flashers~

[snow1]

on the fence about upgrading my fl-18 to the fl28....now I see vexliar came out with flx-30,a flasher is a flasher in my book,for many years my old fl-8 did the job,20 plus years never missed a beat,the upgrade to the fl-18 was a easy choice with 6'bottom zoom but do we really need all the extra glitter on our flashers?good grief.

Any of you guyz care to share thoughts on your 28's thoughts about the 30.curious.

[Kentucky Windage]

A 28 or 30 won’t catch more fish.

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Answer this: what don’t you like about your 18? What are you missing out on?

[BRK]

I agree with your "a flasher is a flasher" statement. If you want to know what's going on down there, how the fish are acting to your jigging, how far away they are and what direction they're swimming, then get live sonar set up. If you just wanna know a fish is down there in general, stick with what you got and start saving for live sonar.

I've only had my livescope for this ice season, but I'd be willing to bet I am catching 2x or more fish.

[Kentucky Windage]

I agree with your "a flasher is a flasher" statement. If you want to know what's going on down there, how the fish are acting to your jigging, how far away they are and what direction they're swimming, then get live sonar set up. If you just wanna know a fish is down there in general, stick with what you got and start saving for live sonar.

I've only had my livescope for this ice season, but I'd be willing to bet I am catching 2x or more fish.

agreed. Live sonar tells as Paul Harvey would say: “the rest of the story”

[snow1]

Thanx for the input,my 18 is just fine,the screen brightness strains my old eyes I've read the 28 has a screen brightness mode,buddy has live scope,to much crap to tote around for my liking,but it has it's place for guyz in wheel houses or skid houses that camp out on a spot,not the best option for us mobil guyz.

[Sluggo]

I had an 18 and switched to a 28 a couple years ago. I don't think I gained much bang for my buck, however, it does have a "night" mode that I do use when in my shack as it is more comfortable to look at. A minor nicety is also the digital depth read out. I thought my 18 shot thru the ice a little easier to check depths without drilling but can't say that for sure.

[guywhofishes]

same as Sluggo. There's "flutter" or stability issues I have in my 28 - I think it's constantly hunting for optimal settings or some crap.

A couple nice features but preferred the 18 (dual cone transducer) for pure fishing.

Also - the "Pro" transducer that changes cone with gain is absolutely STUPID - just like their videos that their "pro" made to explain their benefits a few years back.

Really really DUMB.

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the brighter screen in daylight is easily the best feature of the 28 vs 18

quieter is a big plus too

[Slappy]

Digital depth, auto range and bottom zoom are all nice to have. Even with auto zoom I still have to toggle the range when changing holes for some reason.

[MuskyManiac]

I really like the digital depth and auto range of the 28. I think the 30BB is a swing and miss for Vexilar.

I find where it the 28 shines is when we're on Lake Winnipeg in the spring and fishing outside on the ATV's. You don't have the raised shield around the screen that blocks you view and/or collects snow, and when it is super bright out you can see the display no problem. My Vex 20 was almost unusable in bright sunny weather, you could barely see it. Plus I do like that you can change brightness as well as colors of the readout if you choose on the 28.

For me the upgrade from an 18 or 20 to the 28 was well worth it with as much outside fishing as I do.

[Captain Ahab]

the brighter screen in daylight is easily the best feature of the 28 vs 18

quieter is a big plus too[/QUOTE]


The larger/brighter screen is the single biggest upside to the 28 over the 18. Just like going from the 8 to the 18. Brighter lights on sunny days make it much nicer.

[riverview]

i went from a fl18 to a marcum lx7, i like the graph that you can see about 7 seconds of history, i have caught allot of fish looking down and seeing a fish was at my hook.

[BRK]

Thanx for the input,my 18 is just fine,the screen brightness strains my old eyes I've read the 28 has a screen brightness mode,buddy has live scope,to much crap to tote around for my liking,but it has it's place for guyz in wheel houses or skid houses that camp out on a spot,not the best option for us mobil guyz.

There is no doubt that the size of livescope is intimidating at first and it will never be as easy to run and gun, but I'm willing to give a little to gain a lot. We all know the cost of live sonars, so why not spend a little extra for simplicity. I didn't but the summit shuttle and chose to go with a different brand, but I did buy the summit pole. those two things alone reduce the set-up time substantially, IMO, and make it rather easy to pack up and move quickly. I don't own a wheel house and only fish out of my pop-up/ATV combo.

[leier12]

Honestly Vexilar is old technology and is out dated in todays world. My advise would be save for live sonar for sure, from what ive seen Garmin is still kind in this category. However, if you do want to upgrade and are dead set on not having live sonar, I dont know why anyone would choose Vexilar fl-28 for $600 over garmin or Humminbird ice options. Not only will both humminbird and garmin do the same flasher option, you get the 2-D graph which is a lot easier to look at and read, mapping, and dual purpose summer and winter. On top of that, both could eventually be paired with a live sonar transducer in the future if you ever re open that idea. IMO there is no point with the technology available today to but a vexilar beyond maybe the FL-8 or FL-12.

[Shockwave]

I have the Marcum M5 and love it. I could've gone with the M3 or M1 since I don't use half of the stuff. In addition, we bought a boat over the summer that came with the Lowrance Hook2 5. I bought the Ice pack for it and started using that as well. I really like the Lowrance as I have 3 different views and I can mark waypoints.

[Kentucky Windage]

I got rid of my Garmin livescope ice bundle and put a new one together. This one allows me to display my livescope on TV’s as well.

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It’s like carrying around a Jiffy model 30 on the ice only way sexier.

[shorthairsrus]

Does any of it really matter this season --- weather like this morning Last thing that is on my mind is ice fishing. 2022 what piece of shit so far.

The graph vs vex thing has been hashed over so many times its not worth the time.

I am surprised old ahab is still holding onto his vexes though. Ahab should be looking at a sprarkly brand new Vexus to put his vexes on.


Maybe it will get better - but looking long range it doesnt look like it. Cant wait until soft water. I would give anything to have a summer like last year.

good fishn Short

[Platinum]

Flashers are best at a strip club and ice is for drinks.......
Bring on the open water and let me be in a boat!

[Shockwave]

I do agree with the boat idea. I am really starting to miss my boat and I have been thinking about going to the storage unit to sit in it and have a beer.

[NDbowman]

I all i want to do is go ice fishing but with the weather like it is we can barely make it to town with our gravel roads blocking up every day due to the wind blowing nonstop. Don't know how I'd even make it to the lake. Seems all I do is push snow and feed cattle.

But I sure as hell don't need another summer like last summer. ANother drought like that and I'll be fucked and not the good kind of fucked either.

[DakotaGreg]

Value is subjective. I sold a Helix 5 and bought the vex 30 BB. The cone angle can be adjusted with frequency for area vs. detail. There are multiple zooms which is kinda nice for deeper water or suspended fish. The color pallet can be changed. Standard features include night mode, IR, digital depth, and power adjustments.
Obviously flasher technology is old, but if they are all same, why not just use a Lowrance green box flasher instead of a vexilar FL-8? Maybe the guy using the snap on depth sinker thinks Sonar is unnecessary. My grandfather felt that way about rifle scopes. Its all really unnecessary but there are benefits to alot of the newer stuff.