Which FLASHER would you choose?!?!

[Snake River King]

where are marcum made at?

[Esox_Magnum]

I call Bull**** Vexilars, Marcums and Hummingbirds ALL do what they say the ease of use and features are what makes them "the one and only" for each individual user. I also call Bull**** on the story above because ***if you can sight fish in 20' of water why in the world would you use one flasher let alone two?

It was done to see the differences if any and we found there was, no more arguments in the shack now on who's is better he knows his is not.....

Here's another one for you. Wife decides she wants a flasher but wont let me buy another LX-5. I find her a like new FL-18 and off we go to the lake. Fishing thick weeds in about 9-10' of water. After about 20 minutes ( and me catching several fish to her none) she looks over at mine then hers and askes me to fix her screen so it's crisp and clear like mine, I tell her I can't thats the best you get with the 18. A few more minutes pass and as she's looking at her's then mine askes why she can see the fish on mine but not hers and why mines so sharp and clear and her's is blobbed up. I explaine that with the 2 coloros blending to 3 you wont get a crisp clear line and that mine has a super fine line feature her's does not offer. She took 1 more look at each and told me sell the 18 I want what you have.... Next weekend she had my old LX and I had a new one....

[MN Mike]

Will the Showdown be allowed in your competition? If not, I understand your fears

Mike

[Snake River King]

hahahah almost spilled my beer!!!

[mww24]

i believe marcum is a minnesota company to. not positive though

[Esox_Magnum]

Yes Marcum is made and based in MN, Vex is also MN based but imports their units from Japan....

[Snake River King]

I would like to tour both plants. I could easily tell yea who is better just by what kind of procedures are in place, quality objectives, if there ISO complient or not. I would love to tour there place

[JeffB]

I had the vex fl-8 for ever and it died 2 years ago, but it was a good machine. I compared the models and chose the bird 45 and loved it till it died last winter after 1.5 years of use. I think I'll send it in and hope for the best. If I had to choose today I think I would give marcum a try. I'm no expert just whats on my mind now.

[leech~~]

Will the Showdown be allowed in your competition? If not, I understand your fears

Mike

Mike, I thought later about adding for someone to bring one of the up & down units as well! Your in!

[Random guy]

Truly the Showdown was the most accurate of them all, had the best battery life and screen clarity/ease of use. At least until the LX-7 came to be. Trouble with flashers and separation was actually how fine you can write with a LED display. Showdown is a finer LCD display that allows the processed information to actually be displayed as it is seen by the system. A true 1/2" target separation. Now the LX-7 took this technology and merged it with flasher technology and now you have a color Showdown display. If that’s the screen or display you prefer, if not press a button and your back to the spinning circle. Long and short of it the Showdown is one of the most accurate units made.

[PurpleFloyd]

I have been looking at the LX7 pretty hard but then I recently discovered this new unit from Lowrance

It has both flasher and my preferred graph mode, gives great battery life plus the option of holding a second battery, and can also be pulled and used as a graph in the boat. Plus it has internal GPS, Micro SD card slot for Navionics, and it is less expensive than the LX7. The only thing I am waiting to see is if they put out the same package with the smaller and less expensive Elite4 that would knock a few hundred off of the price and be a good upgrade to the x67c.

[Esox_Magnum]

The LX-7 can also be used on the boat...

[PurpleFloyd]

....With internal GPS and Navionics?

[Esox_Magnum]

Nope that it doesn't have, just saying you can use it for a 2nd unit if you want... I run HDS the Elites are nowhere close to being the unit the HDS are... I don't make my living off my equipment like some but I use it almost as much as they do both open water and on the ice...Will I run my 7 on the boat, no doesn't fit my fishing style, used to run my Vex and LX's on the bow when I fished different and they were a great tool then, just the same I won't convert my HDS units for ice fishing, other than used for the GPS now that my Expedition is going down....If the Elite works for you, great. I prefer the best I can get and at the moment thats the HDS series....

[jwmiller33]

[insert comment about how my flasher is better than everybody elses]

sorry, couldnt resist

[fishwater]

I have been looking at the LX7 pretty hard but then I recently discovered this new unit from Lowrance.. and it is less expensive than the LX7.

I don't know the specifics, but it might be better to compare the LX7 to an hds7 to gauge its value, the screen size is significantly bigger than the 5" units. Regarding the GPS, personally I don't like the idea of an integrated gps for ice fishing, pita to actively use both when it's your primary sonar unit. "Ok kids, time to fish blind, dad's gonna pop some more holes..."

I'd get the humminbird simply because it runs off different frequencies. If your buddies use Hbirds, get the Marcum.

[ClownColor]

The cheapest I could find...

[DTro]

NOT ONCE have I used any brand or type of sonar that I said, "nope, won't be using that again"

I don't think I've ever been outfished by a non-sonar fisherman, but quite often outfished by less expensive models.

The last couple of years the Bird 55 has been going out with me because I like the large display, digital readout, flatscreen, and the fun choice of colors. I can almost guarantee I didn't catch more fish with it compared to any other brand or type. But, I bet I enjoyed my time on the ice a bit more.

I had the fortunate opportunity to have both the LX5 and ICE 55 for my use all year last year. I think I grabbed the 55 8 or 9 times out of 10. I just had fun with it, plain and simple

I can assure you if I glanced down and had a LX7 in the mix, the 55 would most likely collect dust too. I guess that's how evolution works.

Whatever you decide to buy, good luck!!

[magicstix]

I've tried them all and I probably wouldn't get the x67c. Or at least it wouldn't be my first choice.

I'd buy the one that you can get the best buy on that has a bottom zoom. All you picked have bottom zoom. Use coupons, sales, Credit card offers to get your cheapest deal. you'll be happy with any of these.

I wouldn't buy a Marcum just because some folks say they are the best. I tried a LX5 for quite a while 2 seasons ago and it didn't do anything for me. Too much hype about it and when it came down to ice time I think I was let down because it didn't do anything different than the other flashers. Mark fish and your jig. Why would you need adj. zoom? Can't see middle of the water column?

If the Vexilars are so far behind in technology how can they even stay in business?

IMO the LX5 is over rated.

As far as where they are made. I believe most electronic parts are imported wheter if they are assembled in the USA or overseas, its still an import.

When the snowflakes settled I ended up buying a Vex again based on what I've seen as a whole in the industry. My 2nd choice would have been a bird.

[Esox_Magnum]

Marcums are made, and assembled in MN...Personaly I think all the hype was right on, even though I owned mine before the hype really started.....As for middle of the water colum, crappies susspend, many times our bigger perch are 6 feet or more off the bottom, gills to at times come in above my buddies zoom range on his Vex... The ability to zoom in on mid depths is to sort through the smaller fish and taarget the bigger ones in the school...

[hunt fish repeat]

Ahh the annual flasher debate. When it comes to flashers you have to first decide what type of fishing you do and what species you are primarily after. Everyone will tell you their's is best because who wants to admit they spent $300 plus on an inferior product? Right now I own a Hbird 35, a Lowrance 522, a fl 8, and a Marcum lx-5, but I have tried them all, that being said they all can and do interfere with each other, get 3 going in a shack regardless of brands and you will get some amount of interference. If you fish mainly panfish in under 20' of water it does'nt matter what brand or model you get, just get one. The biggest in this market is undoubtedly Vexilar, and no they are'nt made here,they do have a local presence but most people would be suprised at what little it consists of, but they do have a local storefront with local repair tech's(everything is actually shipped directly from the manufacturer to the retailer), Marcum is actually put "together" locally but both have customer service that is very good with great people running both.

If your main target is eyes or fish in deeper waters this is where things change a basic model like the fl-8 will pick up suspended targets adequately but without the functions of zooming in on the water column or targeting the bottom 6 feet you will have a much harder time pinpointing your bait from your target. In my opinion the fine line target seperation and colors of the lx-5 have not yet been beat but at $500 you may have to justify how much you really are going to use. I have the Lowrance 522 with the lakemaster chip mounted to the atv to find the spots I want to start out at, I use the Fl-8 as I am drilling holes and for tip ups, but once in the shack it's all LX-5 for target seperation, the bird is a good unit I just don't like the look of the screen.

[adamr]

I have the lx-3 and a vex 18 I prefer the vex anyday to the lx-3 seems way more clearer infact I woul sell the lx-3 if your interested

[fishwater]

Adamr, sounds like you have a bad ducer in your marcum.

[adamr]

could be what would I do send it in?

[seaner]

i am seriously thinking about picking up a bird ICE 45. got to play with one a bit last year, had fun with it, seemed very accurate. but... HOW RELIABLE ARE THESE UNITS? I have been a vex guy for some time, so its been a tough decision.

I have not heard too many if any bad reports on the birds. Thanks