Upgrading my Flasher – LX6 or HB ICE55?

I currently have a HB ICE35 and have had no problems with it, however, I used it yesterday in deep water for the first time(80ft, perch fishing) and noticed that it had trouble picking up my jig and sometimes even fish. I have the power cranked all the way up. Fishing in this spot last weekend, a friend brought his HB ICE45 and that worked way better than mine.

That got me doing some reasearch last night and today, I see there is a quite a difference in the amount of power that the lower end flashers have (including my ICE35) and the mid to high end ranger flashers.

This has me thinking about upgrading. Looking at either LX6 or HB ICE55.

I’m happy with the HB products but the added features/functions on the LX6 seem really nice too.

I havent found many reviews on the LX6, seems most people talk about the LX7.

I can find a HB ICE55 for $420 and the LX6 for $499

Any ideas?

The LX6 is a small screen. I think for a little more you would be a lot happier with a 7. A friend bought a HB55 and took it back after one weekend of fishing. He thought it as junk. He exchanged it for a FL28. I personally love my LX7.

I have a lot of time on my LX 6 so far this season. I have really come to rely on the adjustable display. I like the ability to show history on the chart view and the vertical full water and zoom bar have become a go to for me.

If you have any questions be sure to ask them, one of us will have the answers for you!

I run the LX-9 and I know that isn’t a fair comparison. But I’ve been with Mudshark a couple of times while he was running his LX-6. Honestly I didn’t think the screen was too small for the amount of detail you gain. Granted, everyone loves the big screen TV, but if your getting the level of detail you want, I think the small screen is fine. From about 8 feet away I could look over and see his screen perfectly clear.
My bias to marcum for perch fishing is only bias from use and experience. I’ve run Vex FL8, 12, 18’s, H/B Ice 45, and many others. I’m not on the Marcum staff or on the Rapala Ice team thing. I’ve ran my 9 out on Mendota here in Madison in depths ranging 55 to 68 fow. After a couple minor adjustments, I could see a W-3 jig rap just a couple inches off the bottom and still mark baby perch skirting the bottom.
For obvious reasons, if you can get on the water with someone that has a 6, do it. You’ll be very happy with the results.

I have the new Vexilar FLX-28, and the vex still only uses 400 watts of power, and this weekend fishing crappies in 50 fow I could see my swivel and #5 tungsten perfectly! It just took a couple extra minutes to dial it in! I know it still wasn’t as deep as you were fishing, just need to be patient with the fine tuning of the gain! There’s nothing wrong with your Ice-35, great product, IMO!

Thanks for all of the good info. It looks like there were some issues about a year ago with the firmware on the Marcum’s, does that seem to be reoslved now?

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Thanks for all of the good info. It looks like there were some issues about a year ago with the firmware on the Marcum’s, does that seem to be reoslved now?

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Upgrades, patches, and enhancements will be on-going. I don’t know the specifics for the 6, but there was a software upgrade released. Super easy to run the software updates!

From my use of the new firmware, I am very impressed. There is no flickering and all the features are running great.

Marcum is a great company to work with if anything comes up, I am confident that you will be more than happy with your new toy!

Go with the LX7 if you can swing it…much larger screen. I have the 7 and the son has the 6 and now he wishes he had the 7.

A few months back I was debating the exact same thing, but I was more inclined to the LX7 than the LX6 at the time. After some research I decidede the LX6 would fit my needs the best, and I haven’t looked back! I have a friend that runs the HB55 and fishing next to him last year with my vex, I was jealous… This year we were fishing again but this time it was my LX6 that made him jealous. If you get the opportunity to try out the different units, that will help you a lot in making your decision. For me the toughest part was choosing which LX product would be best for me after I got to try out the FL20/22, Ice55, LX5/6/7/9… I’m pretty sure you can find someone in your area on here that won’t mind fishing with you and letting you try out their flasher… play with all the different modes and help you see first hand which unit you want to invest in. To get the offers going, feel free to come up to Ely anytime and try mine out.