Flasher Units

Hello, and thank you in advance for any help.

I am looking to get a new flasher unit to help out ice fishing. I have always been able to use the one my dad brought along but due to health issues of my father, I no longer have that luxury. I don’t really know a lot about them as far as what I am really looking for in a new unit I just know I have always enjoyed and had success with the unit my father had. Sadly he sold it to a buddy not knowing I was interested, so I am kinda at square one here. If anybody has any suggestions on companies, units themselves, or just what features I should be looking for that would be amazing..

thank you

First question is what is your budget? You can get an old used FL-8 for say $75 or a Garmin livescope ice package for $3,000.

If budget is in mind either the Vexilar FL8 as Rodwork mentioned or I have the FL18 it has the zoom option which is helpful. Stay away from other brands the Vexilars are rock solid. If you own a boat then you could look at Garmin of Bird and get an ice kit allowing you to use it all season.

Welcome to IDO by the way.

I have the vexilar flx 28 and really like it so far. And I got a flx 12 for Christmas as a unit for the lady and my kid. You can go all out or stay really cheap. The perfect middle of the road bullet proof option is the vexilar fl18

A vexilar in your price range will be the best and safest bet, if money is tight you can get them used for pretty cheap.

Sort of depends on what you are looking for as others alluded to. The craze these days is livescope and using what are traditionally boat units on the ice. These units run thousands of dollars. Although it’s hard to argue with the results of these new units, especially when I look at the cost of more traditional ice fishing flashers still being pretty high for what is essentially 35 year old technology, it doesn’t really sound like this is what you are looking for. I agree with the others – I would get a vexilar FL-8 or FL-18

I’ll chime in with the bird ice series. Since everyone is on the vex train. I have the ice 35 and have used it for 8 years now going out pretty consistently every season and I ablostulety love that unit. Especially for what $300 new? Sure it may not be as “clear” as other units, but it gets the job done. The dual deucer is a real nice plus along with the adjustable zoom for the whole water column. I am thinking of upgrading to the ice 55 and using the 35 for friends and kids.

If you’re gonna go with antiques might as well go to the thrift shop and get yourself a sweet rotary phone to pair with your dino vex tech.

2d is the future. Get yourself a cheap bird/Garmin/lowramce ice bundle and join the movement.

Deuces wrote:

If you’re gonna go with antiques might as well go to the thrift shop and get yourself a sweet rotary phone to pair with your dino vex tech.

2d is the future. Get yourself a cheap bird/Garmin/lowramce ice bundle and join the movement.

i joined “the movement” last year. found myself always using the flasher screen on it so i went back to vexilar. sometimes simpler is better

Rodwork wrote:

First question is what is your budget? You can get an old used FL-8 for say $75 or a Garmin livescope ice package for $3,000.

I still have my FL8 and it is rock solid. If you can get one for $75, that seems like a no-brainer. You can always upgrade later. Good luck.

I used a marcum VX1 for years….pretty comparable to the FL8 I believe. Those are kinda your 2 choices for entry level.

Both are super easy to use and I don’t think you can go wrong with either.

I bought a Vexilar FL-18 last year for my first flasher and most likely my last. Love it, and I know it will probably outlast me.

Cumminsbassguy97 wrote:

I’ll chime in with the bird ice series. Since everyone is on the vex train. I have the ice 35 and have used it for 8 years now going out pretty consistently every season and I ablostulety love that unit. Especially for what $300 new? Sure it may not be as “clear” as other units, but it gets the job done. The dual deucer is a real nice plus along with the adjustable zoom for the whole water column. I am thinking of upgrading to the ice 55 and using the 35 for friends and kids.

I have the ICE 55 as my second unit when others come along and I like the fact that there is no interference with this one. Crazy how the prices have gone up on these older units over the years, but I suppose this is just an effect of inflation.

Anyway, yes, these are little talked about, but do a great job.

queenswake wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Cumminsbassguy97 wrote:</div>
I’ll chime in with the bird ice series. Since everyone is on the vex train. I have the ice 35 and have used it for 8 years now going out pretty consistently every season and I ablostulety love that unit. Especially for what $300 new? Sure it may not be as “clear” as other units, but it gets the job done. The dual deucer is a real nice plus along with the adjustable zoom for the whole water column. I am thinking of upgrading to the ice 55 and using the 35 for friends and kids.

I have the ICE 55 as my second unit when others come along and I like the fact that there is no interference with this one. Crazy how the prices have gone up on these older units over the years, but I suppose this is just an effect of inflation.

Anyway, yes, these are little talked about, but do a great job.

I know right ? Everyone overlooks them as a solid unit yet they haven’t really changed in what 10 or more years? Don’t need to fix it if it ain’t broken right ? My original battery still holds a charge like a champ, after 5 or 6 hours of fishing my battery still is only down to maybe 75% from a full charge. Is the color pallett really that much of a difference in your eyes ?

Matt Moen wrote:

I used a marcum VX1 for years….pretty comparable to the FL8 I believe. Those are kinda your 2 choices for entry level.

Both are super easy to use and I don’t think you can go wrong with either.

I’ve been using my VX1 Pro for 8 years or so and love the thing. I’m looking at upgrading and seems no one mentions Marcum anymore.

^^^there is a reason for that.

You really, really can’t go wrong with any vexilar unit. As others have mentioned, FL-18 is going to be the do-all option that still fits in a good budget. I run an FL-20 and wouldn’t trade it for any other unit, but I like the flat screen rather than the recessed screen of the 8/18 units. That’s just my preference though to each their own.

Deuces wrote:

If you’re gonna go with antiques might as well go to the thrift shop and get yourself a sweet rotary phone to pair with your dino vex tech.

2d is the future. Get yourself a cheap bird/Garmin/lowramce ice bundle and join the movement.

Hated fishing 2d. Went from my garmin back to the vex

Vex 18 or a Marcum TC 3 would be a great choice, the TC3 is tough to beat for a flasher. DK.

Vex you can’t go wrong.It will out live you.

Jeff what flasher do you have experience using? Maybe that will help us giving you advice.

I use a Vex FL28. Love the zoom and flat screen.

Have an fl8 going the last twenty years about. Bullet proof.

if you want cheap you can go with that noisy/blurry Vex FL8. if you want to use it in a boat, go with a all season Helix. if you want to just catch fish with nothing too fancy but like detail and newish technology, go with a ICE 35-55 or the higher end marcums etc. if you want to drill a thousand holes and hop around chasing fish, get those scanning panoptix units for $3000. tell me how you like to fish, what fish, what area and budget and i will recommend a top notch flasher for ya!

Just a quick google search of a price of a hummingbird will tell you not to buy 10 year old tech of an ice series.
Vex 18 helix 5-7 garmin uhd 5-7.
Vex fl8 if you are on budget and don’t go out much or want to learn the tech.
Either way they will help you tremendously in your ice fishing experience.

Holy cow !!! thank you all for your response. I am truly thankful for all the input … this community is awesome !!! budget wise I would say I would like to start simple not so much cheap but I don’t need anything to over the top.. I would say entry level is where I am looking.. I also saw someone ask what brand I had experience with, I believe it was a humminbird.. It had some age to it for sure.

If it had some age to it and still running than it was definitely a Vexilar. You could always go with a vexilar FLX-12 it is easy to use and very affordable. Brushless unit so very quiet and colors are really bright. Also, the customer service at vexilar is the BEST.

I run a simple Marcum MX1 flasher. Autozooms to last 5 ft of depth. Super simple to use, good resolution, cost was $300. For LOTW walleye fishing works great in a house with 4 other flashers running.

Sylvanboat wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Rodwork wrote:</div>
First question is what is your budget? You can get an old used FL-8 for say $75 or a Garmin livescope ice package for $3,000.

I still have my FL8 and it is rock solid. If you can get one for $75, that seems like a no-brainer. You can always upgrade later. Good luck.

Ditto! Great advise. Especially if you are fishing relatively shallow.

You said in your original post “flasher”, but the responses include graphs so I will assume you just want to fish like you did with your dad, and not spend too much.

I have used the Marcum Ice trotters for years- they do the job, and are small and light. I walked, and it was nice to have something not a lot bigger than a cellphone. They are selling them cheap: https://marcumtech.com/product/showdown-troller-2-0/

If you want to go a little bigger, Consider the Garmin Striker 4- you can get models that have GPS and even will make maps of your local lakes, and they start about the same price. You can get a full on ice kit, or buy the summer kit and dangle the transom transducer and add your own battery. There are a lot of folks on a budget using home-brew setups like that. You can find out how much work it is on Youtube or the forums.

Of course, you would never be sorry with a modern flasher from any manufacturer, especially if you can find a deal on a used one. I have sold or given away all of my older units, but they still worked.

I love my Marcum LX5