What should I buy with my $$

If a guy has a couple hundred $ burning a hole in his pocket, and the ice, what ice fishing finder should he get. Easy to use and most bang for the buck. Panfish to Walleye fisher. Makes and models please.

Thanks much guys, if anyone can find a good way to spend my $ I know you can.

Vexilar FL 18, hands down!

I would get a whole pile of jigs in different colors and sizes It also would depend on what you already have for gear. The vex would also be on the top of the priority list.

Blackduck, listen to superdave, I can’t imagine ice fishing without one ( FL18 ).

the Vex will help anyone

WOW! That was fast guys, I figured it would be the Vex. I was just looking for some support to buy yet another electronic device. Only used one once for 1 day of fishing, but had a blast with it.

Thanks

Definately the FL-18

The problem will be that a couple hunderd bucks won’t buy an FL-18. You can buy and FL-8 for around $300 and expect to pay another $100 for the FL-18. I would agree however that you won’t regret it.

What’s the advantage of the 18 over the 8? It might not need the 18. I am just looking for basics as I am new to the Vexilar. Will I be happy with the 8?? I ice fish probably 30 times a season with at least 10 of those days spent in water that’s less than 10 feet deep. Maybe I don’t need one of these fancy dodads. Am I trying to talk myself out of it now?? I would probably fish more if I had one.

Blackduck

The differance of the 18 vs the 8 (I have a 8SLT) is the 18 can zoom in to the bottom 6′ of the water column. This lets you see fish that are right on the bottom – that might otherwise be lost in the clutter on the bottom.

The 18 can also lock-in on the water – espec if you use it in the summer from a boat – your “picture” of the water column is stable – even if the boat is moving due to wave
action.

I only use my FL8 on the ice, so from that perspective….sometimes you will see what appears to be the bottom flickering – those are fish. The FL8 can’t pick them up – if I recall – it can show 2-2.5″ target seperation. The FL18 can “blow up” the bottom 6′ so that you can see those fish.

Had this happen last winter – fishing perch. They were on the bottom – you had to coax them up before the FL8 could pick them up. You would litterally see a red line (fish) detach itself from the thicker red line (bottom).

Hope this helps….

UG

no one has mentioned the marcum lx-3 yet? I won’t debate which one is better, but keep your options open. the lx-3 is an awesome flasher, if money is an issue then the lx-1 is about a c-note cheaper. I have had mine for 2 years and wouldn’t go ice fishing with out it. now if i could just get some ice

I will second the MarCum LX-3 if you are looking for a top of the line unit. If you want to save a few bucks the LX-1 is the way to go. Both have excellent Interfernce Rejection features but the LX-1 does not have the 2 levels of adjustable zoom the LX-3 does.

If money is an issue the LX-1 is the way to go. If you are hard on your equipment I would suggest looking at the LX-3 despite the cost, the soft pack in comes in the best!

Make that another vote for the Marcum. Both the LX-1 and LX-3 are awesome. The zoom on the LX-3 is really nice. The display is crisp and sharp and the interferrence rejection works well too.

I’m having a similar internal debate as the poster. If I fished by myself I think I’d get the Marcum LX 3, but I fish with my dad a lot and he has a Vex FL8. I’ve heard the Marcum would be OK but that I’d give my dad’s FL8 a lot of interference. Am I right in thinking that if I get an FL18 both he and I would have clearer signals?

I rarely have problems with my MarCums when it comes to interference from any unit. You will get less interence on your FL8 then will be picked up by the FL-18 from the MarCum units.