Marcum Question

Hello,

I have an LX-5 that I have a question about. Last year I owned a Showdown locater but I got in on the $300 Marcum LX-5 fire sale at Reeds last spring. So when I fishing with the Showdown in 15′ or deeper water I could see my jig and the jig of whoever was fishing with me in my portable shelter (so we could share the fish locater) however I have twice been in the same situation with the LX-5 and it will NOT see the other jig…it see’s the jig that is in the same hole as the LX-5 great and it marks fish great but with a jiggin rap in the other hole in my portable shack and in 30′ of water the marcum just does not pick it up. Sometime you MIGHT get a little flicker from it but very rare. My theory is that the unit is stuck in narrow beam mode even though it is turned off (at least the light is off on the control pad). Has anyone seen this before or should I just live with it and send it in at the end of the season (sending it in during season is NOT an option). My battery is definitely good and I’m making absolutely sure the transducer is level and below the ice. If a Showdown can see both jigs in the same shack with the holes the same distance apart and that deep of water I would really hope the LX-5 can do the same. I really like this LX-5 and the adjustable zoom is so any help would be appreciated. Have a great day!

I have fished multiple jigs/holes with my LX5 and have had no issue. Not sure what issue you have, but one is certainly there. Get it checked out!

did you play with the gain at all? if it flickers in and out, i’d turn it up a bit and see if that helps.

how far away are the holes? remember its only a 20deg cone. if i have to share a flasher, i try to drill a 3rd hole inbetween the holes fished to give both fishermen the best shot at finding their jig.

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did you play with the gain at all? if it flickers in and out, i’d turn it up a bit and see if that helps.

how far away are the holes? remember its only a 20deg cone. if i have to share a flasher, i try to drill a 3rd hole inbetween the holes fished to give both fishermen the best shot at finding their jig.

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Tried turning up the gain and it starts to see the other jig around 5 but then it seems like too much gain for whats going on. the other hole is only 2-3 feet away in my portable flipover, should be plenty close.

I too am new to the LX-5 and like you I only see one jig. The other hole next to the one I’m using it in is only 2 or 3 Ft away and I only can see the one jig. This is while using a rather heavy Diamond jig. I thought that was weird but was not sure. I’d like to hear from a few other LX-5 owners if they are able to see both jigs from that far away and if so how high they have to set the gain.

I’m fairly certain that most anglers try to do exactly the opposite of what you guys are trying to do. But I guess if they’re both your jigs then you may want to see them. I just did the math and @ 8.25 ft, a 20 degree angle picks up a 6 foot ring. Thats when you should see your other jig 3 ft away.
A 12 degree cone will see the jig 3 ft away at just over 14 ft.

You’re really going to have to adjust your gain accordingly to get the flasher to do what you want.

By turning up the gain, you’re not increasing the flasher’s output but rather opening up the transducer to receive more signals.

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I’m fairly certain that most anglers try to do exactly the opposite of what you guys are trying to do. But I guess if they’re both your jigs then you may want to see them. I just did the math and @ 8.25 ft, a 20 degree angle picks up a 6 foot ring. Thats when you should see your other jig 3 ft away.
A 12 degree cone will see the jig 3 ft away at just over 14 ft.

You’re really going to have to adjust your gain accordingly to get the flasher to do what you want.

By turning up the gain, you’re not increasing the flasher’s output but rather opening up the transducer to receive more signals.

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I was not really trying to get it to pick up the other jig. But if in 20+ ft of water it does not pick up a heavy jig that is only 2 or 3 Ft away from the center of the cone is it picking up fish from that far away either?

Well I guess I was just used to fishing with a friend that doesnt have a sonar and using the Showdown in one hole we could see both our jigs without too much adjusting and do a respectable job of fishing…I will try the three hole technique and see if that works better for us. However when It’s just me the unit works great!

it may be the jig type too. body design, not just heavy. I have noticed the Doodle bugs are picked up much better than forige minnows… just a thought.

The 3 hole solution does work. I was fishing with my brother in law last saturday in 11′ of water and we drilled a hole between ours and could easily see both jigs. The only problem was when a fish came up we didn’t know which jig it was going to but the spring bobber soon let us know that. It is kind of hard getting used to though when you are used to fishing solo with the LX5. One other thing I learned was to have the transducer near the bottom of the ice. Good luck

I had my wheel house over thirty feet of water yesterday and my LX 5 clearly picked up a diamond jig in one hole and a single hook with the tiniest split shot above it in another and it showed them both…. The holes were 5 feet apart.

It should pick it up you might just have to turn the gain up slightly. The 3 hole aproach to this works best. I too have noticed even 1 jig in 1 hole diferant jigs show up better. Verticle baits seem harder to find even if they are bigger. When I fish 2 rods I set mine so that I only see the second jig when it is moved. Just my preferance. You should be able to get the gain set to see both solid.

I am also new to the lx-5 this year. I usually have 2 holes 3 feet apart in my shack. I usually have a ratso/ratfink down one hole and am banging a 1/16th oz spoon off the bottom in the other. This is normally in 12-15 fow. If I have things set up to watch the spoon the ratso will show every once in a while if it is not moving. If I jig them both they seem to show up well. This is with my gain between 2 and 3 but usually closer to the 2 than 3. Good luck.

I agree with Matt on this one.

Personally, I don’t like to see other lines in the water when I’m jigging in one hole and need to concentrate my efforts on that one lure specifically.

However, I have noticed this very same thing, and in my opinion, it comes down to bottom content and signal returns. For example, if I am fishing sand in my perm shack, I cannot see another jig/minnow combo 6′ apart in 28′ of water unless I increase the gain, and I really have to increase the gain.

If I am over rocks, mud and weedy areas of all things, I can see several lines down there. I could see 4 lures on my LX-5 in 12′ of water over weeds from inside the Otter when I fished with others not long ago. This issue made me scratch my head too.

Thank goodness the LX-5 has a narrow beam mode for that situation when I see everyone else’s lines.

Thanks for all the responses guys…Im heading up near Lac Du Flambeau this weekend and I’ll give the 3 hold method a try. If it doesn’t work out the other guy will just have to pony up the dough and buy his own sonar

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Tried turning up the gain and it starts to see the other jig around 5 but then it seems like too much gain for whats going on. the other hole is only 2-3 feet away in my portable flipover, should be plenty close.

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you should be ok with 2-3′.. how kinds of jigs are you using? like a couple other guys said, some shapes just dont ping as well as others.

but you are right, ur buddy might have to bite the bullet and get a flasher just to keep up with you! good luck out there, let us know how you did.