New equipment

[adkfalcon]

Just retired and have caught the ice fishing bug. Going to start buying my equipment, locally of course at Chapman's. I'm confused and need some advise on what's better a flasher or a showdown by marcum.

[adkRoy]

I have a vexilar fl-8 flasher that I've used for over 8 years now. I love that thing. easy to use and it has tripled my catch rate. 

[Whopper Stopper]

Welcome adkfalcon



      WS

[trophytaker1]

Vexilar

[Bucket Brigade]

Sexy Vexy!  I use the FL28 and won't leave home without it!

[SpitzoMT]

First off, welcome to the forum !!

I own the Marcum Showdown 5.6 & the Vexilar FLX-28 Ultra Pack.

The Showdown is a great beginners unit at a fairly reasonable price. Very user friendly, easy to read vertical display, & "Ice Mode" keeps the display warm on those cold days. Only thing I wish it had would be a color display. I did have a problem with it out on the ice one day. Turned out to be loose connections on the battery terminals. Crimped them a bit with my needlenose pliers & was good to go.

I bought the Vexilar FLX-28 Ultra Pack as a present to myself over the holidays & it's a pretty pricey unit. I've only used it once, so I can't offer you much of a review. I love it so far !! I powered it up, set the dial to auto, & started fishing. Didn't have to mess with anything else. I think it's gonna take me a few trips out to get fully comfortable with the dial type flasher display, but it'll come. I really like the fact that you have 5 different color modes to choose from for the display.

Hit the sporting goods stores, mess around with a few different brands, & purchase what's gonna fit you. A lot of great fishing electronics out there nowadays & all of them will catch you more fish. Good luck with your decision !!

[getNjiggy]

Its really a personal preference.  If you use the search engine on the Ice Shanty home page you will find tons of information on both type of units. 

Personally I use a Vexilar FL-18 and if you are looking for a basic flasher I would recommend starting with the FL-8.  It will provide you what you need but not any extra functions and if you end up wanting to upgrade down the road it will be a good unit to let friends use if they come out on the ice with you. 

From what I have seen in discussions on here and experienced personally, Vexilars tend to be more dependable over the long haul.  Any flasher you get though will be nice and each has its perks.

[ndbison12]

Vexilar for me too. I've had my FL-8 for atleast 10 years and bought the FL-20 the year it came out. Both are great products and stand the test of time.

[scottydog]

I just went through the same thing - although I'm 20 years away from retirement.  Just got back into ice fishing.  My brother-in-law let me use his Vexilar FL-8 on a recent outing.  It made an enormous difference that day - and easy to use.  He bought a Vex because his dad had a vintage Vex his dad just took back once he retired.  After reading countless reviews, threads on here and talking to friends...I figured out that the Vex vs Marcum debate is Ford vs Chevy.  Either new truck will be really good...as will either flasher.  I wound up with a Marcum VX-1 Pro because both the Vex FL-8 and the Marcum I bought were on sale at Blain's Farm and Fleet for $274...and the Marcum gave me a fixed bottom zoom for the same price, where the Vex only offers that feature on the next model up.  What I decided was that for under $300, I get an enormous boost to my fishing odds.  I can spend an additional $300-$1000 for some more cool features, but the increase in my fishing success has diminishing returns for the extra money.  three times the money for more features doesn't give me three times more fish.  Just some opinions from a guy just recently back into ice fishing.  With the money I saved on the flasher I picked up an Eskimo Mora power auger for under $300.

[Martian]

 Ice guys are the best, and love to show you their stuff. If you were to ask , which unit is best, 10 guys would give you 10 different answers. and all valid. some screens show up better, some have tons of bells and whistles some flashers, some graphs I have a simple vexi fl 8. Most of my fishing is under 25 ft. so I don't feel I need a tri beam transducer, or sonar, or water temp, etc.etc. For the most part I am jerking pan fish out of 6-10 ft. So. I would take a day go fishing, and go look at what guys have, most, to all of them will show you, or even let you try it for 3 min. then go to someone else, and ask what they like/dislike about their unit. They all work, and you will triple your catch. If you go do this, it will make looking at all of the  various units at your tackle store counter a waste of time. A demonstration on the ice, fishing is the only way. I think you will be surprised how many guys have them, ( about all of them), They were  luxuries, now necessities, I would go home, if I got to the lake and forgot my unit . I have had it for maybe 8-9 years got it at meijers at the end of the year , at that time it was $250, but 20% off  clearance, $200. they are more now. but again the day mine dies, will be the day I go get a new unit. I am begging you , do your shopping at your local lake, then go to store. good luck to you , and congrats on you retirement

[adkfalcon]

Thanks to you all for the great info. Going into this blind would certainly tare into the retirement fund.I 'll be fishing Black Lake exclusively this year seeing I have a cabin on it......you guys have been a great help thanks again.

[Dave R]

I have a vexilar fl-8 flasher that I've used for over 8 years now. I love that thing. easy to use and it has tripled my catch rate. 

x2

[Chris338378]

Two years ago I was trying to decide on which flasher to get because I never had one and in the end I decided to buy the Showdown Dual Beam and couldn't be happier.  It works as advertised and is simple to use and understand.  In the end it's really personal preference but I'm happy with the Showdown, would buy it again, and recommend it.  As someone else said if it was a color display it would be better but other than that it's perfect for me and I don't think you'd be disappointed with it.

[Cotacatchers]

if you are experienced with flashers go with the new flx 28 [ THE REAL DEAL] if not the lx3 tc marcum unit is a really good basic unit as it has zoom and interference reduction.
Just dont break your bank . good luck and welcome.