dual transducers

[fishingguy]

I've been looking at some of the new vex's and marcums. Some come with dual transducers. What is the benefit of having, say a 9/19 degree transducer? Important to have? Just another bell and whisle?

[Fish&Fowl]

Depends on the water you will be fishing. The point is to have a narrow (9 degree) cone when you're deeper so you don't pick up as much extra stuff. The 19 is for shallow so your cone isn't so small that you don't pick anything up until it's right under the cone.

I usually keep mine on 19, but laker fishing the 9 is nice to have. I would say the dual beam is worth it, but it all depends on what you do.

[Hotspotter]

Last year was my first year with a dual beam transducer. I had debated for quite some time over whether or not I "needed" one or not. I took the step up to an LX-5 after much thought and deliberation.

My conclusion is that while I did not need it, it sure improved many problematic situations, and overall improved my fishing fun and success. Like everything, it depends on what types of fishing you do and how much the added versatility is worth to you.

There were a few key situations where the dual beam on my Marcum came in handy:

-Fishing in a hard-side house with other flashers - esp. in deeper water, the interference from other beams was much less when I narrowed mine to 8 degrees

-Steep drops - you get a better mental map of the bottom with the narrower beam as there's no "shadow" from one edge of the cone touching shallower water and the other edge of the cone over much deeper water.

-Deep/shallow versatility - When moving back up to a shallow flat, the ability to switch back and forth really helped.

Again, as with anything, you have to decide if the fishing you do is an application where the extra versatility will give you net gain. My decision last year actually hinged on a few extra features that came with the LX-5, like Super Fine Line; not the dual beam ducers. That said, I'm very happy I have the dual beam capability now.

Good luck in your search!

Joel

[CNY Tim]

Joel hit it pretty much dead on. The 8/20 degree transducer that comes "standard" with the LX-5 is a must have in my opinion., with a season under my belt using the 8 deg. on the LX-5 it is starting to be a common occurance with me utilizing the NBT button for all my fishing situations it reallly gives you the truest picture of what's below in a nice tight cone angle. The standard 20 deg. gives you a broader look effective for locating fish and fishing and the narrow beam sharpens, enhances and dissects. I love the 8 degree!

I will also add that the 8 deg. available on the LX-5 will help you immensely fishing around multiple flashers in regards to interference especially in deep water.