Marcum LX-i (what is it and what are it's best uses?)

So first off if there’s a way to search these forums without starting new threads I’d appreciate it if someone could point me to it. The top right corner never shows anything for me and I’m sure some of this stuff has been talked about before. I’m curious about the LX-i. They market it as a depth and fish finder but it obviously does not have the graph like a flasher so I’m curious if it alerts you to the presence of fish prior to drilling but then looses it’s usefulness. I’m looking for an inexpensive way to break into ice fishing electronics and how marcum positions it (in the only youtube video I can find on the topic) this is something that is useful even after you have a flasher in play. I’d guess it’s helpful for finding structure, depths, and possibly schools?

Thanks for the info!

I believe all it does is tell the depth and has a fish “ALARM” on it.

Straight from the Rapala site….

DESCRIPTION
The ultimate portable sonar, LX-i is the size of a flashlight, allowing for easy, one-handed depth and fish finding on ice. No fumbling with separate transducers— just press the face of the LX-i against wet ice, and digital depth immediately appears on the large LCD display. Powered by a 6-volt battery (included), LX-i comes nicely protected inside a padded carrying case.

yeah i read that but it says depth and fish finding which is what confused me.

Paul Owens wrote:

yeah i read that but it says depth and fish finding which is what confused me.

I’m sure it’s like the trick you can do with a flasher. I’ve seen Vexilar’s videos on it but any flasher should be able to shoot through.

I think the trick is decently snow-free ice and to wet the ice then plop the ducer down on it. You can read the depth without drilling. Handy if you are drilling by hand.

darkstar72 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Paul Owens wrote:</div>

I think the trick is decently snow-free ice and to wet the ice then plop the ducer down on it. You can read the depth without drilling. Handy if you are drilling by hand.

You can see through the ice with any ducers on the market. The advantage with the LXi is that it’s really small and easy to carry around. I think it’s really intended for scouting depth more than anything. I prefer to use my LX-3 for this. It doesn’t fit in my pocket but it isn’t hard to carry around with my auger, and once I decide to fish a spot I can use it for fishing as well.
If you use an LXi you still need a real flasher anyway, so I don’t see much value in it.