Curious what everyone has owned and what you like the best. I have had all vex's. First one was the 18, then 20, 22, and now the flx28. Still own the 22 also. The 28 is definitely the best. I have looked at the marcums but never fished with them. A couple buddys have the Humminbird and they seem to work ok. Bring on the ice!
In order I have owned/used:
Lowrance lms-350
Vexilar fl18
Lowrance lms-520c
lowrance hds 5 gen2
Vexilar fl22
If i am going to hole hop I bring the Vex because it is easier to use. Basically set it and forget it.
If it is a frigid, hunker in the shack day I bring the Lowrance. I like to have a split screen in graph mode with this unit.
Sold my Fl18 to a buddy years ago and it is still going strong.
Started with a Humminbird as my first unit. Picked up a showdown off craigslist on the cheap. It has been my go to ever since.
1995 Ranger 487VS / 1998 Mercury 200 EFI
I have a fl8, fl18, helix7, lx5 and a flx28. I have had a lx7 but just too big and bulky for me and have used hds7 and lx3 and for me I like the flx28 and lx5 the most for all round panfishing and general ice fishing. You can tune them in beyond belief and they are great for fishing in dense weeds/structure and open deep flats.
The Fl8 is the is work horse.
I have been using a Marcum LX3 no issue so far.
I've been using a Humminbird Ice 45 for the last 6-7 years. Works great. For this year I picked up a helix 7 (ice version) to try out. I also still own my original Fl-8.
I've got a Marcum LX-5 that I absolutely love. Target separation is second to none, and the dual-beam transducer is really nice for different situations. Aside from those 2 features, I think they're all about the same. What else would there be? Some extra colors, maybe a few more channels of interference rejection?
I'm sure the high-end Vexes work just as well. The only thing that made me go Marcum in the first place was that my buddies I fish with had Marcums. Any Vex I've seen near a Marcum has major issues with interference. Not sure if that was the units or people who didn't understand how to use interference rejection settings, but I didn't want to find out on the off chance it was the former instead of the latter. I fished with 5 Marcums in a sleeper on Lake of the Woods over 30 feet once and, with a little bit of work, we were able to clear interference on all of them.
I've been contemplating picking up an extra transducer and trying my boat unit on the ice to see how that works. Having the history would be nice, though I've always heard the downside of using those is the lag in showing returns you don't end up with when using a flasher.
Seriously though...I think it's Ford vs. Chevy on the flashers.
2011 Skeeter ZX225
225 Yamaha HPDI Series 2
Minn Kota Ultrex 112 52"
Console: HDS 16 Carbon
Bow: HDS 12 Carbon, Solix 12 G2, Mega 360, Garmin 106 SV, LVS 34
I love mt fl20, but if you are close to someone using a marcum you'll get allot of interference,
After buying an FLX28, and getting rid of it...I still go back to the FL18. Most important feature for me is the zoom.
The 28, and most of the Marcums are very nice, but the battery life is what I don't like. The H-Bird 55 is very nice too.
Marcum lx3 has been incredible. I can’t fish without it. Vex are great units as well.
2024 Phoenix 818, Mercury 175 (3B414035) Trick Steps, 3 Garmin 106 SV,s, LVS 34. BoatEFX dual bow mount. Ionic 12V 125AH, 2 12V 100 ah LiTime’s for the TM. Minn Kota 345 PCL charger,
Little trick I learned for those of you that use m18 fuels for drilling holes is to get a few 12v xc batteries and use them to run your flashers. The whole unit, shuttle and batt is a 1/3 the weight compared to the regular Batts and only take 30min to charge and one xc 12 fuel lithium usually lasts 8 to 10 hours. For those that run vex like me with a flx28 I put my flx28 into a marcum shuttle because I like the design more.
I still run my fl8. 21 years old and still going strong
Totally forgot about the zoom. That's probably the most important feature on mine to me, especially if fish are on the bottom or crappies are coming through at a specific depth.Originally Posted by RFeyoMN
I'm surprised to hear about battery life issues on a Marcum. I've had mine on 3 day trips in sleeper houses with only 2 9 ah batteries. The first one usually will run 18-20 or even more hours then I've never run the second one out. I was getting 16 hours out of a 7 ah one last year, having to crank the gain up to get the last hour out of it.
And because I know it sounds ridiculous to have learned that, I've had my fair share of marathon days on trips to Red Lake. I always make plans to go with friends then end up having to go by myself. Guess I need new friends, but that's a different story for a different day. What you gonna do when you're 5 hours away by yourself in the middle of nowhere? Fish, obviously! I always catch more when I'm by myself anyway.
2011 Skeeter ZX225
225 Yamaha HPDI Series 2
Minn Kota Ultrex 112 52"
Console: HDS 16 Carbon
Bow: HDS 12 Carbon, Solix 12 G2, Mega 360, Garmin 106 SV, LVS 34
If your having battery life issues with your regular flashers chances are your batteries are in need of being replaced or your charger isn't working right.
Not necessarily.
An FLX28 will kill a 9ah battery in a day. Some units just use more power.
I've had my flx28 for 2 years and never killed a battery in a day. You can run the battery down to around 10.5v (low battery sign comes on flx28) and will not lose any performance power. Maybe the problem lies in getting cheap knock off brand $10 batteries that are equivalent to chain store brand alkaline AA batteries that last in a TV remote for 4 days before they are dead lol
I mean you're running a small brushless motor with small led lights with ducer than has been around for a long time. You're not drilling holes with a vexilar or any flasher for that matter so there is no reason a healthy battery will kill after one 10 hour day on the ice.
Well, you've clearly had better experiences with yours than I did mine.
If I started at 5am, that unit would kill a 9ah battery in roughly 12 hours. I can easily fish 2 full days on one battery with my 18. The simple fact is, the 28 uses a significant amount more power than an 18. I've seen similar performance out of the larger Marcums...LX-7.
I really like the 28, but I just don't always have a chance to recharge. I usually carry an extra battery, but that usually ends up in the camera!
Any vexilar! All there is to it, now if exploring new lakes a map unit can be important but my phone has a 10$ navionics map for the whole Midwest.
Mercury 250 proxs 2B115089
I also have the navionics map. I use it a lot for ice fishing.
I've got a 16 or 17 year old FL-8 with something like a 9/19 dual beam transducer. It's good enough for the fishing I do. I'm not very serious when it comes to ice fishing.
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