Marcum Showdown

[fishermike]

I want to purchase a fish finder for ice fishing and was considering the showdown. Is this a good unit or should i be looking towards a conventional flasher model? thanks for your input.

[fishforfood72]

marcum lx-5 if it were me, had a showdown for awhile thought i would try something differant big mistake nothing but trouble there having transducer problems. 

[schreiner68]

I do not own one but my father has been looking at buying one also but one of our friends has one and I watched him use it for perch jigging and it works awesome! He was catching the perch left and right with his it works really well and it is defineatly worth the money  

[fish to live]

seen them both  the lx 5 is good and vexilar is the only flasher i use 

[OUTHNTN]

I know some guys have had a few problems with their showdown, but I've used mine last season and this and it works great (it's the showdown 5.6, not the dual beam)!  Only problem was my son fell on it and broke the little plastic arm that holds the transducer.  Instead of fixing it, I just use a vexilar float on the cable and problem solved.  I can't speak for everyone, but even my son gets the hang of using the showdown and he just turned 4! He caught a bucket full of perch with it and loves watching the "tv" and seeing his jig go down and catch fish, which in turn has allowed me to use the humminbird ice55 and get the hang of it.  I like 'em both and since the showdown is so simple to use, it's now my sons.  One advantage the humminbird has is the 6 color separation vs the 3 shades of gray with the showdown to show strength of the signal.  Hope this helps and Good Fishin' - OH

[PerchAssault]

So simple...even the In Fishermen guys can use it!!!

Seriously, they could use any one they wanted to endorse...aint like Marcum has "Ford" like money to finance those guys, I figure they use it cause they work.

It takes awhile to be able to "think like your Vexilar"...if people have heard me speak about that, they understand.  The shown down is like looking at the water like you were...looking AT the water.  That in itself makes it second nature to use.

The new ones are head and shoulders better than the first few years of the "Showdown" when Aqua View first marketed them.

[ham_viper]

I just bought a humminbird ice 345C. This is great because you can use it as both a marcum style or a vex style flasher, but it also gives you the historical view in case you missed something. Fished LMR with it and a camera a couple weeks ago. It is amazing how sensitive and accurate it was. I was able to zoom in on the bottom and see fish less then 3 inches off it. They were rooting in the mud at the bottom and I could see them. It is really a great system. Best part is it is a dual width dual frequency system for less then 400 dollars. I recommended you check it out as well. http://store.humminbird.com/products/385497/ICE_345c

[KWspud]

It all comes down to preference, I think you would be happy with a showdown, a vexilar, a lx3, a lx5, whatever just get one and catch more fish. I just got a marcum lx3 this year, don't know what I did without it.

[DLiceholeassasin]

Both my dad and I have a showdown 5.6.  These badboys are awesome, especially with deeper more finicky fish.  I have used it on trout and perch.   With the showdown you can tell how the fish react to jigging and presentation.  I have the last years model and my dad has this years.  I really like mine.  Pretty tough unit, i have dropped it and had it has fall out of my sled a couple times.   

[MTangler]

I cant believe no one mentions the x67c ice machine by lowrance. Ive used all of the above and love the ice machine for the price.

MTA

[wyogator]

No one ever mentions the x67c.  It's all about Vex and Marcum, because that's what real ice fisherman use.  I love my x67c.  I can use it on hardwater during the winter, and in the canoe during summer.

[Bullelk34]

Any of the flashers will help you catch more fish- that's a given. Brand is just a personal preference. I like vex myself- not because "its what real ice fishermen use", but because I bought one 20 years ago and it still works great. That's why I bought another one for the wife to use too. As for the Showdown- I've heard both good and bad.

[PerchAssault]

Personally, I bougth an x67 3 years ago...$115 at WalMart.  I used it, but didn't like it as much as my Vexilar so I sold it on Ebay...and made $100 on it.  I don't talk about it because I didn't like it, personally. I think there are better set-ups, overall, for hard core ice angling, and I choose to talk about those.

Use Lowrance on both my boats, and have the h2Oc handheld.  I know a couple guys... ::)who swear by the x67 and have won enough money to buy several Vexlars using them!

You obviously like yours and confidence in your gear, any gear, is a critical component of personal success.