With lots of sales going on right now, which is the better flasher, LX 5 or FL-22HD?

[leech~~]

When the one line moves up towards the other line, I feel a bite and set the hook.

Come on DTro, your no fun keep it going! And your just saying that because you have one of those Ice 55's fancy units!

[hamms-scooter]

I saw my buddys 22 in use again last thursday and it is sweet.

[CaptainMusky]

Target separation better on a vex vs a Marcum? Sorry but I have to laugh at that.

The zoom on the Marcum is far superior. So what you have to push a button to get it where you want it. Fact is you can adjust it anywhere in the depth range unlike any of the others.

That's fine you guys justify paying same or more for a vexilar with less features or functionality. Those who have honestly tried birds or marcums know where the real value for your dollar is.

[DTro]

Last time I checked I can adjust my zoom anywhere I want to on the Bird.

With all the different flashers I've owned, not once have I said, "geez I wish I had better target separation" In fact, once the fish is in the strike zone, I hardly even look at my flasher, I concentrate on the line and the rod tip.

What's most important to me is dual beams, and a clear display that is free of interference clutter.

[adamr]

I have a fl18 and a lx5 i always grab the fl18 just seams like it has better color and easier to read.

[IcerRon2010]

Cross talk between units is my biggest problem while owning the 22. Working around Humminbirds are fine, I also have a LX-5 and those two hate each other. Tried all sorts of variations to no avail. Even fishing close to a FL-20 drives it nuts but I can calm it down enough to get fishing in. One button on my Marcum clears it out fine. Bought another Marcum yesterday, can you guess wich one is for sale?

[brian6715]

Well I don't have time to argue, because I am going to throw my Marcum (best flasher on the market) into my Chevy (longest lasting most dependable truck on the road) and drive to the lake to rip through some ice with my Strikemaster (fastest auger on the market).

There, the pot is stirred.... now quit trying to calm us down DTRO!

[Bigslugger]

Target separation better on a vex vs a Marcum? Sorry but I have to laugh at that.

The zoom on the Marcum is far superior. So what you have to push a button to get it where you want it. Fact is you can adjust it anywhere in the depth range unlike any of the others.

That's fine you guys justify paying same or more for a vexilar with less features or functionality. Those who have honestly tried birds or marcums know where the real value for your dollar is.

When the 22 is tuned to perfection you would be amazed with the target separation. When not used correctly then yes you will not get the full performance that it is capable of. Until you have used both units side by side in the same conditions you will not know the difference and make an uneducated comment about a great flasher.

For the zoom I like being able to hole hop and not have to push the zoom to be back down on the bottom every single hole is where I was getting at.

For less feature I will disagree. FLAT SCREEN, night brightness adjustment, low power mode to cut the weeds, bottom lock for the boat, great sensitivity and target seperation, 3 beam transducer, great pack design (Ultra), long lasting battery life with a very high quality charger just to name a few.

Just a quick touch on interference rejection. It is a thing of the past with my unit. Never have had any, nor anyone near me have a problem with my 22 putting it off.

[Twins 57 Fan]

Well I don't have time to argue, because I am going to throw my Marcum (best flasher on the market) into my Chevy (longest lasting most dependable truck on the road) and drive to the lake to rip through some ice with my Strikemaster (fastest auger on the market).

Well I guess we can agree on the auger part, Strikemasters are money! My FL22 and I took a ride in my F150 today to put the smack on a limit of crappies out of my Clam fishouse, which is the best by far, sitting next to my buddy heater. Wow is that heater warm.

[Bigslugger]

Well I guess we can agree on the auger part, Strikemasters are money!

Well said!

[fisherman-andy]

When the one line moves up towards the other line, I feel a bite and set the hook.

That's great advice!

When in 5fow water I see a really big big red line on the Marcum. I quickly reel up the tiny gumball jig up and set aside the 2lb lightweight tackle rod and quickly drop in the jigging spoon tipped with a fathead. "BAM!" Whopper on the line. This is happening all the while the guy next to me using a Vexiliar is still jiging is 1/16 ounce ice jig tipped with a tiny finesse plastic and the red line that he sees is the same size as his jig and wondering why it swam away...

Oh wait, Dtro got a Ice55 so he woulda been on board and seen that. Sorry Vex fans...

[fishwater]

There is no reason to turn the gain up until it shows the "blob" you were referring to in an earlier post. A properly tuned Fl-22 will not show the "blob" and therefore will, in fact, have better resolution. I set mine up so that I have a small green line on the screen so that I'm not losing the segments.

Well there! So let me guess, you guys are running your vex in LP mode in 20+' of water fishing a bare hook so you can bump the gain up a bit to get that flicker of green..? Another good method might be just to drill on the edge of the cone. An underpowered transducer field of view goes from a cardioid type field to something resembling a tube, that's the LP strategy.

Ribbon tweeters all the way guys..

[Hardyboy]

Small fine lines or fat thick lines do not have anything to do with resolution!

It has to do with how big or small of light they use to make their band lines in their units! Jeeez the Marcum folks keep beating the horse on that!

You young Jedi LOL need to compare the technology side by side, Vex is behind the times. I am in no way saying they dont build a quality product however the technology they use will soon be a dinosaur. There are no lights in a Showdown nor the new LX7 so the lights are no longer an argument. And yes it does have something to do with target seperation when the "light" is wider then the target it's trying to see. Did i mention i love these Ford Chevy arguments . someone should come up with a flasher showdown idea to compare the units. hee hee

[fisherman-andy]

Well there! So let me guess, you guys are running your vex in LP mode in 20+' of water fishing a bare hook so you can bump the gain up a bit to get that flicker of green..? Another good method might be just to drill on the edge of the cone. An underpowered transducer field of view goes from a cardioid type field to something resembling a tube, that's the LP strategy.

Ribbon tweeters all the way guys..

Lol... leave it to good ol'fishwater to put the hurt on.

[CaptainMusky]

Dtro as long as you was to set it in increments of ten feet. You cannot dial a hummnbird in like a Marcum in the zoom. Anywhere in the water column like a Marcum. I tried. My buddies tried the sales guys tried unless we are all inept its not possible like the Marcum units.

[CaptainMusky]

Fl22 when tuned to perfection still doesn't compare to a hummingbird or marcums not to perfection. Sorry. Bottom lock is ridiculous. Ever fish suspended fish? Bottom lock does a lot of good then. Yes, walleyes come in suspended almost always on low suspended fish are walleyes. So while you are honed in on the 10 inch sauger hugging the bottom I am catching 18 inch walleye suspended 15 feet up. Good luck

[DTro]

Ok, the zoom travels in 10 ft segments yes. But if there are fish suspended I have never had an issue of not capturing them in the zoom somewhere in the 10ft segment. In other words, no matter where the fish are in the water column I can get em in that zoom.

As an added bonus, when I hop over to the next hole I don't have to reset the whole thing again.

Pros/Cons with each flasher no doubt. I don't miss chiseling my LX5 transducer out of the holder on cold mornings, I know that much.

[Esox_Magnum]

Bottom lock is an open water feature, I to prefer the LX-5 over the 22 for the finer crisper lines and seperation, LP mode I never understood why it's needed on a 400 watt unit when other pushing up to 4800 don't need it, as far as ducer sticking only had that issue once and a well placed hole drilled in the cup solved that..... Now if you want to up the ante try out the LX-7, that thing rocks........

[Brad B]

Bottom lock is an open water feature, I to prefer the LX-5 over the 22 for the finer crisper lines and seperation, LP mode I never understood why it's needed on a 400 watt unit when other pushing up to 4800 don't need it, as far as ducer sticking only had that issue once and a well placed hole drilled in the cup solved that..... Now if you want to up the ante try out the LX-7, that thing rocks........

totally agree the LX7 is the top of the line of all the flashers. the price difference between the LX7 and LX5 is minimal when you look at all the added features the LX7 gives over the LX5.

[Eric_Kruger]

SFL is nice, but if you think Vexilar's still show blobs, then you have not fished with a FL22 correctly.

'done peeing'

Gain all the way down, #12 diamond jig, 22 foot of water......Mines still a BLOB

[CaptainMusky]

As an added bonus, when I hop over to the next hole I don't have to reset the whole thing again.

Pros/Cons with each flasher no doubt. I don't miss chiseling my LX5 transducer out of the holder on cold mornings, I know that much.

Not sure what you mean by reseting again, but I dont have to reset my zoom when I jump from hole to hole.

I have never had the freezing problem you talk of, but I place my transducer in a Crown Royal bag inside my soft pack when I pack it up.

[leech~~]

You young Jedi LOL And yes it does have something to do with target seperation when the "light" is wider then the target it's trying to see.

Sorry OB1 but it doesn't have anything to do with the width of the band. It has to do with the leading and trailing edges from one band to another is where you will see seperation. The band can be as thin as a hair or as thick as a 2X4 you can't see through the band! Only from one edge of the band to another or the open space between them is where you see target seperation.

[fishwater]

The band can be as thin as a hair or as thick as a 2X4 you can't see through the band! Only from one edge of the band to another or the open space between them is where you see target seperation.

Yes, that is where you see the separation, but it doesn't characterize the separation.

To characterize the separation to provide a quantified assessment you NEED to know how big objects are and how big the objects resultant displayed image is. The displayed image size is directly proportional to the number of segments displayed, this in turn is proportional to a definable distance (x) of the water column. If a sonar displays a 4" buckshot spoon using 6 light segments in the 20' setting, the length of the water column that is proportional to the 6 segments binds the separation or discrete display of objects.

[leech~~]

That still has nothing to do with the size of band any flasher brand is showing on their unit when people talk about how thin and crisp their bands are.

[fishwater]

So you're saying that if a marcum has 1 display segment and a vex has 1 display segment in the same range setting the resolution is better on the Vex? That is a correct statement.

This still says nothing about target separation, for that you'd need two objects with their respective image segments with that space you mentioned previously. Then we need to start over...