Marcum LX3

[waphetonboy]

Just bought one, read manual. can anyone give me tips on how to use based on experience?

[Dan Wood]

You made a great purchase, you will be very happy with that unit.

I'd start out if possible with some panfish to get a feel on how things work (if your not familiar with using a flasher for ice fishing).

Bring a water bottle and squirt just a small puddle on the ice and set the transducer flat on the ice (clearer the ice the better for this). You will need to adjust the gain until you start seeing the bottom. This will also allow you to see fish a lot of times, look for movement on the bottom (sometime they will just be flickers along the bottom) and any suspended fish. This is also an excellent way to find structure that will be holding fish.

Once you get fishing, adjust the gain just high enough to see your jig clearly. Work on jigging the fish up off the bottom and enticing them to bite. You will see how the signal becomes stronger as they near your bait. A lot of times it takes some coaxing to get them to bite - I like to bring them up slowly, just fast enough to keep them coming up, that usually will provoke a strike. If they quit following it up, go back down slowly so your jig is just above them and give them a chance to take it.

I'd suggest panfish, just so you gain some experience and confidence with the unit. If you have a good walleye hole or something, that will work just as well. Just as long as you see some fish and get a chance to work them on the flasher. You will get a feel for what gain is needed to see your jig and how the fish signals show up.

I'd also suggest not using the zoom right away until your comfortable using the standard features. The zoom is not at all difficult, but the split screen is a bit easier to read once you have the basics down. Good luck!

[turbo]

I too just bought a Lx3 this weekend.Really tuff decession to make between vex 18 and LX3. I have fished Sitex fl5 for the last 20yrs and had to have it worked on only 1 time, hope I havesame luck with the marcum.Any helpful hints are greatly apprecicated.