marcum-vexilar/lowrance ice machine/aqua view-OVS

[Guest]

I want to buy one of the electronics, but don't know which I should buy. Which is better, vexilar/lowrance or the aquaview. Also if I go with the radar, which is better, vexilar or lowrance ice machine? Just want some feedback before I spend the money.

[Deitz Dittrich]

This is my opinion on the whole debate... If you "ALREADY HAVE" a marcum/vexlar then you go for the camera, because you really can learn a ton of stuff from those cameras, and they are a blast to use. However, if you are out there to catch fish in all different watter qualities then you really owe it to yourself to get a flasher. Aqua-Vus are great but are really dependant on water quality and light. The Flahsers will tell you all you really need to know in all water conditions...

All the companies mentioned make a very good unit.. I would look at Marcum, Vexlar and Lowrance... In that order. Good luck and see you on the water!

[Dennis Steele]

The first electronics I would buy for ice fishing is a good flasher. In my opinion its almost a must if you want to be consistanly successfull.

The Ice machine from Lowrance is a good if your going to pull double duty for open water.With both a LCR and flasher feature. It seems to be very complicated to run. I wouldn't suggest it to someone new at running electronics. Just too many menus to be goofing with out on the ice to get it working properly for me.

Vexilar makes a fine product. They have been for years. I used to run a FL18 and have the Edge II LCR on my boat. The company does a good job keeping their customers happy.

The Marcum LX3 is the unit I use now. It has the best interference reduction to tune out other sonars in your area. It also has better target seperation, more power and a clearer or crisper display. I like the adjustable zoom feature when fishing suspended fish. You can also pick between a 5 foot or 10 foot zoom. Valuable when targeting a certain zoom range. Its also very easy to use.

After you get a flasher then I would think about a camera.

Lots of good ones to use there too. Pick out what feature you like and go on that.

I use the Aqua Vu Quad 360. It has 4 cameras and splits the screen into 4 so that you can see in all directions at the same time. Kind of like a security cam. Fish aren't going to sneak up on your bait with out you seeing them come.

You can also swivel the cameras downward to get a very wide down view.

Marcum also makes some fine cameras. The long awaited 560 has one camera that rotates and give you the direction that its pointing.