vexilars versus regular fish finders

[KPI]

why is everyone using a vexilar when is seems to me that my grandpa had one of these on his boat years ago. wouldn't a elite five with ice tranducer be a better option??? you get a history of the fish on the page just seems better technology to me then the flasher I mean you wouldn't use your vex moving on the boat seems like the elite five is a faster unit to see what is happening??? and plus it is cheaper and color !!!!

[Mullygyn]

Its instant infirmation . no delay. Accurate...

[davidhoheisel]

I am assuming that your talking about the lowrance unit that has a ice transducer.

This unit will work better for year round fishing as you can use the sonar feature during soft water. It does offer a flasher setting with the ice transducer that is real time but just isnt as clear as other flashers made for ice fishing.

The vex is going to be more detailed as a flashers go compared to the lowrance and will work better for ice fishing.

It really comes down to budget. The lowrance will give you both options for soft and hard water.

[mbarrett1379]

I own the lowrance and personally love it on the ice! Clear, lots of options and im a tech guru. I feel that the vexilars are way expensive for not a lot of technology BUT they are 100 percent guarrenteed to work and simply are proved by many to be a great electronic.

[snowcone]

call me old school but I like 2 watch the fish symbols on my hummer bird..now don't get me wrong I have seen how effective flashers are and you guys will most likely catch more fish...but....and I can scrape the ice pour some water on it and set my transducer there and see whats up....

[OhioFisher19]

We have a couple of the old school flashers in the basement. Funny you brought up how that was the first fish finders and now they have gone to a whole new environment. Haven't heard of the elite 5 being used on the ice. Although I have fished vertical for lake trout up north on an open water humminbird and it was successful. Although it is no doubt that the instant information makes for success. I do see GPS being the next innovation being tied into all ice fish finders.

[mbarrett1379]

GPS is fantastic to find those break lines and to get back to exact spots

[KPI]

check out the lowrance elite 5 ice machine on you tube pretty sweet let me know what ya think

[slabslayer]

I have a handheld gps that will use my navionics. I can find and go back to my spots. As for the fish finder vs vex debate, I have both. I 2 have Lowrance HDS units and an elite 7 on my bass boat and they work well for vertical drop shotting. For ice fishing, I'll never use anything but a flasher. They show an ice fly better and the live screen is more responsive in my opinion. As far as the vex vs marcum vs hummingbird ice flasher, that's a ford, Chevy, dodge thing. All a matter of personal preference as all 3 will get the job done. I've seen all 3 on the ice in action, but own and prefer the vex. Just my opinion, as all are great products.

[Hillbilly]

"instant information"

just turn your chart speed up, thats step 3 in a basic process to make your open water sonar into icefishing friendly unit.

Chart speed of ten, i assure you on a "bird" the unit knows what the fish is gonna do before the fish does, is tough to watch at first, kinda like a video game thing going on

I prefer the LCD unit myself, flashers work great, nothing wrong with them, but i prefer the normal sonar unit.

[chaunc]

I too enjoy the sonar over the flasher. I've owned and used every flasher unit except marcum. I used a lowrance M68C unit last season and fell in love with it. So much so that i upgraded to the new elite 5 icemachine this year. Took it out in the boat with me a couple times and marked some spots that i can walk too on the ice. I'll see how accurate the gps is on it when i can get out. Really like that bigger screen too. Sold my vex 22, bird 45, showdown 5.6, and vex 18 in the last 5 years.

[Hillbilly]

the biggest hurdle to over-come with an open water sonar is getting the transducer to hang level. If you got the scratch, buy an ice-ducer,(common in the 'birds and lowrance units now that they market them for ice fishing).
If not, spend an hour working it out. A transducer is a transducer, they both do the same thing, its just one is designed to mount solidly to a boat, one is ment to hang in an ice hole.

Once you get past the transducer issue, its a simple. You will need to tweak your sensitivity settings, your chart/scroll speed and your interference settings.(on the newer units, there are other settings that can be adjusted for maximum benefit)
On the older units, especially black and white units, you need to run your sensitivity really high, on the newer color units, much less.

If you have any questions specifically, let me know, been doing this for quite some time.

[wetline1]

I purchased my first flasher last year. It was a Marcum vx1 pro, and I have enjoyed its usefulness. I think whichever one you choose, it is a matter of personal preference. However, after seeing Dave's upgraded vexilar, I have a good idea what my next flasher will be. I was amazed by the color distinction and the zoom.

[davidhoheisel]

Doug Stewart will be doing an electronics seminar at the Fin in Ashland and demonstrating the different vexilars.

The new Vex 28 has a demo mode which will allow you to see how the flasher works.

It is the best unit that Vexilar has produced so far.

The best way is to educate yourself on all different units and then it comes to personal preference. They will all make your day of ice fishing successful.

[erierider]

The more I look into these Lowrances and 'birds using the sonar, I am starting to think I may be selling my Vex FL-18 and going with one of these. Like the integrated GPS and after researching on multiple sites, think this is the wave of the future.
Hit you tube and watch some of the videos on these units, quite impressive.
I know on some other sites, several higher profile guys have begged the "flasher" companies to step their game up but it has fallen on deaf ears. As good as these new units might be from the flasher companies, I am starting to think, if you use a lowrance or bird in summer and are really familiar with how it works and wht it does, why just keep using through the year??? It appears as any issues with lag time etc, have been corrected.
Gonna make it a point to use one of these in depth this year and then make a decison from there.