You’ll find more than just fishing celebrities in this list. One can make a significant impact
on the lives of many without ever being well known. It is important to honor all of
those who had a great influence on the great sport of fishing, whether famous or not.
Corporate advances tend to be much more visible to us. For it’s their products that
shape the evolution of the sport of fishing.

The name Vexilar is synonymous with the ice-fishing market’s dynamic growth in recent years. Talk ice fishing and a common topic is what anglers see on “the Vexilar.” Legendary for its fishing-electronics innovations, the Bloomington-based firm boasts a history dating to 1960 and its first product, the Deptherm—a small clear tube showing the depth it was lowered to, plus the water temperature at that depth.

Through the years, Vexilar has wisely focused on outfront technology and innovative products. Thus, the famed depth-finder/fish-finder company has long been a first-team player in the growth of modern angling and its focus on detail, fine points, and cutting-edge electronics. Vexilar’s many “firsts” are well-known to progressive anglers and observers of the sport. Examples of Vexilar’s pace-setting breakthroughs illustrate a remarkable timeline:

• In the later 1960s, as neon-flasher depthfinders revolutionized angling, Vexilar introduced its 120 S.O. S., the first flasher with an audible alarm. When the angler-boater ran into shallower water, or over fish, an alarm sounded.
• Vexilar was a leader in the paper graph phenomenon starting in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Models 155 and 555 became especially popular. Vexilar still provides paper, parts, and service.
• Vexilar’s historic introduction of the FL-8 color flasher in 1989 was followed by an explosive trend: annual growth in FL-8 popularity, especially among ice anglers. The addition of new models and important new accessories—like small high-quality rechargeable batteries and chargers, battery-status indicators, and convenient carrying cases—helped fuel the Vexilar revolution. The 1995 introduction of the Ice Ducer, a now taken-for-granted accessory, is a special ice-fishing transducer using the simple plumb-bob effect.
• In 2001, new flasher sonar technology by Vexilar produced the FL-18, “the most advanced three-color flasher/fish finder in the world.” The FL-18 signaled a string of new products, like the FL-12 and the FL-20. A major milestone, in 2009, was the “world’s first” transducer with three beam angles from one transducer—the Tri-Beam Ice-Ducer. The FL22HD, designed for shallow flasher-fishing and featuring remarkable high-resolution flat-screen display, joined the Vexilar line in 2010.
• Also introduced in 2010 was the Fish Scout, Vexilar’s first line of underwater camera systems. The next year brought Double Vision sonar/camera systems, all in one easy-to-carry system.
• Along with Vexilar’s prominence in the ice-fishing electronics world, boat-fishing anglers have enjoyed many of the same products as well as others, like LCD graph units for open water. A special boon came with Vexilar’s dual-frequency and dual transducer sonar featured in Edge2 and Edge3 units.
• Vexilar’s FishPhone is a Wi-Fi-based underwater camera system allowing anglers to watch fish on their mobile devices and to share and record fishing action. Vexilar’s SonarPhone allows anglers to turn their smart devices into high-resolution, touch-screen sonar units with Wi-Fi.

Vexilar’s evolving line of progressive products and accessories continues the company’s long tradition of innovation for anglers.