Fish Finder

[WhoCares]

Looking to buy myself a XMas present. Need opinions on a good sonar fish finder for the ice!

Thanks!
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[RockyRaab]

Well, you're about to get at least three and possibly four different opinions about what is "best." Because everybody who uses a Marcum, or a Vexilar, or a Humminbird will say they love theirs. You may even get a reply from somebody who loves his phone app fish finder.

I'll start. Love my Marcum Showdown Troller 2.
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[Giants05win]

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the major brand ice units (Marcum, Vexilar or Hummingbird) even with the most basic units....so on that note find the best deal..Scheels has a smoking deal I saw this morning on Marcum VX1 for $269.00! It is the cheapest I have ever seen it. I have one personally and it works great for me.
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[Lip_Ripr]

+ 1 on the showdown. Love mine
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[cdbrc]

My ice troller works great in shallow water as well as deepwater. Works really good in shallow water, 10 feet or less. I use my hummingbird if I'm going deeper . If I had to choose just one for ice fishing I would go with the showdown ice troller. Look up on youtube see how they each work just ask YouTube to show you Ice troller or hummingbird or vex.
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[Berg]

Lowrance makes great sonars.

[ChasinFins]

I like my Humminbird PiranhaMAX, although the temp reading doesn't work. Word of warning. It's a common problem after reading reviews. No support from Hummingbird. The sonar and down imagining work great. If you go this route, give the extra $40 for the down imagining.
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[fallsfish]

My Lowrance 67c is rather out dated but works well. MY son has the new model with CHIRP and its really good. The vexilar and marcum units are very powerful and I find when I fish within 30 to 40 feet of one they cause my lowrance to get static and makes it harder to read.

Good luck sorting through the differences.
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[dubob]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]I've seen them all work out on the ice. Interference is a given with all of them when used in close proximity to one another. I believe the flasher systems are better for ice fishing than any of the LCD systems. I have not seen any other system that I would trade my Vexilar FL20 for except a Vexilar FL28. Going on year 6 with my FL20. I might upgrade to the FL28 in a year or two. Most of the pros (but not all) use a Vexilar; but then they don't have to pay retail for them either. The FL28 is close to $700 retail.[/#800000][/font]
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[big_griggs]

Hummingbird 160 works pretty darn good for me as an entry level finder for ice.
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[Troutman_2]

Have you used yours to fish for perch?

I want to pick one up but I was concerned that the 2" target separation wouldn't give me the resolution I want.

I know the Showdown 5.6 has 0.5" target separation.

I don't want to spend the extra money if I don't have to.
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[rippinlipps]

I'm sure all those name brands will do you well. I currently use a marcum lx6. Love it with all its features. I bought a hummingbird 385ci this summer, that I'm setting up to go out on the hard deck.good luck on finding your new toy.
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[cdbrc]

Whatever finder you choose don't buy it until you put it on a wishlist on Amazon. Then right after Christmas watch and see what happens to the prices. I got a hummingbird 788 color down imaging retail on Amazon was close to $700.. Just be fore new years the wish list price dropped to 389. Put it on a wish list and you will be shocked what that does to the price. I bought an ice ducerr for it this summer for $70.Now I can use it for both the boat and on the ice. It works better from 10 feet and deeper. for shallow water I use my showdown ice troller , it is really effective in shallow water and deep water
I used both love both.
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[cbassonafly]

Love my showdown as well!
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[Hammer-N-eyes]

I have fished vexilars, lowrances and Marcums. Not a fan of vexlars, had issues with them reading braid and just showing a full screen the whole time and their noisy! My lowrances (67-68-elite 4 and 5) I think out marked any unit out there. Especially for perch and eyes on the bottom. I would find buddies watching my screen instead of theirs! And u could tell them when they were about to mark because I would mark so much better! Cons- they eat batteries and get interference VERY easy. I went to a marcum LX-7 this year. I prefer LCD screens and I think the marcum is more user friendly with a better battery life. As for marking fish .... Lowrances all the way.
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[doggonefishin]

The only suggestion I might add is to try or look at as many different kinds as possible before you make the purchase. You can do this to some extent in a store like Cabelas or SW, or go out to a crowded lake on a Saturday and ask to look at different models. Most folks don't mind showing you their setup. You may find that you (and especially your eyes) may prefer a model and type that is different from the one all the cool kids have and are recommending. If so, go with it. You will be happier in the long run.

As an example, I get a raging headache using a certain popular brand of flasher for more than a few minutes. I need to use an LCD. Do I mark less fish or catch fewer than my buddies with their flashers? No.
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[MichiganAngler]

Bob, I sold my FL-20 and upgraded to the FLX-28. It was worth the coin. All I can say is AWESOME!

To the OP: You can't go wrong with any of the big names. They'll all increase your catch rate significantly.
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[RonPaulFan]

Mine is the LX-9.

Target separation is an important quality that helps you know when to set the hook especially when fish rise up to take the lure. The ShowDown 5.6 has better than most and the same (1/2") as mine at a fraction of the price.

Now that we're talking finders, I have a related question for our group.

I'd like to choose a reservoir to ice fish that let's me really appreciate the power and video of mine. For example, I learned it's not Strawberry as the bottom looks the same everywhere I looked. It's devoid of structure. I want to use sonar to find structure and transitions and use the video to actually see what the blobs of color would be telling me, IF I had the experience to convert the abstract art into meaning in my mind. With the video, I will learn and that was the main reason for me to get that feature. An example was an underwater tree with fish swimming among the branches. I didn't have a clue until I put the camera down, but now I'll know how to recognize it in abstract art. I also ended up fishing shallow on most all of my ice fishing, but next time I would like to fish deeper where the power and resolution will give me advantages to try out. In short, which reservoirs have depth and structure for me to explore? Of course, fish would be nice, too []
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[MichiganAngler]

You're either going to have to be really lucky, know the water body inside and out or cut a lot of holes in the ice to drop a camera in on structure. You'll be much better suited to do that from a boat on the soft water and mark the spots with a handheld GPS. All of the rocky reservoirs in Utah have lots of underwater features, especially Starvation.

I always wondered what that deep, steep island/drop off over by the dam looked liked below the water. Go scope it out.
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[RonPaulFan]

Ken (and group),

Slowly over time, I go from one fishing style to another {deep sea, stream fly fishing (& heavily into fly tying), pontoon fishing with big lures and swimbaits and spin casting, then shore fishing, controlled depth trolling on friend's boat, ice fishing (about to start my fourth season) and someday fishing from my own sailboat with fancy I-Pilot, mapping and electronics}.

But, for now (ice fishing), I agree and do plan to run around augering a lot of holes. For that plan, I have a Nills 4-1/2" hand auger because it's light to carry and fast to drill through ice and a good size for the transducer and camera. I won't need to send the camera down every hole. Just the transducer alone will most often tell me what's there unless I don't recognize the bottom reading. In case, I send down the video camera as I also gain ability to recognize the new bottom reading on sonar. Perhaps, for most readings, depending on the ice quality, I might be able to simply and quickly read through the ice.

You're right. It would be a lot of running around doing that compared to having recordings from boating. Perhaps a wet water boat fisherman might want to team up with me for ice fishing. Hint. Hint.

If so, I have plenty of high quality ice fishing equipment to invite friends, so any boat fishermen who is new to ice fishing can give it a try by teaming up with me.
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