I read a good write up by a fisherman who fishes devils lake and he states that the vexilar is still king when fishing for perch. The reason be is becuase it's hard to distinguish between the perch and the bottom. Also there is still a short lag time while everyone knows that sonar is still king when it comes to real time.
Electronics have become such an integral part of fishing, both summer and winter, that I can hardly remember what it was like to fish with some type of electronic device to assist me.
I don’t know if that makes us better fishermen or not. Some would say that it is a crutch and is actually making us worse.
I do know this, if I drove an hour one way to my fishing destination, arrived, and realized that I had forgot my FL-28 at home; I would turn around and drive back home to get it.
You will notice that Humminbird and Marcum units aren’t mentioned in this -Versus- episode. The reason is simple really. We wanted to put THE standard Flasher up against the newest technology in Ice Fishing. Besides, there is a reason every established guide on Devils Lake runs a Vexilar and it isn’t because they are giving them out for free. The Vexilar FL-28, 20, and 18 are the standard and until someone else improves on the technology they will remain that way.
With my FL-28, set to the correct color setting gives me so much information:
Do I have bait
How big are the fish I am on
What kind of bottom am I on
Even, what species of fish is under me
If you have been a reader of this website for any amount of time, you know that we generally are run-and-gun type fishermen. Mobility is key to us and being able to hole hop from hole-to-hole as quickly as possible to zero in on the school of fish.
Panoptix w/Livescope is not the unit for this type of fishing. It is bulky, takes time to set up, and prohibits us from being mobile. Vexilars are the epitome of mobile:
Lift, walk 20 paces, drop, DONE!!
If Garmin were able to make the Panoptix unit more compact and mobile, I might think about trying it, but until then, Nope!
Often times, the bite happens quickly. Fish that moments ago were docile and lethargic, turn hyperactive and charged up, moments later. Reacting to the rise and behavior of the fish, reading that behavior, and reacting to it; puts fish topside.
The times that we have used the Panoptix w/Livescope, the most annoying thing for us has been that LCD screen delay. It may be only a half a second or so, but if you have ever been on a Perch school on Devils Lake, half a second can be everything.
The Flasher technology of the FL-28 is as instantaneous as sonar can be. I know almost immediately what that fish on the bottom is doing and how it is acting. The importance of having that fish information as fast as possible is THE most important aspect of the fish finder that I am using.
This may be the one area where Panoptix w/Livescope has the upper hand on my Vexilar. Depending on the depth, my Vexilar is only giving me a small snippet of the bottom underneath me. The deeper I am, the more of the bottom I see, but still, it is only a small snapshot of the area I am fishing.
With Panoptix w/Livescope, a mush larger picture of the water column around me is make apparent to the user. If fish are up and off of the bottom, Panoptix w/Livescope is going to reveal those fish to me, 20, 30, 40 feet away and it is also going to tell me in which direction they are from me.
The one problem with this aspect of the Livescope is the fact that Devils Lake fish are so bottom oriented and often times are belly down, glued to the bottom. We catch so many Perch whose bellies are rubbed red from being belly down in the mud. Those fish aren’t showing up on Livescope, or any other electronic device for that matter.
Panoptix w/Livescope is going to run you roughly $3500-$3700!! ( one can buy a full setup for 2500$) That is a pretty good punch in the fiscal gut. You can generally pick up an FL-28 for $650-750. While neither of these amounts are chump change, for a 3rd of the price and getting actually a more effective unit; the verdict I think is pretty obvious:
The Vexilar is still king!!!!
https://devilslakefishingreport.com/2020/01/22/tuesday-versus-vexilar-vs-panoptix-livescope/