New ice fishfinder

[elkantlers]

If you were going to buy a new Ice fishing fishfinder what would you get and why?
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[ARICH7]

I bought the Humminbird Ice 45 last year and love it. Dual beam transducer, great battery life, a good zoom feature and a good display screen. Worth the money in my opinion.

[Jedidiah]

Deeper chirp
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[Mightymose]

I have and love the lx6s marcum. It does everything I need it to graph,flasher and showdown. I would buy the nicest fish finder your bank account can afford no matter how nice or expensive of a fish finder you get. You will want to up grade so get a nice one and use it for a few seasons then up grade. You get what you pay for in fish finder technology.
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[gaardvark]

I've been considering a Garmin Striker 4. It's only $100, and can be used all year. It has a flasher mode as well as graph.

I just haven't been able to convince myself it is necessary yet. I think I could use it on the ice or from a canoe.

If anyone has opinions on this unit, I'd love to hear your input.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Come fish with me before you buy, and check out the Marcum LX-7, it's about the same unit as the LX-6 except a little bigger... Now I never could get my head fully around a flasher dial, so I love the fact that you can put up multiple displays at the same time. I use the showdown (verticle flasher) mode and a chart display like a regular boat fish finder that shows me the history of what just happened, it makes it so you know exactly what the fish are doing, you can see if your worm was stolen off the hook it has so much detail in the display... If you don't have time to look at mine, check out In Depth Outdoors on You tube, he uses a Marcum and shows how to use it quite often on the show... That would be my recommendation... However, if budget is important, I really like my sonar phone by Vexilar, it isn't as detailed, but will show you when fish are around and let's you know the location and height off the bottom you need to be.. The difference is the Marcum is immediate and the other has a little delay before you see what happened... but I use the Vex on my boat and like it there too... Good luck and let me know... Jeff
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[Freakyfisherman]

My two cents and experience.....
I would stay away from the Marcum LX-7 with all my being if I were you.
One year past the warranty water got under my screen and the thing bit the dust. What a waste of $729.99 plus tax. I am using the Vexilar FLX-28 and love the unit. It is so bright even in the sunlight and easier to see. You can see it better than anything out in the market. There is a video done by Aaron Wiebe of uncut angling on you tube that he does visual comparisons and the Vexilar was the brightest and easiest to see hands down. That company is celebrating 60 years in the industry in 2020 and its probably because of the product they put out. I did have the humminbird ice 35 years ago and it was a decent unit. I probably should have just went with Vexialr in the first place. I hope you find something that will suit you well.
Gabe
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[Kent]

I am enjoying my Marcum LX-7, but as noted above, it is pricey.
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[SkunkedAgain]

You'll find there is a big Chevy/Ford thing that goes on between Marcum/Vexilar and they are both good units, but to me the different types of displays made all the difference in the world... Try the two and see what works for you.... To me I'm not a straight flasher guy, I just don't like the whirling disease from watching the circular flashers, but some folks do... Also you hear the quality issues with Marcum from time to time, but I had one issue with my Recon camera and contacted Marcum and they sent me out a new camera in days and paid for the return shipping of the other one's return. I also had an issue with my Vexilar Sonar Phone finder and their service department did the same thing for me on it, so I really think both companies are good to work with and it comes down to what type finder works best for you... Look on a lake before you buy, that's the best way... Later Jeff
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[BURLEY]

I got the Striker4 last year and really enjoyed it. It is the only finder that I have used on ice. Attached are 2 snapshots of perch fishing at Pineveiw. I don't like the flasher mode. I was fishing two rigs 2 feet apart. both double jig rigs. I put the Garmin in a third hole between the other two. 3 holes. Rods are dead stick in photos, but you can still see all four jigs.
Present time images to the left. The fist phot shows a perch rising off the bottom to inspect my jig. The second photo shows a school of perch at the same hole, covering the bottom foot and a half of the water column. Oh yeah, it has GPS and tracking and waypoint marking. Great package for the price.
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[elkantlers]

Thanks for all the thoughts. Looks like I will have to do some more research,
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[Jedidiah]

BURLEY, your post is selling me on that Striker4. The Deeper CHIRP looked pretty good but it's $100 more and it will require a separate device for a display. That Striker4 lasts longer and people love it, plus it has CHIRP technology.
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[BURLEY]

This is a snapshot showing the perch rise off the bottom after I started jigging. Being able to see this reaction on the screen allows you to determine the attitude of the fish and adjust your presentation.


[inline "Garmin Striker4_Moment(2).jpg"]
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[BURLEY]

I got the Striker4 Ice fishing package and it came with the standard transom mount transducer. I know that Garmin has an Ice transducer available, but I am happy with what I have.
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[gaardvark]

Thanks Burley, you anticipated my followup question. The ice transducer on Amazon is $150, more than the cost of the unit itself.
Did you buy the portable pack, or craft your own?
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[BURLEY]

I got the portable pack that included battery and a/c charger on Amazon. I tape the transducer to a 1/2" PVC Tee to keep it below the ice and pointed down. The tee makes it easier to rotate xducer for best image.
The portable package is $193 on eBay right now.
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[Jedidiah]

Yeah, that combo is on sale on Amazon right now too. This guy mounted the transducer kind of like what you said and then put a piece of pool noodle on the pipe so that it floats straight up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1FPFyMLELc
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[bowdude]

I am a vex guy. 20 years with my first vex FL8 and it is still running strong. I also have the Vex FLX28. Pricy unit but it is the cats meow. My wife has a Vex FL8X as well as my son who has 2, one for him and one for his daughter. The units play well together, I have had 4 setup in my tent at the same time and we are able to get clear screens with no interference from the other units.
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[dubob]

[quote bowdude]I am a vex guy. 20 years with my first vex FL8 and it is still running strong. I also have the Vex FLX28. Pricy unit but it is the cats meow. My wife has a Vex FL8X as well as my son who has 2, one for him and one for his daughter. The units play well together, I have had 4 setup in my tent at the same time and we are able to get clear screens with no interference from the other units.[/quote][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]I'm with you on the Vexilar. I have seen all of the different brands in use and their owners all like them. I have an FLX28 and I wouldn't trade it for any other unit I've seen in use. ANY unit is better than fishing blind and price is always going to be a concern for the majority of icers, but it would be hard to find a better unit than an FLX28 provided you can afford it.[/size][/#800000][/font]
[fishin]
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[Bduck]

This year I replaced my Raymarine Dragonfly 7Pro on my boat after using it for 4yrs. Its been a great easy to use sonar unit with down imaging only. I upgraded to another Raymarine. I was considering selling my Dragonfly when as luck would have it I was looking at the Raymarine site for software updates and new products. There I found that RM has a new ice fishing kit to ad to existing Dragonfly units. Its comes with a rechargeable battery, charger, ice transducer with float, and a bag to set the Dragonfly up in along with storage.
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