icing any fish. I still think you did something to my jig!(lol) I am looking forward to round 2 when you come up to redeem myself. I definately won't be following you to your spots, I will fish my spots this time.