Want big Walleyes? Ditch that Marcum

[DTro]

By Nate Zelinsky

Fish explorer.com

'08

Over the last few decades, ice fishing has advanced so much, the technology available today is incredible. One of the most important pieces of ice fishing equipment you can have now is a good flasher. There are two names leading the market in flashers and they are Vexilar and MarCum. These are both good units having much to offer. I have used both units and I have fished with them side by side. The units I fished next to each other were the Vexilar FL-18 pack and the MarCum LX-3 pro pack. Both of these units are multiple colored flashers. Before I get into my personal thoughts and opinions on these units, I will discuss them both briefly.

The MarCum runs on 1,500 watts of power. It has an adjustable 5ft. window of zoom. This zoom is great because it allows you to zoom in on your target. For example, if you’re walleye fishing, you can zoom in on the bottom and if you’re crappie fishing, you can zoom in on the suspended fish. This zoom can be adjusted anywhere from the surface of the water the bottom of the lake you’re focusing on. The MarCum unit also comes with a unit cover to protect from outside elements, as well as an arm to hold the transducer.

The Vexilar runs on 400 watts of power. It does have a zoom, but it is not adjustable. The Vexilar zoom is stuck to the bottom. There is a cover for the Vexilar, but it is sold separately. The transducer on the Vexilar is attached to a cylinder shaped float, this way the transducer can be in your hole and the unit can be positioned whereever it is most comfortable for you to see while fishing.

When I first used these units, I was guiding in Minnesota and working with a pro shop out there. When the MarCum LX-3 first came out, I was given a unit to test out on the ice. A close friend on mine, who owned the pro shop, came with me and brought along a Vexilar FL-18 to fish with. We were in a fish house that was 18 or 20ft. long. We were sitting on a large mud flat walleye fishing. He was fishing on one side of the fish house and I was fishing on the other side. There were fish all over the flat, so all of our chances were equal. As we started fishing, my buddy was catching some really nice walleye, 22-26 inches and I was catching walleye anywhere from 12-16 inches.   At first, I thought it was my presentation, so I switched up my gear to the exact same set up he was using and still, no big fish. We decided to try and switch holes, so we picked up our equipment and switched sides. Unbelievable! I still could not catch a mature walleye to save me. Sure enough, in the hole I was just fishing in, my buddy began to catch the big fish again. Now I was starting to get a little fired up about this, so we switched our gear again, but this time, we also traded flashers. I now had the Vexilar FL-18 and he had the MarCum LX-3, and what do you know, I caught a mature fish just like that!

In the end, we came to the conclusion that the 1,500 watts of power from the MarCum was affecting the lateral line of the mature fish. I used the MarCum for a short period of time after that and it never did seem to affect the crappie or perch like it had the walleye. But ever since my walleye incident, I had to stick with the Vexilar FL-18. Since that day, the Vexilar FL-18 is the only flasher I will use. The 400 watts of power is more than enough.

Both brands came out with new flashers, the Vexilar FL-20 and the MarCum LX-5. The FL-20 stuck to the 400 watts, the LX-5 went up to 2,000 watts. I’m not saying Marcum is a bad unit, they are very good units. The power that they present is just something to think about. More power doesn’t necessarily mean more fish. Good Luck out on the ice

[PFUNK]

This should result in a bunch of marcum guys posting pictures of big walleyes caught underneath their marcums. Look forward to it.

[ozzie]

or maybe not...

[09ultra]

I guess I have never really paid attention to that, I have often wondered about the effects of the extra power. I use a LX3 myself.

[McGurk]

They should have ditched the flashers completely after they had their setups dialed in, and saw what happened then.

[holmsvc]

All fish were caught in under 12ft of water using either a LX5 or a LX7.

These fish were caught in around 30ft with 2 LX5s in the house and a LX7.

[PFUNK]

Myth.....busted! Nice fish.

[fishwater]

All fish were caught in under 12ft of water using either a LX5 or a LX7.

These fish were caught in around 30ft with 2 LX5s in the house and a LX7.

Nice fish. Just think how big they could have been if you'd been fishing with 5 smurfs using fl8's.

[DooWap]

I wonder then how I can catch any big walleyes vertical jigging out of my boat when my Humminbird puts out 4,000 watts of power?

[Rick G]

Darren knows how to start a good argument

I only know that the tick, tick, tick the Marcum makes is louder than the Vexilar.

[waskawood]

This is going to make the Iraq war look like a cake walk!!!

[harvey lee]

The 3 largest eyes I have ever iced came during bad weather and snow.

I have iced large eyes with my MarCum, vex and Bird, no difference for me.

Maybe a great marketing tool though.

Guess I should ditch my LX5 and use my Vex or my Bird to catch many more of the sumo eyes. NOT.

[kfk]

DTro just gets his jollies from stirring the pot.

[Esox_Magnum]

Amazing we catch shallow walleyes in the spring with 2 HDS units blasting the water in 6', something like 16,000 watts?

[hnd]

an ice team guy is a vexilar fanboi. imagine that. one of the most asinine articles that has been thrown about the web over the last handful of years.

love my old vexilar and my marcum products but this article is just dripping with silliness.

[DTro]

Hey I didnt write the article.

Must be a trough of low pressure over the region though.

I would love to see the mature fish that holmsvc didn't catch because of his marcum!

[Alagnak]

I go even farther than that- the big walleyes I catch while not using my LX5 told me they don't like the camera flash either- so no pics ;-)

[hnd]

Hey I didnt write the article.

Must be a trough of low pressure over the region though.

I would love to see the mature fish that holmsvc didn't catch because of his marcum!

we had a guy with a vx1 once going on and on about why he wouldn't use a lx5 and it was alllll about the power. i'm like, "bill....you've got a boat that i assume blasts the water with thousands and thousands of watts of sonar....and you talk about all the big ole walleyes you catch year after year....what are you talking about".

...he mumbled something about cold water blah blah blah. i asked if he turned the off when he'd be up at the dam vert jigging this february then.

[Chad Holst]

I'll give my opinion, then i'll give another persons opinion, then lets use our heads a bit...

I have fished a bit, im not as good as some and hold my own with most. I have never had this be an issue. It doesnt mean it couldnt be, but at the same time, after all the hours/days/months/years fishing i think i would have picked up on a change from unit to unit.

James Holst (you may have heard of him) did an extensive comparison on this issue and puts his reputation on the fact the there is NO validity to this "myth".

Finally, common sense: The power it takes to generate a clear image from a transducer is XX. If XX is enough to give a clear return then XX is enough that the fish would be effected by it, if they were going to be regardless of 200watts or 2000 watts. An example would be a human grabbing a 110V power cable. He will feel it. If the voltage is 220V he will also feel it, and even though it is 2x stronger...the reaction is the same. If a 2,000 watt unit spooks the fish, i am guessing the same would happen with a 400 watt unit.

I also would guess that the PK lures folks, who just caught the world record walleye, using a 2,000watt unit may see it the same way.

Back to common sense: There are about a million possible reasons why the above story happened. Were they fishing with the same lures? Yah...ok..how about the same weighted rod? that will effect the presentation alot...how about the same line weight? line brand? jigging speed? jigging height? same length of pauses between jigs? baiting the hook in the same way? did the fisherman have scent on his hands from pumping gas, rubbing his gelled hair? afershave? cigarettes? did he know how to set a hook? feel a bite? feel a light bite? did he use the same method to line his reel, as not to get too much twist in the line? And on and on... The least likely is that the flasher is spooking the fish. But im 100% sure of one thing...some fishermen will come up with just about any excuse why someone caught more fish than they did, and that excuse is rarely because they "simply got out fished" by someone doing it a different way. I also know that some companies used this idea as a anti-marking campaign against other comapnies. Funny that they happened to make a 400 watt unit while the other "new kid on the block" was making a 2000 watt unit.

Finally, if one company, lets say....Vexilar... makes a 400 watt unit and they feel making a 2000 watt unit is actually going to hinder fishing, then why are they even usuing a 400 watt unit? A 100 watt unit has a max depth of 400 ft and a 300 watt unit has a max depth of 600 feet. i'm guessing that 100 or 200 or 300 watt unit would work just fine for flashing fish in 20 feet of water...or even lakes in 60 feet of water...if extra power was scaring away fish.

Take a flasher and put it in 5 gallon bucket with minnows in the bucket. turn the unit on and off, do this with ANY flasher. do you see ANY reaction? now tap 2 small items together near the bucket or rattle your keys near the water...see them minnows scramble? they are not hearing ANYTHING from that flasher. (a great example is when you watch fish on a camera...no reaction to the flasher, but if you hit a piece of slush on the ice house floor, they are GONE.)

[solbes]

Amazing we catch shallow walleyes in the spring with 2 HDS units blasting the water in 6', something like 16,000 watts?

I have my HDS 7 on the ice and no 10 lb walleyes. Now I know why

To add a little info there though, they actually only put out 250w peak to peak but have a very sensitive receiver with the broadband sonar. The analog equivalent is 30,000w. Now I really have no excuse on my lack of sumo's

[20lbSloughShark]

I have no idea why power ever became a selling point for marcum. I should mention I have no preference, they all do the same thing. If I can see my 1/32 oz jig in 30' of water what else do I need. My 20 year old, lowest level vexilar can see my smallest jigs easily. As far as sound, dropping things, talking, even the radio puts out way more sound. To be honest, the only real room for improvement for any brand might be a wider angle to see fish. All of the ones for sale today are crystal clear, and way more than anybody really needs.

[minky]

I guess I will just keep my marcum!

Glad someone posted the pics of the nice walleyes caught using the marcum, I was ready to put my marcum on the c list as a give away. Lol

[Chad Holst]

20lb sloughshark, you are correct.

But the truth is they dont all work the same for everyone. What one guy likes is not what the next guy likes. I use a hummingbiord at the moment, but often wish i had the old...OLD vex i used for many many years. I knew it, it had my trust, it always turned on, it always did the job i expected it to do. The bird works fine, its bright, its fast, its flashy, and it probably marks more detail than my old trusty unit did. But that doesnt mean i dont miss the vex.

In the same sense, Aaron Stevens LOVES his showdown. Alot of guys dont like them, he knows how to use it and he catches fish with it, when others may have moved on. its as much about style and personal prefference as it is about the actual functionality of the unit.

I like the LED and digital displays. but i dont like the 5-6-7-8 color display on the newest units.

This is why you can buy a flx-8 or an fl28...An I35...45...55. A Marcum lx3 or an LX1,000,000..

[Stcloudangler]

I guess I will just keep my marcum!

Glad someone posted the pics of the nice walleyes caught using the marcum, I was ready to put my marcum on the c list as a give away. Lol

Jeez, i dunno, I don't see any pictures to prove there was a Marcum anywhere near him...

[CSP88]

I'll give my opinion, then i'll give another persons opinion, then lets use our heads a bit...

James Holst (you may have heard of him) did an extensive comparison on this issue and puts his reputation on the fact the there is NO validity to this "myth".

What makes Mr. Holst's comparison any more valid than the op's findings? I have no idea if this really happens or not, but the above statement has no more teeth than the op's. Isn't James sponsored by Marcum?