Jim Almquist Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Quote:and what difference does half an inch make when your in 30ft of water?It can tell you if you still have a minnow head on your spoon after a perch just hit it. Do you reel it up and check your bait or not ? When you have that good of separation you can tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan z Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Quote:and what difference does half an inch make when your in 30ft of water?It can tell you if you still have a minnow head on your spoon after a perch just hit it. Do you reel it up and check your bait or not ? When you have that good of separation you can tell. I can tell if I loose grubs with my fl-18 so YOU DONT NEED ALL THAT POWER, heck early in the season I turn on the LP setting and use even less power, vex is best.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankjd Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Anyone know if the Humminbird has digital or optical zoom. I am also in the market for a new flasher, have a fl 8 and 18 right now. Information on here has been great!Anything wrong with the humminbird other than its new. Anyone know if vexilar has a more powerful unit coming out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spotchecker Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 A friend and I were up on LOW over Xmas. I had just bought an ice45 and he had an fl8. Everytime I left my chair he was over there watching my new 45.He bought one as soon as we got home. I am extremely impressed by the new bird.It has alot of power 1800 watts p.t.p. The dual cone is real handy,the 19 degree beam worked nice in 20 ft of water,I could see all 4 jigs at one time. I also loved the zoom feature. the battery life was excellent.the fiber optic display was crystal clear very easy to look at.Vex is waaay behind these people in many aspects.For the money Imo this unit is the ticket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankjd Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 To answer my own question (found on the humminbird thread) it sounds like the humminbird zooms in like the vexilar. Been doing more research and think that I am going with the lx5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FISHINGURU Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Originally Posted By: jimalmQuote:and what difference does half an inch make when your in 30ft of water?It can tell you if you still have a minnow head on your spoon after a perch just hit it. Do you reel it up and check your bait or not ? When you have that good of separation you can tell. I can tell if I loose grubs with my fl-18 so YOU DONT NEED ALL THAT POWER, heck early in the season I turn on the LP setting and use even less power, vex is best.... thats what i'm talkin about...i have friends with marcums, hummingbirds, and vex's...i have an fl-18 and can easily tell if i lost my minnow, minnow head, or waxy...i can see my jig and my little treble hook right below it in over 30ft of water.so seriously whats so great about all the extra watts? and since you use so many extra watts does your battery drain faster because when we take trips up north mine is the last one to die...is that the reason?on the vex HSOforum it says the fl-18 target ID is less then 1/2 an inch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernsportman Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 im sorry but thats not what it says on the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esox_Magnum Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Best I could ever get for seperation on my 18 was just under 2" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernsportman Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 i believe that i had read 2.65" to be exact. That is why i have steered away from the vexi's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FISHINGURU Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 how did you test your seperation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esox_Magnum Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Test seperation by placing a splitshot on the end of your line and a second up a few inces, keep moving them togeather untill you can no longer see the 2 seperate splitshots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FISHINGURU Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 hmmmmmm...i must have a bomb fl-18 then lol.i can see my jig then slightly under that i can see a smaller line that is my treble hook...thats closer then 2 inches or 2.65....maybe it's how people adjust their gain...if i have my gain up high everything blends together.this is in zoom mode that i'm talkin about...i don't ever fish in normal mode... i have the magnifying lens cover maybe that makes a difference...i've never used my fl-18 without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esox_Magnum Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 My buddys 20 is better than my 18 by a little but still not up to par with my LX-5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theicehooker Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I will never use anything but a Vexilar. The power on a Marcum is not even doing much. My buddy had the LX5 right next to me and the same jig on in deep water and I could actually see mine better than his rediculously over powered machine that doent help at all. The colors on the vexilar are better and easier to see. I had a buddy sitting next to me and he had an FL-18 and liked my FL-20 alot better. Vex is the best the rest are all just trying to be like them!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewski Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 i can see my jig then slightly under that i can see a smaller line that is my treble hook...thats closer then 2 inches or 2.65....maybe it's how people adjust their gain...if i have my gain up high everything blends together.Same here! I have no problem seeing my bait, whether it be a minnow or larvae, seperate from my jig on my fl-18. I wouldn't trade it for anything...well, mayble an fl-20! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FISHINGURU Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 yeah i'm not sure if i like the fl-20 more then the 18...i like the night viewing option of the 20 though...do you guys with the 18's have the magnifying lens cover?i been sittin back waiting for the next vex to come out so i can see that new unit before i upgrade...a bunch of my buddies have the 20 so i've fished with them quite a bit along with some hummingbirds and a couple older marcums and the LX3...i've never fished with the LX5...i've only seen them in action on fishing shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny_Da_Der Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I have got the magnifying lens cover for my 18. It does make the display a little better, but at least in my opinion, the really important thing it does is keep snow and slush out of there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewski Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I got a magnigying lens too and I'm with Johnny, the best reason for having it is keeping the slush out of the lens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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