fishfinder transducer question

[barnbug1]

I have a Hummingbird 385 finder that I love to ice fish with. I use the transom mount ducer that it came with rigged up so that it sits right in the water. It works, but I have to spin it occasionally to get a good reading. How much better will the ice transducer be? Thanks for your help.
[signature]

[Fowl-Hook]

Transom designed transducers work just fine for Ice fishing. I have heard of no difference in the cone produced by transducer's regardless of intended purpose relating to it's mounting, transom or Ice fishing.
Ice fishing units typically have smaller mounts than transom units that are designed to not bend or break when being drug behind a boat.
Resident experts may have info that differs from what I believe to be the case. Hopefully they will share.
[signature]

[tlspyder13]

Not sure it would do much if anything for your finder. I use just the regular transducer and have found that when Ice fishing it can be hard to get it level up down and side to side. Doesn't take much to make it work better or have it just not seem to work right at all. For what it's worth.
[signature]

[Jbworkin]

There are a couple of advantages with a transducer made for ice fishing. They usually have a tighter cone angle and therefore you know a fish is close to your jig when marked. In shallow water this is not very noticeable. Also, ice transducers hang vertically so they are much easier to place and will aim straight down toward your lure. That's about it.

[Jbworkin]

Also, with a tighter cone angle you can see more of the water column on a sloped bottom. Here again, the deeper that water the more advantageous an ice fishing transducer will be.

[buckhunterhart]

I will let you know next week. I just ordered the ice transducer for my Hummingbird 195c and hope to get it out this weekend. I tried with the boat transducer with minimal luck- mostly just able to see how many FOW I was in.
[signature]

[fsh4fun05]

I use an HDS 7 Touch for ice fishing with the transom mount transducer set up on a tee using some 1" pvc (TD style). I've never had an issue except once fishing on a VERY steep ledge at FG. Fish would come up from the depths of the ledge and I wouldn't see them.
I really don't think it's going to make that much a difference. If I can spot a fish that's a little farther away because of the wider cone I think that's a good thing.
If you have to spin it there may be something wrong with the transducer.
[signature]

[Therapist]

Most Humming Birds have a 200Hz. frequency ducer, with a 15degree cone angle. Contrast to older Lowrance units that had a 192Hz frequency with a 20 degree cone angle.

Lowrance no longer uses the 192/20 ducer. They have discarded it because of the 'Uni Ducer' trolling motor's. Both Minn Kota and Motor Guide offer built in ducers in their top of the line motor's. All that is needed is a compatible cable to connect the unit to the motor. As a result, Lowrance has discarded their old ducers for the same 200/15 units. ( Garmin's purchase of Lowrance has also played a major role in this switch as Garmin uses the 200/15 unit.)

Another factor in play with newer units is the fact that many of them now use a dual frequency ducer. This optimizes the ability of the processor to provide the clearer, more detailed readouts.

So, our friend using the Lowrance Elite 7 on the ice, has a dual beam ducer. Your Hummingbird most likely has the 200/15 ducer. The narrow 15 degree cone, covers less bottom than say the older 50 degree units.

One of the things you can do to increase the effectiveness of your unit on the ice is to get the ducer below the lower lip of the ice. While you can shoot through the ice if it is clear, many times the ice forms in the wind and air, dirt, and other things are trapped in it. These inclusions in the ice block the signal and hence no reading. Ice ducers solve this by having a 'float' that slides up and down the cable to allow you to get it below the lower edge. You can do essentially the same thing by first, weighting your ducer on top so that it rides level in the water. You then make your own 'float' out of a wacky noodle ( steal one from your kids) and attach to the cable. Zip ties are great to cinch it down so it slides when you move it and not while sitting there. For a couple of bucks and some time you can save yourself $100 on a new ice ducer.

Puck style ducers are more difficult to stay level than the new skimmer style, due mainly to the position of the cable exiting the ducer !!

Have fun !!!

[fsh4fun05]

It's an 83/200 transducer that came with the HDS unit that I use for ice fishing but I use the Lowrance HDI transducer for my bow unit so I can have downscan from my trolling motor. The HDS Touch finders have the LSS unit built in so all you need is the DS transducer from the Elite 7 series. Unfortunately the built in transducers on the current trolling motors don't have the DS option.
The new Ulterra trolling motors have almost EVERYTHING built in but the DS. Sorry to the OP for getting off track and making things more complicated lol
[signature]