LX-5 vs FL-20?

[Carp-fisher]

The old FL 8 has treated me well over the years and I'll never forget her. But it looks as though I may upgrade this year. I'm looking at the LX-5 and the FL-20. I'm looking for the recommendations of someone who has the experience of using both units. And to start the discussion off, I'm abit biased towards Vexilar products because two friends of mine have had major problems with their Marcum units while my experience with the Vex has been unblemished...

[Cyberfish]

Carp, what are you gonna do with your old vex? I could really use an extra for GEM kids club! I love vexilar, but never used the 20, but I trust the name! Lots on here have had good success with their marcums too, except "you know who"

[Carp-fisher]

Thats a great idea with the GEM club, but I'm probably going to give it to my little brother for Christmas. Believe it or not, he didn't really like ice fishing a whole lot until that Grand Rapids trip last year. Now he talks about ice fishing all the time.

I have heard some great things about the LX-5...

[fishinJohn]

I think the LX-5 has more control for zoom but the 20 has its zoom in the important areas so I am not sure if zooming higher in the water column is important. I have a pretty new fl-12 and love it, though I wish it could zoom the bottom. Both great units.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Either unit you choose I can pretty much be fore sure you will make a good choice.

I choose to use the LX-5 and can not be more happy with it. Great zoom, awesome noise rejection, bright. And has never once let me down... I have not used an FL-20 yet. I'm sure its a great unit. I own a FL-18 and bring it with often times as a back up to the LX-5. But mroe often than not, I grab my LX-3 as the back up as well... I also have the VPG showdown.. and like it too.

[Snake River King]

I would say those units are both top of the game, I guess if I was you I would look at price, and if you are a little biased towards vexliar then you know you will be happy with the fl-20 so just get that. Oh and I use a fl-12 and love it! just my $0.02

[IcemanMN]

I love my lx-5. Best investment I ever made. I was fishing with a friend last year and I had a clean screen and he had interference issues with his Vex FL-8 and we were probably a good 100yds apart.

Either one is a great unit.

[MuleShack]

For some of you guys who use both, what are the major differences?

Power? color vs BW? Is one screen easier to read than the other?

carrying case? weight difference? packability?

just curious, as i too was thinking about upgrading the FL8.

[Reynolds]

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I think the LX-5 has more control for zoom but the 20 has its zoom in the important areas so I am not sure if zooming higher in the water column is important.

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I have been using a LX3 and LX5 the past couple of years and really like these units. Because I do like to fish crappies, which can be suspended at times, I find the adjustable zoom to be a very nice feature. The target separation on the LX5 is incredible. I also like the soft cases that the Marcums come with as the back of the machine is a bit less open to the elements. Marcums also have an adjustable gimbal bracket that allows you to position the trandsducer wherever you would like in the hole without it floating around. As far as packability goes, the vexilars are going to fit much easier into a five gallon bucket. An area where the FL20 is going to be better vs the LX5 is the screen. The flat screen is especially helpful when you happen to be at an angle to the machine, for instance when more than one person is reading off the screen (hard to see the corners if not directly in front of you without a flat screen). My dream machine would be a LX5 with a flat screen.

I have owned an FL8, FL18, LX3, LX5, and they have all been great machines as far reliability goes. I did have a transducer go out on my LX3, but that was my own fault. I told Marcum of the situation and they had me send it in. I got the unit back three days later with a brand new transducer at no cost.

If zooming in on suspended fish is not something that you would deem necessary, I feel that you would be very pleased with a FL20.

[munchy71]

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Having an adjustable zoom throughout the water column is advantageous when fish are suspended, such as crappies.

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Why is that? When they are suspened, what are they "in" that you need to zoom in order to separate them from it? The bottom zoom is valuable because it gives better separation of the fish from the bottom. If there's nothing to separate the fish from (i.e, the bottom) why would you need to zoom anywhere but on the bottom???

-Munchy

[Reynolds]

I guess for me zoom is not just for separating out the fish from the bottom. Zoom for me is knowing exactly where my lure is when you get into a cluster of fish. If you are fishing suspended fish and don't have zoom it can be hard to distinguish your lure from the rest of the signals. It is also much easier to see in zoom mode how suspended fish are reacting if you are jigging directly above them .

[OldBear]

I'd say go out and fish with different people with the different kinds so YOU can choose what you like best. Either one will be fine. Good luck.

[slipperybob]

Yep, if you get to watch how each person uses their machine to catch fish...

Sometimes on just rare occasions when the fish are really tight lip finicky...mid water column zoom you can tempt one fish to another to try to get a bite. Pretty useful there.

For those perches or walleyes, bottom huggers...I like to set the zoom just so that the bottom portion of it is just barely above the actual bottom...when there's a little rise from a fish, I'll see that from the zoom and know for sure. Pretty useful there too.

[Carp-fisher]

I could see how the "zoom anywhere in the water column" feature would be useful. If I was fishing in say 150 feet of water and the fish are suspended in a band from 50 to 60 feet, then zooming on that region could be helpful. The thing is that I do 99% of my ice fishing in 40 feet deep or less, so the only zoom I would need would be around the bottom...

[Corey Bechtold]

Vexilar for me!

Good fishing,

Corey Bechtold

[CNY Tim]

The MarCum LX-5 gives you the ultimate flasher at a better price..

It quite frankly does it all, weeds, deep, suspended fish it doesn't matter. Whisper quiet, no grinding, interference rejection, target separation, display clarity and is the #1 sold U.S. built flasher today. I have used quite a few flashers through the years., the FL-8SLT, Colorpoint, LX-3, FL-18, LX-5 and VX-1.

There's only one flasher I use in tournaments and that's the #1 MarCum LX-5. I think it's absurd to not give this U.S. product a shot. When people cry and moan about products being built overseas, you can be proud of the made in the USA sticker on the MarCum box... Fishers may not know this but MarCum also supports our troops, they have been there for our Marines, Sailor, Airman and Soldiers and will continue to be there. When you factor all that in and there quality products you just purchased you get an instant patriotic feeling when you pull away from the counter.

MarCum's technology and naval engineering has brought us better products at a better price. Made in the U.S.A. and proud of it!

[CSP88]

Vexilar FL-20 gets the nod.

Chad

[BTrauma1]

LX-5! If you want the newest and most technologically advance sonar unit, LX-5. Look closely at Vexilars features from their cheapest to the most expensive units. Outside the color of buttons or a light, very little feature differences.

[kgusto]

Definitely the FL-20 ! Marcum I have heard has many stuff that breaks on them. The FL-20 is more advanced I feel. The zooms are incredible and just like the options more on the Vexilar... Marcum is a newer player in the market..Vexilar has been around longer..I guess you make the call...You can always offer a pile of junk at a better price, but why deal with the headaches of getting it serviced. Real Men buy Vexilar

[slimmer]

Vexilar = Made in Japan

Marcum = Made in the U.S.A

[Carp-fisher]

Hate to say it, but Japan makes some of the highest quality electronic products in the world. If you were to say "made in Mexico", or "made in Kazakhstan" that would be abit different.

[Wookiee]

Either is a great unit. I like the line separation better on the marcums and the adjustable zoom. I fished with some guys who had the FL-20. I liked the flat screen on the 20 but that is about where it ended. Plus when I turned mine on their's lit up like Christmas trees with interference. Oops! That's another thing if you fish with Vex guys a lot stick with a Vex they play better together. I do have a LX-3 and LX-5 though just so you know which I wouldn't trade for the world.

[Tyler Holm]

I've got an Marcum LX-5 and a Vexilar FL-18. Both are great units.

Honestly, the only issue I had with my FL-18 was at the Brainerd Ice Extravaganza 2 years ago. There was simply too much interference our there and no matter what I did, I couldn't reject it with the Vex. I brought my LX-5 out last year and it took some doing, but I could reject all interference, where the boys with the Vex were in the same predicament that I was in the previous year.

99% of the time the LX-5 is my goto unit and the FL-18 gets borrowed out to my buddies and is used as a backup. Don't get me wrong, I love my FL-18 but I do like the features mentioned above that the LX-5 have over the FL-18.

[CSP88]

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Vexilar = Made in Japan

Marcum = Made in the U.S.A

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Your point is? You better take a close look at all of your ice fishing equipment to see where it or any of the parts are manufactured. One example is Tica reels......a ton of people swear by these. Guess where they are made.....you got it, China. So with that said are people going to quit buying them and opt for something else.....nope they are a great reel no matter where they are made. If your deciding factor on a flasher is by where it is made, you are cutting yourself short. Go with the product and company you trust most.

Chad

[Carp-fisher]

Quote:

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Quote:

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Vexilar = Made in Japan

Marcum = Made in the U.S.A

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Your point is? You better take a close look at all of your ice fishing equipment to see where it or any of the parts are manufactured. One example is Tica reels......a ton of people swear by these. Guess where they are made.....you got it, China. So with that said are people going to quit buying them and opt for something else.....nope they are a great reel no matter where they are made. If your deciding factor on a flasher is by where it is made, you are cutting yourself short. Go with the product and company you trust most.

Chad

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My point is that I do, thus I drive a Toyota. The only two guys I know who own Marcums have had significant functional problems with them that involved returning them to Marcum for fixes. I don't attribute this to "being made in the USA", but rather to being a new product line. I work in developmental engineering, so I know abit about this process...