Looking to purchase my first flasher. I do not live in God’s country anymore (hope to change that when I retire, already looking at cabins in MN, WI and MI)- so my time of use is limited to a few times a year.
Budget up to $400. Looking at the Vexilars. What is the difference in the degree of the transducers. I see the 19 degree “Dave Genz” model running ~ $280, whereas the 12 in are ~$400. Is there that much of a performance difference?
Thanks!
I have a Marcum VX1 Pro and my dad has the Vexilar FL8. Both would be considered entry level. We only get out a few times each year so we don’t need them to do much. One thing that I prefer with my Marcum is the bottom zoom. This allows me to focus in on the bottom 5 feet. Important especially when fishing walleyes. For how we use them both work well minus that one difference. Unless something has changed I think you have to go up to the next level of Vexilar to get the same feature. The difference in degrees only allows you to see more of the bottom. Can be good or bad depending on what and how you fish.
If you want to spend up to 400 I highly suggest purchasing the marcum m3. Very nice machine and it’s much nicer to use then the vex in the same price range
M3, or find a good, used lx5, lx5i, m5, fl20.
Ditto on the M3, it is a great unit, when and if my marcum tc3 dies it will be replaced, with equivalate .
Ditto on the M3, it is a great unit, when and if my marcum tc3 dies it will be replaced, with equivalate .
I’m in the same boat. Lx3tc has been great to me. And I will probably buy a lx6 so my kid can use the 3tc. And when that dies I’ll buy him a m3.
As far as the Transducer Degree question goes, It depends mostly on the depths of water you plan to fish. In shallow water ( Say less than 15-20 ft ) I’d say a higher degree transducer would be helpful. The Degree of the cone angle will determine how much area will be displayed. The deeper the water is the more the cone will cover. with a high degree transducer in deep water you sometimes get almost to much coverage area. the flasher will most likely pick up fish along ways away from center ( not that that is a bad thing ) it just might mean that the fish are a little more way from the center of the hole. here is where the color comes into play. You may need to just drill a few more hole around you to get yourself more directly over the fish. On both the Vexilar and the Marcum. Red are strong singles, Orange slightly weaker and green even weaker.
As far at what one is best – That’s kind of ford Vs Chev. debate. I currently own both. I think either one will work well for what you need for it to do. I’d say on this forum you will find a slant towards Marcum. On some other forms its more slanted towards Vexilar. I fished both a Vexilar FL8 and FL18 for MANY years. I switched to a Marcum LX5 for a few Seasons and now have purchased a new Vexilar. For what it worth I had excellent customer service for the one issue I had on the Marcum. I’ve never had a issue with any of my vexilars. I have had friend who have and their customer service was great as well. Good luck. Let us hear what you end up with and as a new user let us know how you like it.
If it is a Vexilar you want. You can get the FLX-20 for 449.00 with free shipping right now from Reeds. I know it’s a bit over budget. The 6ft and 12ft zoom zones are really nice to have. They are also the easiest to read in the sun with the new faces. The FLX-20 also reads 10ft on the face so it has better resolution in my opinion vs the 20ft face of a Marcum. You really can’t go wrong with either of them from a mechanical flasher. Where Vexilar falls behind is in the digital world.
All of the top 3 flasher companies have excellent flashers…that said, vexilar is the Honda Big Red of flashers. You buy a Vex, it may not have all the bells and whistles but it’ll do what you want and for a very very very long time!
I’d personally get a fl-18. If you can get the pro ducer, shot for that. The 19 would be more suitable for shallower lakes as the 12 would be for deeper lakes.
I have a basic Genz Pack Vex–the machine is great for the price. I bought it as a noob and honestly the ONLY feature I wish my unit had was the ability to zoom in on the bottom 5-10 ft or whatever. A buddy has that its slick
Take a look at the helix 5 G2. You can get the sonar/gps open water unit for like $270 on amazon. I believe you can exchange the transducer through humminbird exchange program and exchange the skimmer it comes with for the XI 9 1521 transducer. Buy an battery and build a simple shuttle for another $50 and you got a fantastic unit for under $350. You can also use it on your boat once the ice melts. I haven’t picked my vex up once since i built mine. I’m selling my vex to build another one.
I always thought vexilar. I took a Marcum lx-3 and Vexilar FL8 on a trade, I use my Marcum as my go to and the Vexilar is for anyone who’s out and doesn’t have one or as a back up. With the bottom lock feature in Marcum, I wouldn’t go with a Vexilar. You have to go all the way to an 18 before its on a Vex. On top of that the Marcum bottom lock can be adjusted whereas I don’t think you can adjust anything on the 18.
i would go marcum, like aaron mentioned, you can adjust your zoom wherever in the water column. Hbird flashers are pretty slick too, but they just dont seem as dependable and if you have an issue, their customer service tries to charge you a fee to fix something, where as marcum has fixed and replaced my trandsucer on my lx3 years past the warranty date
I currently use a Vexilar FL-8 and even though it was the cheapest model, I have no complaints. Very great, but also affordable. Doesn’t have all the bells and whistles like the Fl-20 or up. Still is a great little unit.
They are all good when they work.I have a vex FL18 love it does all I need it to has the bottom zoom.I also have the FL8 it’s 20 plus yrs.old never an issue and still going strong.
My advise on flashers… If they’re flashing don’t pass, STOP!
My advise on flashers… If they’re flashing don’t pass, STOP!
Now that is Funny. I don’t care who you are – That’s Funny !!!!!!
Agree with everyone saying get an M3 or LX3-TC or LX3-TCi. You get the bottom zoom as stated, but can also zoom anywhere in the water column. This is a feature that Vexilar does not offer. I have the LX3-TCi and love it. Will probably get an LX6 as an upgrade but will keep the LX3 because its such a solid unit. Have not had a single issue with it at all.
From what I understand, the 12 degree transducer has a bit more output power, so more sensitivity. One thing to consider, if you are fishing a deeper lake, or with other people in the same house, a wide cone can be a problem. With 19 degrees you will see your buddies bait being jigged and your bait. It can be distracting. In a deeper lake the large cone angle and make it hard to tell accurate size of targets.
I have an honest question. How often do you really use the zoom other then the bottom 6 or 12 ft?
I have an honest question. How often do you really use the zoom other then the bottom 6 or 12 ft?
For me, very rarely. Personally I’d be willing to trade the adjustable zoom feature on my old LX-3 for a narrower transducer cone angle. I hate the dead zone when fishing significant breaks in deeper water.
I have an honest question. How often do you really use the zoom other then the bottom 6 or 12 ft?
Quite a bit when I’m fishing crappies in a deep basin.
With the LX6 I set the screen to graph and other side zoom. Works great for me. With the graph I have maybe 30+ seconds of “replay time” which gives me time to relocate the zoom.
My advise on flashers… If they’re flashing don’t pass, STOP!
Good one! 
X2 on what eelpoutguy said, very nice to have a zoom that can cover different parts of the water column when fishing deep water crappies.
What I have not seen mentioned here is the HumminBird ICE 45. Fished one for 6 years with no problems. Has zoom and doesn’t get a lot interference from other brands because it uses a different frequency transducer. Runs about $400 retail and currently has a $55.00 Master Card rebate through the end of the year. Sold mine at the end of last season to upgrade to Helix 7 because I wanted GPS, mapping, networking and the ability to use it on the boat and on the ice.
X3 on epg, I zoom all over the water when crappies are over a big hole
Get the m5 and you can have adjustable zoom window and dual beam transducer.
Get a humminbird ICE-35. It works as good as any other flasher, and it has a nice big screen that is really a plus compared to some of my buddies’ vexilars. The 35 is quite inexpensive, the step up from that is the ICE 45, and then the ICE 55. I’m not sure how much the 55 and the 45 are, but I think it’s under 400. I bought the 35 two years ago for myself and it has been working great for me. It’s nothing fancy but it’s the best you can get for the money in my opinion.
AW
Just go brushless either brand.
The FLX series from vex are so bright its awesome and you can switch it to night mode. I just know that the FLX series is quiet and that flat bright dial is awesome!
Quite happy with my ICE 35. No issues at all the last four or five years.
Update – decided to go with the Marcum LX-7. Money well spent. Fished a few days in the Brainerd area with a friend. He has an older model Vexilar, mechanical flasher type.
Comparing the two – I really like the quiet operation of the Marcum + the screen was very easy to read. I let him use it for a while, he was impressed.
Quick question, how do you store the equipment (batteries) during the off season? Do I charge it periodically?
Thanks for all of the advice!
Unhook the battery when it is in your basement storage and top it off once or twice in the off season. Lasts a long time.
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