Which Vexilar ???

[S. Thompson]

I picked up a new Vex FL-X28 for myself this year and had the thing rocking today. My 13 year old son fished my Lowrance Ice Machine and did well, but I'm thinking about selling the Lowrance Ice Machine and getting him a Vex of his own.

For obvious reason, he won't be getting a FL-X28, but not sure which one to get him. I could go with the basic FL-8 ($279), but for $70 more I could go with the FL-12 or for $100 an FL-18.

Anyone have any thoughts???

[Brad B]

If you can swing the extra $100 I would go with the FL 18 since it offers you the auto zoom and bottom lock features and the FL 8SE & FL 12 does not offer these features. If your not going to use the auto zoom then I would go with the FL 12. I run a FL 12 as a spare back up unit and for that it is great.

[Mr.Seaguar]

I have used an 18 for many years. I just bought another 18 as a kid/loaner unit.

[Jarrid Houston]

There

Are

Numerous things that can be thought about when deciding to buy a new Vex. As you are probably aware the new 28s are a diverse unit that can be utilized in a plethra of different bodies of water. Oppose to a 8 which can get the job done most anywhere but is better suited for a typical "inland lake" situ. This raises the first item to think about, what type of fishing is most often done? If it's shallow inland lake pannies, can't go wrong with an 8. If it's deeper LOW walleyes or deep basin lakers or crappies, may want a more beefed up unit like a 18 or better? I love the zoom split screen feature because I am more of a walleye guy where I find the majority of my fish jigging bottom huggers. When it comes to price, I like to throw out the fact that it is a great investment. For a little more money to get a better unit it can pay for itself right away. We're talking about a product that can last a long Long time! 1 thing for sure your goin the right direction with Vexilar (great product)! Good luck

[ClownColor]

I have the 12 and wouldn't suggest it (don't get me wrong, I love it and it's been reliable but the 8 does the same for less). I'd go 8 or 18. The 8 has been the work horse for vex and you could never go wrong.

I'm not branded so I'd shop for a good deal... but vex has been very good to me so I'll probably show some loyalty when i need a new one if prices are too far off. I never had problems with it but when I put different ducers on it they went through my vex and cleaned 'er up and gave me a bunch of freebies...also just good chatting with them while they intalled the ducers quickly.

[S. Thompson]

All great comments guys. Most South Dakota lakes we fish are shallow prairie/glacial lakes. For the last two days, we've been fishing crappies in 5' FOW in an area that has a max depth of 23' FOW. We have a few crappie lakes that we'll fish in the 20'-28' range. Same thing with perch, typically we fish in less than 6' FOW, but in some cases depths up to 20'.

We'll fish deeper depths up to 30' & 40'+ if we go out to the river. We also hope to make a few trips this year out to the Black Hills for the lake/rainbow trout fishing, and could be fishing depths up to 50', 60, 80' plus.

Depths beyond 24' will only see us fishing a hand full of times a year which the FL-X28 will be able to handle. Otherwise, I would guess that 90% our fishing will be in depths of less than 20'.

The Low Power setting will be almost a must have for the shallow depths since we fish a lot under 10' FOW. I'm also not sure if you can get the 12 or 18 with the Pro-View ducer.

[Lunker Luke]

Nice fish boy's

[Corey Bechtold]

Um, invite me to fish that lake and I'll tell you which Vexilar to buy... lol

I'd see if you can find an FL-20 on a blue box and safe some money that way. The 20 has Low Power and Night Views which are very good features. It also has the flat screen and easy zoom windows to use.

Either way you can't go wrong with any of the units.

Good fishing,

Corey Bechtold

[PurpleFloyd1529315463]

I would stick with the Lowrance.

[Brad B]

Reed's does sell the FL 18 with the pro ducer option. it is offered in the Ultra Pack for $539.99 and in the Pro Pack for $459.99 . as for a FL 12 the only way to get a pro ducer for that would be to buy it seperately and replace the 12 degree transducer with it. you could then sell the 12 degree to off set the cost of the pro view or just keep the 12 degree as a spare should the pro view go bad.