When it comes to a quality flasher on the market, the initial thought in everyone’s head when talking about ice fishing flashers is the great line of Vexilar Fish Finders.  Along with its reputation that has built over the span of several decades, it is important to note that these finders retain their values extremely well.  It is not uncommon to be able to sell your well used flasher for 80% of the value that you bought it for.  On top of making ice fishing a much easier endeavor to master, the resale value makes it easy to give it a shot and then sell it off at a later date if you want.  I’m going to warn you, though.  Once you buy a flasher and use it on the ice, you are not going to ever want to get rid of it or ice fish without it ever again.  It will become your most cherished piece of ice fishing gear.

The key reason that ice fishing flashers work so well is that it maximizes your time on the ice.  Gone are the days of sitting atop a hole waiting for the fish to come find you.  Simply drop your flasher down and see if there are any fish in the water column.  If not, move to the next hole!  No sense in wasting your time where there are no fish.  On top of that, you can see the fish move up and attack your bait on the screen.  Watch how they react to different presentations and the action you impart on the lure.  This can easily double or triple your catch rate.

When it comes to the specifics of what is available in Vexilar’s fish fijnder line you really have 3 options.  They range in price from about $300 to $550 depending on the model.  The Vexilar FL-8 is a staple of many ice fishermen thoughout the world.  This flasher has likely caught more fish in this sport than any other due to its wide use and longevity.  Of course, the fact that it works great doesn’t hurt!  Next up in line is the Vexilar FL-18 flasher.  In addition to the great features on the FL-8, the Fl-18 offers up better target separation and an adjustable zoom (the zoom is especially great for those suspending fish you find while ice fishing crappie).  The top of the line model is the Vexilar FL-20, which is the dream of many ice fishermen today.  The target separation is second to none and the sensitivity on this unit is really something to see.S

In comparison to the Vexilars, the Marcum stacks up very nicely.  First and foremost the features on the Marcum’s are as good or better across the board as the Vexilar units.  A good example of this is the bottom zoom feature that is standard on the baseline offering, the Marcum VX-1 fish finder.  The zoom is not offered on the Vexilar line until you get up into their mid tier unit which costs $100 to $150 more than their baseline unit the Vexilar FL-8.  In addition, the peak to peak power available on the Marcum units put them light years ahead of the Vexilars.  Granted a low power setting on the Vexilars are nice when you are fishing in the weeds or for use in the open water under similar circumstances, but this is a pretty small degree of usage among ice anglers.  The adjustable zoom available on the top of the line Marcum LX-5 is a great feature for those suspended crappies that are the target of many ice anglers around the world.

Going on the ice these days without a sonar unit is highly inadvisable.  Experienced ice fishermen often refer to this type of fishing as “fishing blind” for the fact that they have no idea if there are actually fish below their hole.  On top of that you can literally see your bait on the screen of the flasher and see how the fish are reacting to it.  Paired with a St. Croix spring bobber the combination is deadly on many fish through the ice including crappies, sunfish, walleyes, perch and tullibee.  In fact, using it while ice fishing tullibee proved very effective this year while ice fishing Mille Lacs Lake.

Marcum offers its fish finders in 3 varieties which range in price from just north of $200 to over $500 for its top of the line model.  The baseline model is the Marcum VX-1 model which sports 3 color sonar and a zoom feature for the bottom 5 feet of the water column.  Stepping up to the Marcum LX-3 allows for a more precise display of your bait and the fish (referred to as “target separation” by the ice fishing flasher industry).  The top of the line model is the Marcum LX-5 flasher.  This unit offers a ton of peak to peak capacity and an even finer “target separation” than the other models in the line.

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So back to my story.  To say I was disheartened would be an understatement.  The unit would spin up, but no colors, no depth readout, nothing.  Used my buddies unit to test out my transducer, it worked great on his flasher.  The problem wasn't the transducer.  Used his transducer which also worked fine on his unit, nothing on mine.  Again, flasher would spin, no readout.  Very upset I placed the unit back in my vehicle and went to fish that day without one.  Which was painful for me as it is one of the main ways I ensure catching fish on the ice.  My spring bobber was good that day and I managed a decent number of crappies, but not anywhere near what I normally catch. At this point I was resigned to the fact that I was going to have to call customer service and prepare to ship it in to be fixed.  I didn't even want to know what it was going to cost at that point....

It wasn't until well after getting home, cleaning fish, relaxing on the couch with the family watching television that it hit me.  In fact, I had even gone as far as laying down to fall asleep when something occurred to me.  When I went to grab the flasher that morning to head out ice fishing I remembered noticing that the battery wasn't charging quite right the last time I charged it after fishing all day.  Up from bed I got, ran downstairs and grabbed the unit.  Luckily I have a ice fishing camera also which uses the exact same type of battery, so I simply swapped the battery to my Vexilar.  Turned the power on and woolahh unit worked perfectly.  This had me intrigued at this point, so I took my vexilar battery and used it to power the camera.  It would kind of power up, but only display about half of the screen.  It truly was a bad vexilar battery.

Where can you buy vexilar batteries online?

This question was the first one that came to mind.  Sure I knew I could go to the local sporting goods store and pick up a new battery, but I remembered the price being upwards of $50 last time I was there.  My brain started thinking that if I'm able to find a flash drive for half to one quarter the price of what I can find at Best Buy online, why would a Vexilar battery be any different?  Luckily it wasn't.  Going to the usual suspects was quite rewarding.  If you go to Ebay you can find a wide range of vexilar batteries, just understand they won't call them "vexilar batteries".  They will simply be called by their generic name, which is a 7 amp hour 12 volt sealed lead acid battery.  The beauty is they will ship right to your door for less than $15.  That is crazy cheap.  It made the fact that my battery was toast much easier to swallow.  It should be mentioned that these are the same batteries that are used in Marcum flashers (VX-1, LX3, LX5), Vexilar flashers (FL-8, FL-18, FL-20), as well as Humminbird flashers (Ice-35, Ice-45, and Ice-55).

No need to break the bank when buying that new Vexilar battery, simply go online and find a great deal!