Vexlar or MarCum?

Looking at getting a new flasher, I have been out of the game for a few years and looking to get back into it. Just wondering if you guys have any opinions or recommendations.

Thanks

Ford vs Chevy

Lund vs Alumacraft

Potato vs Potatoe

Vikings vs Packers

Trump vs Hillery

You will have a ton of options both sides. Both make good units. Go to a “GOOD” sporting goods store and look at them both and have a knowledgeable electronics sales guy walk you through the features and benefits. There is also a ton of youtube videos on both.

Whats your price range?
How do you fish?
Where do you live?

I’m a Vexilar man for sure!

I own a lx7 love it but vexilar is a good product dont get me wrong but I just like the features on the 7 instead of being just a traditional flasher like vex. Vex is user friendly and like mocha said it’s ford vs. Chevy. It depends on the style you fish if you are more of a sit and stay id recommend the 7 for the screen size and differnt screens. If you hole hop id go the 6 same as the 7 just smaller screen or go with vexs fl28 with the digital depth read out.

I am from the twin cities area, price range 3-$400. I would like to do more of the hole hopping. I used a Hondex and had a buddy that had an early Marcum. Do they still interfere with each other in case I end up in a portable?

What’s a vexlar? Some type of new boat anchor?

I would look for the best deal you can find on a lx5, or an fl20, good luck, you will like both.

For my first flasher I purchased an FL18, loved it and thought it was the best option. Buddy of mine had an LX 6 so I tried it, was so impressed with all the features and the LCD screen that I went and traded my vex in to get the marcum that same day, never looked back since.

In on page one!

First off … RAM. And second.. LX6.

God
Family,
IDO
GMC
Yamaha
Falcon Rods
Quantum Reels
H/bird in my boat
and my LX9 on the ice

FL-18! I have an FL-12 and I love it but wish I would have went with the FL-18. I know people that have had Marcum and loved them but after a year or two they have ran into problems with them. I have had my Vexilar for 2 years know and my older brother has had is for 6 years with no problems and he not gentle with his equipment.

You’ll like either one, honestly. The LX-6/7 is really neat, as is the FL-20/FLX-28. Play with both and decide on your own which one is better for you. I decided the FLX was better for me and now i’m second guessing my choice due to the ProView transducer. I fish a lot of shallow water (4-8′) and the ProView is just too powerful, even with weed-mode and low power mode active. Other than that, it’s the best unit I’ve owned.

do you fish a lot of shallow water? like less than 12′? Thats really a big deal to me as Marcum surpasses Vexilar in shallow water so much. the reason in the vexilar gain doesn’t really go to 0. you can’t clear the screen. marcums you can. the proview ducer is horrible in shallow water, even with weed mode, lp mode, etc. a buddy of mine fishes alot of miss backwaters, he had 2 suppression cables on his 28 to get it to work right. thats ridiculous.

I’ve owned a fl8, fl18, vx1p, and lx5. I’ve used extensively a fl20, fl28, and a lx6.

for me nothing comes close to the lx5 in terms of ease of use and ridiculous amount of features.

Marcum genius is in its sharpness. the screen is so crisp. however, it blinks. moving fish blink, your bait will blink at times. it drove my grandfather nuts so he went back to vexilar. Vexilar blends so it looks blobby. so its the blink vs the blob.

my buddy this year (the one with the proview) got a tri beam to try this year. i think he’ll be happier.

I prefer marcum, because I’ve always used Marcum. But, Vexilar is great as well.

Just a couple of things I like about Marcum: Great display. High-end durability.

Also, a few features that Marcum has that others generally don’t: it comes with a soft case and mounting system in the box (not paying extra for cases, pack upgrades, etc). Even the base model has a zoom feature (I almost always have me zoom activated). Seem to be less prone to interference than vexilar (could be because more people fish vexilar, so you see them next to each other more often). The jointed transducer arm may seem like an insignificant feature, but I love it. I can fish the hole with the transducer, it stays where I want it, and I never get tangled (as opposed to the gaudy stock vexilar foam floating around).

My brother and father both use vexilar exclusively, and they are also tanks. You really can’t go wrong.

Also, in regards to the previous posters comment on blinking:

Was that with an older model? Maybe a bad unit, or bad connection with the transducer? Maybe had the gain set just a touch low? I’ve never had the blinking problem, if I have my gain set where I prefer it. Or, maybe it’s just something that I haven’t noticed (clearly doesn’t bother me).

yeah you have to notice, mine is a newer lx5, my grandfathers an older one, and another buddy has 2 lx3’s. the only thing that blinks is the fish. the bottom, tree limbs, etc, all just stay there. its that sensitive. the blinking is due to fish fins in my estimation which is one fo the reasons its the best. its very subtle but its there. it doesn’t bother or is even noticed by probably most. my grandfather had epilepsy so he was very vigilant of blinking anything.

I haven’t had a problem with blinking on any of my Marcum units. If the fish is below you, its a solid return. If its at the edge of the cone I could see potentially having some blinking/flickering, but not if its below you. I think that would largely be attributed to the gain. Turn up the gain a bit and I would bet it goes away and you get a solid return regardless of where the fish is.
My approach is to set the gain as low as possible so my bait is a fine line on the screen. I hate the big blobs.

I chose Vexilar because I liked the display colors more. My eyes weren’t as comfortable with the oranges of the Marcum.

@ross I would recommend some more information in your question. Such as what you like to fish for and at what depths? Are you a hole hopper or more likely to stay in one place? Do you have unlimited budget? etc?

Then change your question to which are the best options for your needs and budget in the respective Marcum and Vexilar line ups.

That will narrow it down to 1 or maybe 2 choices in each company’s offerings. Both companies make good products, just make sure you get the one that fits your requirements.

Without a doubt Dodge Ram, and Vexilar! Seriously though I don’t think you can go wrong with either. I’ve always had Vexilars, am extremely hard on my equipment and never had a Vex breakdown.

Ha ha, this guy…

I have a lx5 and like: the arm (over float), soft case, movable zoom. I like the display of my buddy’s vex as it seems cleaner.

I also dont get why vexes have that intermittent spinning/grinding noise.

I bet if James and the ice force crew used vexilar the responses would be a lot different. Monkey see monkey do. I personally love my vexilar. I’ve only ever had one problem with a vexilar many years ago and I was able to bring it to motor clinic in Bloomington and it was fixed that day.

Buckeye86 wrote:

I bet if James and the ice force crew used vexilar the responses would be a lot different. Monkey see monkey do.

I strongly disagree. Not to burst Jame’s ego, but I don’t run into that many guys that know of his show. When people see my IDO hoodie, I’ll get asked what it’s about.

There are more word of mouth sales than IDO shows sales. My humble opinion.

404 ERROR wrote:

You’ll like either one, honestly. The LX-6/7 is really neat, as is the FL-20/FLX-28. Play with both and decide on your own which one is better for you. I decided the FLX was better for me and now i’m second guessing my choice due to the ProView transducer. I fish a lot of shallow water (4-8′) and the ProView is just too powerful, even with weed-mode and low power mode active. Other than that, it’s the best unit I’ve owned.

I had the same issues trying to use the weed mode with my 28. I switched to a tri beam and it seems to help. Still hard to beat my 22 in shallow water or weeds. Get one of your buddies to switch you transducers for a trip and see if it helps. Any vex transducer will work on your 28

Buckeye86 wrote:

I bet if James and the ice force crew used vexilar the responses would be a lot different. Monkey see monkey do.

I too strongly disagree….I own Marcums because I like them….
And I disagree with everybody who says they break all the time….I have 3 Marcum products,I’ve had my VX flasher for 10 years,my 6 for 3….not once have they let me down……

I like my LX7 when by myself in the fish house or alone in my heated flip over Otter. Last year I was fishing more with others and getting interference that if I could adjust out I would loose my lure and not see fish as they would flash. The final straw was taking the unit from the fish house outside and having the inner screen fog or frost up. I just bought a Vexilar FL22hd and opted for the ProView transducer, I very seldom fish in less than 15 feet of water. Basically I’m relying on the Vex to be a good outdoor unit fishing close to others. They are both great units and will be backup if one or the other fails.

Buckeye86 wrote:

I bet if James and the ice force crew used vexilar the responses would be a lot different. Monkey see monkey do. I personally love my vexilar. I’ve only ever had one problem with a vexilar many years ago and I was able to bring it to motor clinic in Bloomington and it was fixed that day.

this is a personally offensive comment. I do extensive research on everything I buy. I don’t buy something because of who else might use it but obviously there are people who do. How else would you explain clam selling as well as they do? Because you see the blue crew everwhere. Their products are nowhere near the quality of the other shelters out there.
I have used marcums since before I even saw them used on any tv show. I was intrigued by them when I could turn them on in the store and not have that constant buzzing sound like the vexilars had and the lines didn’t look like blobs from an 80s Nintendo game.

I have never owned a Vexilar, but I have owner Marcum and Humminbird. I’d give very high marks to the Marcum LX-5. It has everything I need, and I know I could sell it in a heartbeat if I wanted to upgrade.

Mocha wrote:

Vikings vs Packers

That one is just silly. One of those two has 4 Lombardi Trophies, the other one has zero.