MarCum LX-i Review

[Dan Wood]

I know there were some questions on the LX-i regarding some of the features available on this unit. I finally got my LX-i and was able to test it out yesterday, so I thought I'd post some of my observations.

Depth Mode -
Squirt a very small spot of water on the ice, press the on/off button on the LX-i, and set it flat on the ice and the unit finds the bottom within the matter of a couple seconds and displays it on the top of the unit (very easy to read display on the top of the unit).

With 2500 Watts of power, this unit does read through ice better than my LX-3. It didn't have any difficulty reading through the white ice that my LX-3 had troubles with.

The major advantage to a unit like this is that it is very convenient to hop around and check depths for locating structure. It does this well and is very quick and convenient to use.

It has the added benefit of reading through poor ice conditions. It also seems to do well with less water on the transducer. It does have to be wet to get a signal, just like any transducer, but I noticed that when jumping from spot to spot, just the water left on the surface was enough for 2-3 spots. With the LX-3, I needed more water to get a signal (more of a small puddle).

Fish finder feature -
This is a neat feature. I'm still not sure it will be useful for many people, since most people will buy this unit to locate structure and then switch over to the flasher to locate fish, but this has some potential to help locate suspended fish. I wouldn't buy this unit based on it's fish finding feature, but it is something that may prove useful depending on conditions. On the ice where I was using the unit, the fish finder seemed to be picking up the echo signal quite a bit. I checked with my LX-3 and the LX-3 was picking up the same echo (just beneath the ice surface). Depending on how hard the bottom is, the ice conditions, etc. this feature may be quite useful. Once the unit picks up the depth, it stops and displays that depth. Then it goes into fish finding mode and will look for signals within that depth range (when or if it finds a signal that could be suspended fish, it will display the depth of the signal).

This unit is waterproof, floats, and is a very nice convenient size. It is a great unit for covering water quickly while saving wear and tear on your expensive flasher transducer. The unit is small enough to fit in your pocket. I'll be using this unit thoughout the winter for locating structure quickly. Once the spot is found, I'll be using my LX-3 to find the "spot on the spot". I can also see this being a very useful tool for people fishing Pike with tip-ups (where you just want to know the depth, not interested in marking fish and working them with a flasher). This unit may be very handy for those who hike into remote waters or for those who fish a lot of early and late ice and don't want to haul around a bulky flasher.

Lastly, the unit can be used to shoot through the hull of your boat. I could see this being useful for some who don't have a sonar available on their boat. Fly-in trips, boat rentals, etc.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

[email protected]

[This message has been edited by Dan Wood (edited 01-01-2004).]

[Scott Steil]

I agree with Dan. Very user friendly. I only use it to check depth, but I use it ALL the time. This unit will cut your search time down a lot and will save your transducer on your flasher from being damaged from banging on the ice. Great Unit!!!

------------------
Mille Lacs Guide Service
(320)293-3287
www.millelacsguideservice.com