Author Topic: aqua vu showdown (Read 4240 times)

10inches of ice · « **on:** Feb 22, 2009, 06:42 PM »

anyone ever use one, are they any good, or should i stick with buying a vexilar.

PondPro · « **Reply #1 on:** Feb 22, 2009, 06:46 PM »

well if u wanna catch more fish go with the vex but the aqua view is pretty neat to have well thats when you have the cord not spinning on ya.

SNAGGER · « **Reply #2 on:** Feb 22, 2009, 09:31 PM »

Buy the fishfinder, then down the road if you got extra money buy the camera. Camera is useful, but a fishfinder is a necessity.

combsey · « **Reply #3 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 12:54 AM »

Go with the vex first the camera is great but you have to find the fish first and the vex is an easy way to locate fish

MuskyHunter · « **Reply #4 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 07:38 AM »

hey guys, I think he's asking about the showdown fishfinder which i believe is made by aqua vu/nature vision. They use the showdown on in-fisherman shows...it seems to work quite well...on tv. Also, I think there is another thread here somewhere about the showdown....I've been thinking about one as well, though i'll probably go with the marcum L-X 5!

icecutter2 · « **Reply #5 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 08:58 AM »

Stay away from the Showdown, junk. Had tow of them, neither one ever even made it out on the ice, sent them both back for refund. Have a MarCum now, great machine. I'm sure Vexilar is awesome too though.

fishingrod · « **Reply #6 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 12:01 PM »

Will this camera setup do the job:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=120381434353

walt80 · « **Reply #7 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 12:56 PM »

I've owned a Showdown for two years now, and I think it is great. You can see a fish 1/2 inch off the bottom. The battery life is great. It lasts for days. You aren't spinning a motor as you would on a Vex or Marcum. So far so good. I don't know about the longevity because they haven't been around that long. I think the verticle picture of the water column is easier to use than the spinning dial. Check out their web page, it has a few video segments to show it in use.

zaphod4 · « **Reply #8 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 01:13 PM »

This is my 2nd season with the show-down unit.Love it.Great features and easy to use.Has a heater for the transducer also.Saturday I fished with a freind.Right next to him in a shelter.He had his vix and I had my showdown.1st nice thing was that there was no interference.The other thing is that the showdown worked better.Saw my jig and the fish the whole time.Even say his jig even when he couldn't.That was in 23 fow with his sensitivity turned all the way up.Plus my showdown cost about half of his vex.You should feel confident when buying the show-down.

fishingrod · « **Reply #9 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 01:18 PM »

Is the show down the same as that link I put up?

bird21s · « **Reply #10 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 01:37 PM »

i used a aqua view for the first time the other day. i do agree that a flasher is the thing to buy first. thats if your trying to find the fish fast. it was quicker for me to drill a hole and drop my line down for a min to see if the fish were down there. with the viewer it takes a min to unwind the cable, wait for the cam to stop spinning, hope you not to deep. and if you do see a fish now you gotta get another hole drilled to do what you shoulda done the first time. however i was more interested in the bottom structure of the areas iv been fishing so the aqua view was absolutely amazing. i was able to mark out the edge of the weed beds and see where the vegetation was the thickest..

ICEROGUE · « **Reply #11 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 01:40 PM »

I have had experince will all fish finders and this is how I would rate them

#1. showdown by nature vision. (crystal quick, not vpx)
#2. marcum lx-5
#3. vexlar fl-8, or fl-20
#4. hummingbird -55
#5. lowrance x67c Ice machine

ICEROGUE · « **Reply #12 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 01:42 PM »

Quote from: fishingrod on Feb 23, 2009, 01:18 PM

Is the show down the same as that link I put up?

no. the showdown is a sonar unit, the link is for a underwater camra

ICEROGUE · « **Reply #13 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 01:54 PM »

I think people are a little confused here, the showdown is not a camra, nature vision makes it, nature vision also ownes aqua-vu but it is a sonar unit much like the flashers, only diffrence is one is flachers are analog and the showdown is digital. the first showdown model that came out was the vpx - vertical pixil graph. now they have a crystal quick model. here is the link. http://www.showdownfishfinder.com/

Sullymon · « **Reply #14 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 02:55 PM »

Quote from: 10inches of ice on Feb 22, 2009, 06:42 PM

anyone ever use one, are they any good, or should i stick with buying a vexilar.

Yes there appears to still be some confusion ... he is asking which flasher he should buy, the Nature Vision Showdown or a Vexilar ... the Showdown is NOT a camera, it is a lineal flasher with a liquid crystal display.

Buy the Vex ... if you fish a lot like me and use small jigs in 4 fow up to 60+ fow for panfish and the like. Nothing compairs to the target separation and sensitivity of the Vex. Ask anybody that owns one ... they (and I) won't fish without it. Try picking out a fish and a small jig inside the weeds with the black and white display of the Showdown, easily accomplished with the Vex.

As far as cameras go I only use them when scouting potential hotspots, then catch them with the vex. Spend the money and get a FL-18 or FL-20 ... you will be VERY pleased.
The Hummingbird and MarCum units are pretty good too ... I mostly fish 10-20 fow, so I went with the Vex since they have the best sensitivity and a low power mode so I don't spook fish.

Sullymon · « **Reply #15 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 03:11 PM »

Quote from: zaphod4 on Feb 23, 2009, 01:13 PM

This is my 2nd season with the show-down unit.Love it.Great features and easy to use.Has a heater for the transducer also.Saturday I fished with a freind.Right next to him in a shelter.He had his vix and I had my showdown.1st nice thing was that there was no interference.The other thing is that the showdown worked better.Saw my jig and the fish the whole time.Even say his jig even when he couldn't.That was in 23 fow with his sensitivity turned all the way up.Plus my showdown cost about half of his vex.You should feel confident when buying the show-down.

There must have been something wrong with his Vex ... the Vex FL-18 I have (or even the FL-8 I used to have) picks up ANY jig at just about any depth (depending on how deep the unit goes). I have never had a problem picking up my jig ... and I use 2# test with a size #12-#16 marmooska and even smaller jigs. I can even pick up ice forming on my line or a used spike I dropped in the hole. Target separation is far superior in my opinion to the Showdown as it has a monochrome display (black+white) verse the multicolor of the Vex. Try picking out your jig and fish inside weeds at the same time ... no problem with the Vex. Everything you see on the display is instant real-time too. I know some people that bought the Showdown and were disappointed when compared to my Vex. In my opinion the Showdown is a great idea, but it falls short and has reliability problems.

There is a reason why Vexilar is the industry leader in flashers. Don't take my word for it ... do the research and draw your own conclusion.

Fridge · « **Reply #16 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 03:18 PM »

I have the Show Down. I have had it for three years. I had to return it for a recall and then it broke. I wasn't happy.....but they made good on it. They sent me the latest version this year and it works great. The units that were sold a couple years ago had a lot of problems and required updates to the software. The people at Nature Vision admitted to the flaws and sent a new unit and asked that I return the old one to them so they could investigate the probelms. They were hard to get ahold of at times.....but they have backed up the product at no cost to me for 3 years now. There is something to be said for that. The new unit works great...and I can fish up to 16 hours on 1 battery cycle. I have no problem picking up a small dot in 40 feet of water. It is a good unit for the money ($270 I think).....but I think the VEX has a more durable set up. The Showdown comes in a flexible neoprene case. It does not protect the unit very well....so you need to be carefull with how you transport it.

goinhungry · « **Reply #17 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 04:00 PM »

go with the vex

outdoorjohn2 · « **Reply #18 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 04:43 PM »

Buy the fish finder first and because you can get more use out of it then buy the camera I have both and they both work well but I would definitely buy the fish finder first.

rlowery · « **Reply #19 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 04:56 PM »

the showdown is not a camera, it is a vertical display flasher.

Sullymon · « **Reply #20 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 05:28 PM »

He was asking about the Showdown unit, not a camera.

10inches of ice · « **Reply #21 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 06:11 PM »

thanks for all the input, still don't know what i'm gonna buy.

ICEROGUE · « **Reply #22 on:** Feb 25, 2009, 10:08 AM »

Quote from: 10inches of ice on Feb 23, 2009, 06:11 PM

thanks for all the input, still don't know what i'm gonna buy.

it's easy, get the showdown, and with the money u save get a icegator or a articarmor suit.

trust me when I say the showdown will out perform any flasher. and if you do decide to go with a "downgrade" dont go with the vex, go with the marcum lx-5. if you ever saw them in action you would agree with me. just my 2 cents

Sullymon · « **Reply #23 on:** Feb 25, 2009, 12:07 PM »

I'd like to see how long that cheesy liquid-crystal display will last (the kind that always break on older cell phones) ... also those microwave-style buttons seem cheap. Analog knobs are used for a reason - reliability and quick adjustments on the fly. Same reason high-end guitar power amps have switched back to analog knobs. Who wants to scroll through menus to make a quik change???

I just fail to see how the Showdown outdoes a Vex ... just ask anybody who has OWNED both. MarCums a good unit but I'd only get one if I was fishing mostly deep water ... too overpowered for the type of fishing I do. Higher powered units are not necessarily a good thing ... especially in 20 fow or less and weedy areas (75% of my fish are caught in 12-18 fow). Everybody I know that has a Showdown (or had one) has had problems with it. Just my 2 cents.

Also - the Showdown website has some false claims ...
Battery life - Several hours on traditional flashers? not true- mine lasts several days @ 8+ hrs a day
Target Separation - 2.65"

My vex has a target ID of less than 1/2"
Response - Realtime verse "Crystal Quick" ?(whatever that means). Not sure what is faster than REALTIME unless it has the ability to predict the FUTURE

.

Lots of hype out there ... but there's a reason most of the pros use Vexilar!

bigredonice · « **Reply #24 on:** Feb 25, 2009, 12:15 PM »

I've got a friend who bought the showdown, we've used a few times head to head. Its okay for shallow water, shows the lure, shows fish, but it just is not a vexilar. It definetly works better than no fish finder, but if you have the money get a Vex.

flukeman · « **Reply #25 on:** Feb 25, 2009, 04:48 PM »

Get the Vex. I have fished with several friends who have Marcums and they will tell you the same thing - get the Vex.

Jeff

PerchPirate97 · « **Reply #26 on:** Feb 25, 2009, 09:39 PM »

I have an aqua-vu and I love it! I fish alot of spring fed ponds, pits, quarries, and of course Lake Erie and the Niagara River. I say this because it is tremendously effective on these clear bodies of water. On ponds, it's nice to drill a hole over a mass weed bed, and branch out until you find the edge. Seeing how your jig moves on the camera with the action of the rod is amazing. Fish often don't want a bait that is "jigged" but rather one that is barely twitched. If you fish clear bodies of water, I would reccommend a camera. I have never used a vexilar, but I think an aqua-vu is a must have if you fish clear bodies of water. Not to mention, I've fished several times where fish have been attracted to the light of the camera, I have also had northern pike nip at the camera. Lots of neat things I have witnessed that I would have never otherwise seen without the cam!

goony28 · « **Reply #27 on:** Feb 25, 2009, 10:11 PM »

Bought my first vex this year after weighing all the options and i definatly think it was the right choice. Definatly increased my ability to catch fish and will never go out on the ice without it again!

ICEROGUE · « **Reply #28 on:** Feb 26, 2009, 10:08 AM »

most pro's fish with vex cause they get sponserd by them and they have to. and the marcum lx-5 does have a low power setting. I dont know I'm just not impresed with a vex, it just does not do what my showdown can. expecailty in the weeds with a vex you see this blob of greens reds and yellows, you cant tell what is what, with my showdown the weeds show up as a light gray blob, and when a fish comes through it shows up as a solid dark black line, there is no guessing

bigredonice · « **Reply #29 on:** Feb 26, 2009, 11:02 AM »

Quote from: ICEROGUE on Feb 26, 2009, 10:08 AM

most pro's fish with vex cause they get sponserd by them and they have to. and the marcum lx-5 does have a low power setting. I dont know I'm just not impresed with a vex, it just does not do what my showdown can. expecailty in the weeds with a vex you see this blob of greens reds and yellows, you cant tell what is what, with my showdown the weeds show up as a light gray blob, and when a fish comes through it shows up as a solid dark black line, there is no guessing

with the vex you adjust the gain so that the weeds show up as green, the fish show up as red, and the jig yellow. The vex works really good in the weeds for me.

The thing I didn't like about the showdown was the lack of definition of heavily schooled suspended fish (crappies/bluegills). With the vex, you can see individual fish pretty clearly as red marks in the thick schools (which show up green and yellow), something the showdown was not capable of doing where we were fishing.

the marcum doesn't work deeper than 160 feet, which means its worthless to me for lake trout fishing.

This debate is useless. People will use what they like no matter what any body says. Heck, I was a diehard Zercom man till I used a vexilar. Then when my buddy bought a lowrance I was pretty sweet on those until we took it to deep water.

Its just like the ford/chevy/dodge/gm/toyota truck debate. Is there a clear cut best truck? Yes. Will people argue that their own truck is the best (no matter what make) till the end of time. Yes.

As for what the pros use, I could care less. I only pay attention to what the most successfull fisherman that I know use. And they ALL use Vexilar.

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Author Topic: aqua vu showdown (Read 4240 times)