Which flasher should I purchase?

[diddlepole]

$220 with no transducer or battery.  Never saw a complete system for under $280.    1 year warranty......so after a year if it breaks, theres another 220.  Now your up to $500. People are still using FL-8's that are 20+ years old.  Find me a 20 year old Lowrance thats still working.  

[flagguy83]

  good point buddy.

[Mainehazmt]

get what you can afford  in this day and age they all do a great job!

[FishMich]

Where do you come up with this nonsence? They are both real time.

Yea their both real time hanging in a hole but in a moving boat the graph lags behind.

[flagguy83]

Yea their both real time hanging in a hole but in a moving boat the graph lags behind.

I agree. But plan and simple any flasher is a good purchase. Like someone else said. Get what you can afford. Some are just better than others. Good luck and tight lines.

[FishMich]

I agree. But plan and simple any flasher is a good purchase. Like someone else said. Get what you can afford. Some are just better than others. Good luck and tight lines.

Your absolutly right, any flasher or graph is going to help you ice more fish.

[thedude]

I can't say the imaginary lag on my graph every put me off of structure. Plus when i look at graph - i don't have to guess at what the red-blip that flashed for half a second was.... because there is no red blip... there's a stump looking thing or rock looking thing, or weed looking thing or a fish looking thing.... and it stays on my screen long enough for me to make out what it might be.

Only reason i would have a flasher on a boat would be in the console for accurate depth readings while on plane - even then most graphs with the transducer properly setup will do that. 

i guess the point is - there's a lot of misinformation out there about the lcd graphs. 10 years ago, they couldn't compete with a flasher and now everyone is skeptical that they can and there is a lot of conjecture that they lag, freeze, are too complicated, don't show fish blah blah blah....
Fact: a graph with show a teardrop/spike, the tiny split shot 1' up the line and the 3" perch sitting on the bottom sniffing it in 60 feet of water with a vex and a marcum 2 feet away showing the same thing. It will also show the same thing in 4 FOW.

benefits:
reliable
ease of use
historical display
price
long battery life
no lag
weatherproof


disadvantages: i honestly can't think of any.

[diddlepole]

Your absolutly right, any flasher or graph is going to help you ice more fish.

Ya, this is a never ending arguement.  Go to the store, try them all out, get the one that best suites you.   

[superslabs]

This is my 15th year on the ice with a fish finding device. My first was a vexilar FL-8 . Since then I have spend some serious time on the ice. I have tryed a Lorwnce FISH-LO_K-TOR, Hondex, Hummingbird, Vexilar, Lorwance 55 & 67, Showdown, and Marcum. I have not ever used these items for open water fishing, nor do I plan to. I am currently using a Marcum. I made this purches based on things like target separation, watts, degree and battery life. If your not sure what all things mean, maybe you not sure what you have there.

[IceArmorGuy]

The most important thing to consider is what are you going to be fishing the most? I bought a Marcum VX-1 pro last year with a case for about 310 all together the reason i chose this model was because it has bottom zoom, interference reduction and goes up to 160 feet. I dont need anything that reads more then 160 feet because i wont ever fish in anything more then that.

[chfishon]

what ever you get don't get a showdown they are junk!!!!!!!does anybody want to debate with that lol

[IceFlagger]

The most important thing to consider is what are you going to be fishing the most? I bought a Marcum VX-1 pro last year with a case for about 310 all together the reason i chose this model was because it has bottom zoom, interference reduction and goes up to 160 feet. I dont need anything that reads more then 160 feet because i wont ever fish in anything more then that.

299.99 Fl8 with bottom lock and interference reducer, best buy on the market.

[Bubba59]

I know how everyone on here feels but i have a showdown and my 4 year old was pointing out fish on it yesterday. Thats easy to read.

[hulv]

OK chfishon   please indulge me  why is the showdown junk?
Mine works great
So please go on and tell me why it is junk....
I will be patiently waiting and monitoring this thread to findout why my showdown is junk.

It could be I missed some incredible thing that the other units do that mine does not do... .. .
I feel like I did all the research.
Is it possible all the happy showdown users are missing out on the feature that makes the fish jump thru the hole and into your bucket. Please post a link to that feature if that is the case.

[IceArmorGuy]

299.99 plus sales tax is over 310 8)

[samkat]

I bought my fl18 w/dualbeam while I was working for a large sporting goods chain. It went on an unadvertised clearance after ice was gone, and my employee discount on top of that ...  well I felt like I was stealing it. Got my gas auger the same way. Couldn't afford it otherwise. I recommend everyone here get a p/t job with their local Gander, Dick's, Cabela's, whoever.
 Of course everyone you ever met will then be your best buddy.

[IceFlagger]

299.99 plus sales tax is over 310 8)

just agreeing with you, 299.99 has a better ring to it,lol.

[Icejammer]

I would do allot of research and determine if you like a graph or a flasher.  Go to the different manufacturers web sites and check out the informational videos and make an educated decision after that.  Everybody is going to say that what they have is the best, it is up to you to decide what is best for you and your type of fishing.

[chfishon]

i talked my buddy in buying one and he drove all the way to k-zoo to get it got back and the lcd would not come on so he had to drive all the way back up there to return it and the second one would go blank after about 4-5 hours of use he tried to contact costomer service and they gave him the run around needless to say he gives me crap everytime we go out because i am jumping from hole to hole and he is fighting with his showdown it would be a good set up and i am not saying they are all junk because a couple had to be good or they would not of started selling them i know our kids have a blast with them but a serous fishermen that goes out no matter what the weather (not saying your not) needs something tested and proven to work. and i have an oldtimer fishing buddy that baut one and you should here him out there go round and round with that thing be he is a lot like a lot of you and don't see spending all the $ for a vex so he baut a marcom and likes it you still here him out there cusing it once and a wile but he is a mean old guy that is not happy with nothin and he will pick it apart just because he can but all in all i am glad you got one that works like i said it is a cool setup