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what would you buy for a depth finder


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I've had an fl18 for years, before the fl20 or fl22. That zoom is a nice feature. Not knocking Marcum by any means only fished with the Vexi, have never had a problem. Mills fleet has some good pricing right now

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Have owned Marcum LX5, LX3tc, Vexilar FL-8 and FL18 and have liked all of them although the screen on the FL8 got very faint after 3-4 years. If you fish outside consider the FL12, 20, 22 or LX7 with flat screens. I don't like cleaning the snow out of the recessed screens on the units I've owned. My bro likes his Humminbird Ice 55 too although it went in for repairs after 2 years.

The Marcums have an adjustable zoom which you may find valuable. I usually only zoom the bottom when fishing a minimum of 15'. I do target suspended fish but prefer to see the whole water column on the full screen so I don't zoom if I have to adjust it off the bottom. You might consider the Showdowns too if you prefer a vertical screen instead of circular - LX7 also has vertical option.

Evaluate the type of fishing you do such as deep or shallow, fishing the bottom or for suspended fish, inside or outside a shelter, etc. You may or may not need more features. Get what you want and need right away - don't go with a cheaper "starter" unit if it won't meet your needs. Fish with people who have what you're interested in to see what you like. There a number of things that are simply personal preferences that you won't know without using the units.

Since most of the state is a little more than a month away from the end of the walleye and pike season you might start finding some good deals from stores not wanting to carry inventory for 9 month, or used units for sale from folks wanting to upgrade to more bells and whistles or just the latest greatest. I found an LX3 in perfect shape last year in early March for less than half of new price.

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All make good units, but a bottom zoom on LOTW is a must for me.

Fishing in 36-37' of water makes fish/bottom separation on a non-zoom unit pretty tough.

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I'm sure you'll get many different answers with this question. Personally I have owned a vex fl18, and a showdown. I have also fished with a bird a few times. Personally my favorite by far is the showdown. I find it much easier to read, and it seems to hold up very well in any conditions. A bonus is that it's actually a little cheaper as well!

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If you can swing $499.00 I would go with the HB 597, winter and summer on the boat or on the ice with gps and you can use a mapping sd card also, just diffrent transducers for ice to open water.

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One not not mentioned here is the lowrance x67c color ice package graph style which you can also use in the summer with the high speed transducer that you buy seperately. I have owned mine for 2 years now and wouldn't go back to the flashers absalutely love it you can get them alot cheaper by about $200.00 cheaper unless you get the newer version with the gps built right in. Just my 2 cents.

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My brother in law has the Lowrance X67c and you are correct...for the price it is a nice little unit. We use it in the boat in the summer without any problems as well. 90% of the ice fishing i do is with him and his Lowrance doesn't interfer with my Vex...Just saying

JP

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

My brother in law has the Lowrance X67c and you are correct...for the price it is a nice little unit. We use it in the boat in the summer without any problems as well. 90% of the ice fishing i do is with him and his Lowrance doesn't interfer with my Vex...Just saying

JP

I have a X67c in my boat and it works well there, but in the boat my head is about 10" away from it. It does have a pretty small screen. For Ice fishing I use the Vex 18. I had a Ice 55 and LX3 but didn't care for the battery life on them and sold both on them. wink
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I also have the x67c ice package and love it. I like the graph style so you can see about 10 seconds or so of history. Also like that it is silent. Screen could be bigger but you can zoom in so it isn't too bad.

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Those of you with the X67c, can you fish in the same house with a vex or marcum? If so how do you get rid of the interference?

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Yes you can fish with a vex or marcum in the house. If I remember right, I believe is called noise reduction in the settings that controls interference. Every year I fish with a group of 4 on LOW and never have problems with interference and they all have vex or hbird. The graph mode is way better to use on this unit in my opinion.

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My FL20 does fine with my brother-in-laws Lowrance...Marcum's just screw with both but it seemed to be worse on the Lowrance. This was in 33' of water on LOW last year.

I try to adjust my Tri Beam to the narrowest degree when fishing deeper waters. That way once the beam starts to widen as it goes down it won't hit anyone elses. This might work to some extent but if you are really close to someone else or someone else cant adjust this same feature you are a little SOL.

JP

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i also try to keep the gain down as low as possible so i can just see my jig as i am moving it. I never try to see both my set line and my jigging line. i figure the jigging will get them in and the set line i watch the bobber. The higher the gain the worse the interferecne is i believe.

JP

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I used to own an fl 12 but after picking up a Marcum LX-5 I had to sell it and pick up a VX-1 as a spare/back up. I was fishing last weekend on Red in house with two other guys with Vex's and all I could say is "sorry guys" I loaned my VX-1 to one of them and the other guy fished dead sticks. Marcums have the highest peak to peak power, Vex's have been in the game forever and therefore have no bugs are bullet proof, and have the longest battery life. Hummingbirds are great and have a really crisp display but are realatively new so some people assume they still need to work out the bugs.

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Every person has their own personal preference. I had an vex fl-8. Fished with a friend who had a Marcum lx-3. Sold the vex for a marcum lx-5. To me it was like night and day. I can't compare to a fl-18 or 20 because I have not seen or used. I upgraded to the lx-7 and was not disappointed. You won't be either. It will cost you more, but sometimes you get what you pay for. Good luck with your decision. Lots of choices!

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Jerkbait yes you go to noise rejection and turn it on high and also can adjust the sensitivity after that if you need to. Also like the way you think JARED P on your fishing style!

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