Flasher Review

This weekend I set out for Lake of the Woods with a Vexilar FL-18, FL-20, and a Marcum LX-5. The FL-18 and FL-20 were both used loaners from friends. The LX-5 was a brand new unit that I borrowed also. The testing was not scientific, but just observations made by myself and some friends while fishing for two days.

Battery Life:

The FL-18 lasted all weekend without needing a charge. In 12 hours it went from 100% to 40%. We charged the FL-20 between the two days, but it never went below the second setting which I believe is 80%. Out of the box the LX-5 battery said 100%, so I started day one with the factory charge. After 6 hours the battery was at 10%. Once the battery dipped below 30%, there was a noticeable difference in performance. I charged the battery all night to find it only at a 60% charge in the morning. Within an hour the charge was below 30%, so I switched over to a new battery. This battery was fine the rest of the day, but I never checked the charge at the end of the day. The battery drained as fast on another LX-5 that a friend had, but it took a full charge overnight. Maybe more power isn’t always better.

Interference:

We had 5 units running within 25 feet of each other, and usually two on inside each house. The LX-5 had no interference issues, after I hit the Interference Rejection button a few times. The FL-18 was a different story. Next to the LX-5 I could never totally dial out the interference. The display was good, but never interference free. The FL-20 had very little issue with either unit.

Cone Angle:

I am not positive, but I believe the FL-18 and 20 that I was using had 12 degree transducers. The LX-5 has an 8/20 degree adjustable cone angle. With the Vexilars in 30 feet of water, I could usually see my fishing partner’s jig 4 or 5 feet away. The 8 degree cone angle rarely picked up the other lines. I used the 20 degree angle for searching out the more aggressive fish that were only 15-20 feet deep.

Zoom:

The FL-18 offers zoom on the bottom 6 feet of the water column. The FL-20 can be set for the bottom 6 feet or doubled to see the bottom 12 feet. The LX-5 has an adjustable zoom for any 6 feet in the water column. Although I had it set on the bottom 95% of the time, I did move the window a few times for the suspended walleyes roaming around in Lake of the Woods. I did not like that the zoom feature starts at the top of the water column and has to be manually moved down. I think it would make more sense to start at the bottom and work up.

Color/Separation:

I like the coloring on the Vexilars more than the Marcum LX-5. With the Super Fine Line enabled on the LX-5, my jigging spoon usually appeared as a rainbow of green, yellow, and red. I played with the gain some, but I wanted my jig to show up red. Fish chasing the bait had the same rainbow effect, so it made it difficult to see exactly how close the fish was to the bait. I had the gain on the Vexilars adjusted so my jig and fish showed up red with some green on both sided of it. When the “red” jig and “red” fish met, it was usually fish on.

Case:

The casing of the Marcums is great. Everything is contained in a small package that keeps the unit well protected. The Vexilar packages have some neat features, but they just don’t have the protection.

As far as recommending one over another, I don’t think I could. If I owned an FL-18 or 20, I wouldn’t trade it for an LX-5 and vice versa. I will say that my mind was set on buying a Marcum LX-5, but not anymore. Three of my fishing partners this weekend were new to the sport of ice fishing. I showed them how to run all three units, and then let them fish with them off and on all weekend. At the end of the weekend, they all said they liked the Vexilars more. They liked the ease of use and color of the Vexilars, as well as the open screen on the FL-20.

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The Vexilar packages have some neat features, but they just don’t have the protection.

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Just an FYI. The soft pack is available as an add on.

I agree with your findings on the colors.

VALUABLE STUFF! Thanks for that,having been on the fence the last couple weeks I now know the choice I am going to make,the 18 is getting the nod,thanks again Bigfife

Thanks for posting the great review, I hope you got some nice fish.

I don’t have a dog in the fight but…

Could you zoom to fish in the middle of the water column with a Vex? Maybe it would be nice to come from bottom to top but that about a 2 second problem for me.

Do you fish next to a lot of other units? I did just a few weeks ago. The vex guys just finally shut theirs off in the house. We’d have to shut down our Marcum 3 & 5’s so they could get “set” then we’d fire up again

The LX-5 has narrow beam and super fine line, plus all kinds of IR.

I’m not questioning your choice of colors, I guess I never noticed one was better cuz they are both the same set. I usually have my gain on so low my lure might even flicker out 3% of the time if I’m jigging. I just barely want to see my lure.

I don’t think you can go wrong with either unit, both are great products. When people ask me I say Marcum for the above reasons but I sure understand why others like Vex. I’m glad we have two such good products.

Man to I hate to get into these debates but
Todd,your telling me what? That you had a equal amount of Vex units and Marcum units in the same house,and the Marcum would “overpower” the Vex units? Or were there 3 Marcums and 1 Vex,etc?
I’ve heard this same thing from other Marcum users also.BUT I’ve been in the same shack with Marcums with my Vex and have never had a single problem with them being more powerfull than my Vex.
Like Todd says,both very good products.
Ryan Hale

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Out of the box the LX-5 battery said 100%, so I started day one with the factory charge. After 6 hours the battery was at 10%. Once the battery dipped below 30%, there was a noticeable difference in performance. I charged the battery all night to find it only at a 60% charge in the morning.

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You should charge your battery out of the box. Despite the DCS saying it is 100% charged, the only way to know you are fully charged is to plug the battery in until the DCS stops blinking and reads 100% while plugged in. Then you know your are fully charged and can easily run all day.

In addition, while the unit is on, the DCS is measuring draw. You have to turn the unit off if you want to know exactly how much charge is left in the battery.

There should not be any performance change when the DCS drops to 30%. Since the DCS measures draw, you can run at 0% on the DCS for several hours and there will not be a change in performance.

Good info, but you always want to charge any new electronics fully before you use them. Everyone has their opinion of what the like in a flasher…I will still stick with my LX-5

Ryan

We had 2 FL 18’s, 2 LX-3, and my LX-5. My LX-5 was perfect with a couple of IR hits. The LX-3 saw some minor stuff but nothing to bother. The Vex were toast. We were in 23′ in Hunter’s house. I’ve seen it time and time again on LOTW with my buddy’s up there in a 16′ permanent house. I turned my to the narrow beam and went to the furthest corner, that seemed to help everyone.

In all honesty, I’d probably buy whatever most of the guys in my group have but I think the world of my Marcum. I put in a lot of research time looking at Vex and Marcum about 4 years ago before I decided what to buy.

I fish suspended crappie now and then so I really like the moveable zoom too.

But I sincerely think they are both great great units. Like most outdoor products, you have to know what you want in performance and features.

Heck ryan, on the boji I’d rather just have a camera! Not that I can catch your super race of bluegill anyway

Excellent unbiased & nonsponsored review.

Todd,great info.
I’ve heard about problems between Vex and Marcum units,but myself I’ve never seen it with my own eyes.
And yes I’ve been a Vex user for many years.Been there,done that with both units fishing next to each other.Never had the problem with a Marcum over-powering a Vex.Not saying it deosn’t happen,just never seen it.You would think that if it happened with you and others wouldn’t it be the case all the time with all users who fish both units next to each other? Thats what I’m trying to understand.Also the 18 is not the top Vex unit anymore like the 5 is for Marcum.Your saying no one in the group had a 20? Has anyone heard of there being problems between the 5 and the 20?
Lets keep this debate civil,not trying to bash here guys,just looking for logical answers.
It’s always going to be the Chevy vs Ford type of thing.To each their own.
Be happy with your product,if your not make a change.Don’t make fun of people who drive Fords!!
Ryan Hale

Ryan, I have fished the LX-5 and the Fl-20 side by side. I have not had problems with either unit with a few adjustments. The interference rejection on the FL-20 is improved over the FL-18 I believe.

Scott is correct. The 20 has a much better IR than the 18. But I never had an issue with using the 18 next to a LX-5.

Nope, no 20’s.

There were 2 LX-3’s and my LX-5 though. The two vex’s and marcum’s were just across the house from each other.

This was also a boulder bottom which might be worse – absorb less signal and make funnier richochets. But.. I’ve seen it on LOTW and Waubay mud too. Usually guys just move apart in portables which is better anyway.

Normally I wouldn’t even fish with 5 guys in a house with units on, but I couldn’t go too far with my shoulder

Ultimately I gave the Vex guys my camera and they put it vertical over their baits. See, I’m a nice guy.

Again – THANKS FOR THE REVIEW – YOU DID A TREMENDOUS JOB!!!

Todd

Yep, both are good units But , I don’t agree with the life of the LX-5 being short. At the GTG, I charged my LX-5 before we left. I then had it on the following times without a recharge. Fri 11:00-6, Sat 7-11:30 and 1:00-5:30, and Sun 6:30-11:00. That is a lot of hours and never had a problem. Also the debate between the Vex and MarCum’s running together. Ask the guy who had a FL-8 next to 3 MarCum units. Not a pretty situation in close quarters. The interference was terrible and could not be eliminated from the Fl-8. But, it sounds like the newer units have fixed that problem for Vex I can’t see myself switching back to a Vex after using the LX-5

OK ,I’ve changed my mind,i’m getting the LX5 ,or mabe the FL,20, then again a Ford?

This info. is from a ways back, but I wanted to make some changes to it. I had the opportunity to use another LX-5 for awhile and I made some big errors in my report. As far as the battery/charging issues, there were none. Lets just say I made a mental error that resulted in the battery not charging. I would not list the battery life as an issue either. It ran flawlessly for 16+ hours off and on over 3 days. The 8/20 degree transducer has proven to be a very nice feature also. For those that don’t know, I spend over 50% of my ice time chasing suspended crappies over deeper water. This weekend we found crappies in 10-20 feet over 26 fow, so it was very nice to use the adjustable zoom feature on these fish. I think I would still say that I wouldn’t trade an FL-20 in for a LX-5. I will say that my next flasher is going to be an LX-5. You can call it a Ford vs. Chevy debate, but for my fishing purposes there is no question which one is better.

You won’t have interference problems that can’t be taken care of with an FL 18-20 when fishing with a Marcum Lx5 the Marcum will actually interfer more with other Marcums.

Any flasher will interfer with an fl-8 or Marcum that doesn’t have the Noise reduction feature.

I’ve fished pretty well all the units available today in this market range and this year doing a comparison with the FL-20 and the LX-5 .A week ago a Vex prostaffer and I fished crappies and eyes in 20-35 fow and even put the transducers down 3ft apart and the little interference that occurred was cleared with one push of the button on both and both were absolutely devoid of interference .

The fl-20’s new flat screen was slick because it could be viewed from any angle but then again I use my flasher for myself not for others and if they need one I have one for them so I did not consider it a big deal .

The thing that we both noticed that made the difference was what we were seeing on the dial .The LX-5 was crisper and showed the separation in targets better and could do it in any part of the water column but we tested in the 12ft and under zoom area of the FL-20 so the playing field was even .The Vex prostaffer noticed it and said so and he also made the comment that the FL-20 was louder which it was . Other than that we still have 2 months of on ice tests to do and I’ll stick with Marcum because it still is the best bang for your buck and with what it has to offer in the flasher circles makes it the top dog .

TD

I fished with a Marcum staffer this year on Mille lacs and found the exact opposite results. The LX-5 was actually blurry and looked like a Lite Brite. The targets all seemed the same size, it was hard to tell the difference between plankton and your bait.

The wide screen on the FL-20 is not meant to allow your friends to watch you fish. The flat screen allows the viewing area to increase. This makes it much easier to see your targets. I also didnt like the “jerking” effect the LX-5 has on the dial. Almost like a clock ticking up and down the dial.

Well if you dial the LX-5 in correctly to just show your bait and the bait is bigger than the zoo plankton then you won’t be seeing the zoo plankton now will you ? . And if anything the Vex on most multiple targets shows a blob .The LX-5 or the LX-3 is precise in their target separation and does not show a blob even in tight schooling fish such as smelt . Easily seen that its bait because of the crisp separation and size of the lines instead of one wide blob showing as if it’s a big fish instead of numerous little ones .

Far as the wide screen . My flashers sit in front of me by the hole so I can set the hook on first indication of a strike .I dont find looking at a sonar in any other area is very productive for a hookup . The reason I like the flat screen is it keeps the snow out and easily brushed off because I fish out in the open most days and keep my back to the wind so at times snow blows in on the dial of the LX-5 which can get annoying to remove .

As far as jerkiness on the dial I have no idea what your talking about nor have ever noticed that or heard of it whether it was an fl-8,fl-18, vx-1 ,lx-2,lx-3,lx-5 or the x67c icemachine . Tell me more in detail what you mean lad .

TD

Great review. This is exactly why I continue to hang around this site and check it numerous times each day. Very informative.

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The LX-5 has an adjustable zoom for any 6 feet in the water column.

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I’m not positive on this one, but doesn’t the marcum lx-5 have an adjustable zoom window that covers any 5 or 10 ft in the water column? I know that my Lx-3 does.

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I’m not positive on this one, but doesn’t the marcum lx-5 have an adjustable zoom window that covers any 5 or 10 ft in the water column? I know that my Lx-3 does

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That is correct

The Lx-3 has an expandable , moveable zoom if thats what your asking . I Didn’t come here to smack at Vexilar but maybe anybody can answer me this ” why does the Vex latest and greatest the FL-20 only do bottom up 12 ft while the basic Marcum VX-1 expands and does more the deeper it goes .Hmmm . Was funny too as all I heard the last few years as there was no need for zoom over 6 ft according to Vex but odd things are being expanded today .

I’ve run many and don’t want the [censored] fest but I’m testing too side by side and some b.s. just doesn’t fly no matter what anybody uses and I just call them as I see them . This year I’m testing an auger and I’m eating some words and will do more but in the sonar b.s. as a consumer I’m not concerned .Marcum is it . Sorry Scott as I’m not out to cause probs but even though all the units have their followers ,,,,I know what I see …..and yes all will get the job done,,,,,,BUT.

TD