My opinion, if you're fishing lakers mostly, a bottom zoom isn't all that necessary since they're suspended in the water column so much under the ice. So you could save some money and get any of the flasher on the cheaper end of the spectrum, like a Vexilar FL-8, Marcum VX-1, Showdown, or Humminbird 35.
I think it varies for each person use and what features you want. Some want zoom at any water depth....some don't need it and fish off bottom all the time....some just like latest and
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What he said. I fish a lot of tight to bottom fish, mostly perch and walleye. A zoom feature is main thing I wanted.
If people only bought what they needed, probably no unit over $400 would ever sell. It's all the extra features, and if people want them just to have them, use them some, and have the extra $ to get it, GREAT!
The best buys though, are found in the off season, on used units, on craigslist, ebay, and online forum classifieds.
I've had vexilar, and loved it. Just wanted to see something different, so I sold it and am using my Humminbird unit off my boat with and ice transducer now, and I love it. I'm sure if I had a marcum, or lowrance, I'd love them. As long as they had the basic features I need, they'd all work great, and in my opinion are NEEDED if you're wanting to be productive on the ice.
