Is Vexilar the new Blackberry?

curleytail wrote:

I enjoy seeing the graph history and the ease of seeing if a fish is slowly rising or falling in relation to the bait – easier to see in graph mode than flasher dial, and I don’t see myself going back to a pure flasher style unit.

On a flasher the fish is a line that moves up or down when it moves up or down. How can it be easier than watching a line go up or down?

Is there a YouTube video of what you’re referring to in demo mode or something so I can see what you’re talking about? I’m having a hard time visualizing how it could be easier on a graph.

YouTube it and there’s plenty of videos to show you how it works. Helix also has a flasher mode that looks just like the Vexilar screen.

B-man wrote:

The detail is incredible. For anyone planning on upgrading, I highly recommend the Garmin over the Helix.

They’re much more intuitive and don’t need to be “dialed in” like the Helix. Just turn it on and go. The touchscreen is priceless as well. This coming from a guy who owns both.

I was pretty set on going to Garmin this year before watching this. I think you sold me on the zoom capabilities alone.

I’m surprised Vexilar hasn’t come out with a vertical display. Similar to the ShowDown. With some practice we are all good at reading the traditional flasher, but for beginners it seems more logical that lowering or lifting a lure would be displayed the same way on the screen.

Greenhorn wrote:

$789 for decade-old technology with no GPS, graph, or history.

Yes, but what’s new is that Vexilar discovered that guys were actually willing to PAY $800+. There’s just no price sensitivity in fishing gear, guys will pay whatever. If you like the $800 units, you’re going to LOVE the $1200 units. Coming soon to a store near you.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Greenhorn wrote:</div>
$789 for decade-old technology with no GPS, graph, or history.

Yes, but what’s new is that Vexilar discovered that guys were actually willing to PAY $800+. There’s just no price sensitivity in fishing gear, guys will pay whatever. If you like the $800 units, you’re going to LOVE the $1200 units. Coming soon to a store near you.

LOL, I love the vex units but even I have a hard time dropping that coin for for a flasher…but luckily they still make the 8 and 18!

I have a Garmin Echomap Plus 63cv ice bundle. I HIGHLY recommend it, I think I got it new for about $400. It does exactly what a Vexilar does with so many additional features. The 2D display is all I use most of the time. Being able to see the history and how a fish reacts to my movements really helps with my cadences and how the fish are reacting. Can’t see that on a Vex, plain and simple.

IceManBran wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>B-man wrote:</div>
The detail is incredible. For anyone planning on upgrading, I highly recommend the Garmin over the Helix.

They’re much more intuitive and don’t need to be “dialed in” like the Helix. Just turn it on and go. The touchscreen is priceless as well. This coming from a guy who owns both.

I was pretty set on going to Garmin this year before watching this. I think you sold me on the zoom capabilities alone.

You’ll love one.

The touchscreen and zoom features are just a taste of the capabilities (quick draw contours, built-in mapping, panoptix, side imaging, down imaging, outboard autopilot, etc)

The target separation is absolutely incredible, literally within a few millimeters. Not one inch, not half inch like a Vex or Marcum….Not chunky-blocky signals like a Helix.

You don’t have to go into a menu and push arrow buttons or turn knobs to move your zoom or change the range. It’s a night and day difference compared to doing it on other graphs.

Having the 2d history is priceless regardless of what diehard flasher guys say. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many more fish I’ve caught because they were “history” while I’ll glanced out the window or had another distraction (cooking, eating, drinking, talking, etc, etc).

On a flasher they are a flash….never to be seen again.

With the Garmin you can set your scroll speed to whatever you would like. I can see a fish up to a minute after they’ve already swam by.

Setting the scroll speed slow is a greatly underutilized tool that has put a lot of fish topside for me.

I cringe when I see someone with a 2d graph with one or two seconds of history (fast scroll speed). If you’re not seeing 10-60 seconds of history you’re wasting screen space and are essentially using a flasher (missing fish)….

I’ve been arguing the 2d over flasher for year or two bman. Lost cause.

Same crowd that has no idea what’s on their 2D, DI,and SI in open water love the fact there is a small lil colorful line on their small lil flasher screen in which they feel complete control of.

Data, do you want more data to fish with or not? If you do, which I certainly think most here do with DI, SI, mega, panoptix etc being so popular going from a flasher screen to a graph gives 10x more the amount of data for you to use as an angler. There is no argument. If ya want it simple and drink beer, hey, I like that to, but I still want all the data I can get to catch a big fat sunnie to go along with my big fat beer.

Lag! But there’s lag! If a guy is looking at his screen and not his tip when these finicky fish are right at the bait which would be “so important” to see with no lag than you’re missing bites.

Why does there need to be an argument? Some people find more value in the 2D sonars, some people find value in flashers. It boggles my mind how people, mainly in the 2D sonar camp, feel the need to “sell” their preferred sonar as if the other type is so bad and detrimental to them. No one is forcing you to buy one over the other, or one at all.

blank wrote:

Why does there need to be an argument? Some people find more value in the 2D sonars, some people find value in flashers. It boggles my mind how people, mainly in the 2D sonar camp, feel the need to “sell” their preferred sonar as if the other type is so bad and detrimental to them. No one is forcing you to buy one over the other, or one at all.

Well said, who the he// cares what the other person is using for a depth finder, vehicle, gun, auger, whatever. Just get out sand enjoy..

Here’s a video of the new Vex model out this year for anyone interested

I think the advantages of the newer year round units far outweigh buying any dedicated ice unit. I think all of us have grown up/started with a vex or marcum unit (traditional flasher) and when that was all that was available we were all happy to have them. But now as technology and innovation has allowed us to have year round units I think that you can not beat going that route for the money.

They way I look at it I got a top notch ice unit and top notch boat unit for $800 when I bought the Helix 7G3. I look at the electric drill augers the same way I have a top notch auger and new drill set for about $450.

The Ascope mode on the Helix is really great and that is one feature that is better than vexilar in that you don’t get your lure/bait covering fish. I run a FL-20 as my back up unit and I would never buy two Helix’s for ice fishing. I find myself still fishing with my Vexilar too sometimes when I am set in a spot as the battery life is way better. One other nice thing about the new units is that you don’t get the humm…. like you do with vexilar.

Vexilars will always have a place and I am glad to have what I have but sometimes even good things get replaced….

blank wrote:

Why does there need to be an argument?

Noone is forcing anyone to buy or trade to anything blank. But when people try to pass of 2d as useless tech or even equal to flasher tech for ice it’s simply not true, as many younger fisherman are figuring out.

Just making an argument for it’s utility.

blank wrote:

Why does there need to be an argument? Some people find more value in the 2D sonars, some people find value in flashers. It boggles my mind how people, mainly in the 2D sonar camp, feel the need to “sell” their preferred sonar as if the other type is so bad and detrimental to them. No one is forcing you to buy one over the other, or one at all.

100% agreed! I could honestly care less if I looked out my window and missed a fish on my flasher. I ice fish for fun…I don’t need the food nor am I making money off ice fishing. That said, I fully understand why diehards would want a history…its a great option to have. But what I want is something that I know will work year after year, easy to use, show me if there are fish down a hole, and be able to take some abuse. oh…and be able to play well with other flashers near by. And I’m so glad vex has kept their flagship flashers for that reason!

I have a helix 7 g2 I converted to ice fishing last season and absolutely love it! It is big and bulky though, even with a LI battery. So my LX5 still made some appearances for my back country hike-in trips and also when I planned on doing a lot of hole hopping.

They all have their time and place and to each their own.

My one regret is a few years ago I sold off an early generation LX-3tc and bought a used LX-5 (early generation). I had forgot how the bottom fluctuates with your jigging stroke on those early LX-5’s. Wish I would have just kept that LX-3tc. those units are on the same level with the old FL-8 as far as reliability.

Deuces wrote:

I’ve been arguing the 2d over flasher for year or two bman. Lost cause.

I had an Lowrance X67c 12-13 years ago. It was awesome. 99.5% of ice fisherman passed it off as garbage–couldn’t hold a candle to an LX5. It’s funny to me that people are now seeing the benefits that I enjoyed long ago.

I regret including it with a boat I sold.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

There’s just no price sensitivity in fishing gear, guys will pay whatever. If you like the $800 units, you’re going to LOVE the $1200 units. Coming soon to a store near you.

Well…yes, of course. Just like that Marcum RT-9 that went so well.

Speaking of Marcum, this thread follows the similar path that previous one’s did only it was the Vex vs Marcum argument.

Marcum has all but left the building and now it’s another generation of technology to divide us.

As I said before, all of our fishing preferences vary as much as our choices for our equipment.

Could we learn to accept that?

B-man wrote:

Here’s a video of the new Vex model out this year for anyone interested

Anyone else happen to notice this is the same clown who did the K-Drill promotional video?

vexilar is pushing the limits of a simple device doing complicated things….look at what it takes to setup or tune in a 30.

Coining broadband as new – they simply have more frequency options – it is not chirping

No doubt Vexilar’s units are nice and reliable, and it’s great if you love your Vex and its simplicity and reliability. All I was saying is that you certainly do not get bang for your buck on a flasher that costs the same as units with sonar/gps/graph/etc.

B-man wrote:

Here’s a video of the new Vex model out this year for anyone interested

<div class=”ido-oembed-wrap”><iframe title=”The Vexilar FLX-30″ width=”850″ height=”478″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/waLwAVSK7Xg?feature=oembed&#8221; frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen=””></iframe></div>

I didn’t watch the whole video, but can somebody tell me what minute mark to fast forward to to watch him sling a Marcum and Humminbird across his driveway?

curleytail wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>B-man wrote:</div>
Here’s a video of the new Vex model out this year for anyone interested

<div class=”ido-oembed-wrap”><iframe title=”The Vexilar FLX-30″ width=”850″ height=”478″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/waLwAVSK7Xg?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen=””></iframe></div>

I didn’t watch the whole video, but can somebody tell me what minute mark to fast forward to to watch him sling a Marcum and Humminbird across his driveway?

THESE UNITS ARE SO VIVID THAT THEY WILL CAUSE YOU TO GO BLIND

which garmin unit do you have B-man?

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

I had an Lowrance X67c 12-13 years ago. It was awesome. 99.5% of ice fisherman passed it off as garbage–couldn’t hold a candle to an LX5. It’s funny to me that people are now seeing the benefits that I enjoyed long ago.

I regret including it with a boat I sold.

I did too! Back in probably 2004 or so. Only reason I quit using it was because I was usually fishing with multiple people and most had Marcum’s that would render that X67C worthless with interference. I finally came to the realization that if I couldn’t beat them, I had to join them, so I bought a Marcum.

So I bought an open water ducer for it and used it on my boat and canoe for quite a few years.

I still have my X67C, but the transducers I have no longer work.

crappie55369 wrote:

which garmin unit do you have B-man?

The one I use for ice fishing is a 73sv plus. It’s a side imaging unit for open water, but works identical to the CV units commonly sold in ice fishing packages (the CV is a down imaging unit for open water)

Enjoying the different views as my Lowrance flasher died last year. No more stocking/Carring spare lantern batteries. From all the comments, looking at a vexlar 18. Just something simple to use.

bigfish2 wrote:

Enjoying the different views as my Lowrance flasher died last year. No more stocking/Carring spare lantern batteries. From all the comments, looking at a vexlar 18. Just something simple to use.

The 18 is arguably the best ice unit ever built. I ran marcum and still do but my 18 is always with

All Shamwow Tom Zenenko jokes aside, this just does seem like a lot of money for what it offers.

It offers DIFFERENT kHZ and cone angle settings! WOW… but so does the Garmin I just bought for only $580.

It has different BOTTOM ZOOM settings. Ok great, pretty much every other lcd unit offers nearly infinite mid depth zoom settings anywhere in the water column, which to me is so valuable for any suspended fish. Plus the split zoom on the lcd units still offers good screen size and resolution, where that small Vex dial gets pretty small in split zoom mode.

But OOOH OOOHHH! IT OFFERS DIFFERENT DEPTH RANGES! YESSSS IT DOES FOLKS!!!! Yup, and it offers just a few where the lcd units can be dialed in to the exact depth you’re fishing in, giving the max screen available.

It features NO CONFUSING GPS! Oh oops, never mind that feature.

Other than it offering probably some of the best battery life in the industry, I just don’t see it offering much that can’t be bought in units costing hundreds less.

Not knocking anybody that buys a ttaditional flasher. I completely understand the less expensive units because they work well and get you into a ice unit for the least money possible. But if somebody wants to up their game a little and get the most adjustability and information possible, the newer lcd units offer that in the best bang for the buck package, in my opinion.

Does anyone know why many sporting goods stores such as Gander and Scheels are no longer carrying the Humminbird Ice 35/45/55 flashers? I contacted Scheels and they said they are no longer selling any of those models. Is this due to an issue, or rather just the increasing popularity of the Helix models?

Jayson Wiernik wrote:

Does anyone know why many sporting goods stores such as Gander and Scheels are no longer carrying the Humminbird Ice 35/45/55 flashers? I contacted Scheels and they said they are no longer selling any of those models. Is this due to an issue, or rather just the increasing popularity of the Helix models?

they’re being phased out