Ice fishing electronics

[TroyBoy30]

you might want to look at garmin as well. they have several new chirp ice transducers. let me know if you need anything

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/blog/fi...s-ice-fishing/

[tjherring]

i use the bird 55, I like it.

[pureoil313]

I have a small Lowrance X67c that works really well for Ice fishing, I used to despise Ice fishing til I tried it with electronics and I now really enjoy it.

[DrewFlu33]

is it the target separation that makes a flasher better than 2d?

Target separation and no delay.

I have a Marcum LX-5 that I believe advertises 0.75 inch target separation, but I honestly think it's even better. I can see a spoon separately from its split-ring attached treble hook - so much so that I can actually tell if I've jigged off a minnow head or been robbed.

You also see the jig move in real time. With 2-d sonar, I've noticed a lag of a half second or more. That doesn't sound like a whole lot, but when fish are mega finicky (as they usually are in cold water...) it makes a world of difference.

And I agree with others - zoom is a very important feature. If you fish crappies, trout, or other fish that like to suspend, then a fully adjustable zoom is important (meaning one that can be adjusted to any part of the water column).

A dual (or more) beam transducer is another nice item. I fish a lot of steep breaks and weeds and have seen the depth reading change by 3 feet by switching from 18 to 9 degree mode. This can make a huge difference in seeing fish on the bottom, as well as seeing your jig.

[phishirman]

I’ve had an Ice 45 since they came out and the only regret I have is not springing for the 55 since it comes with a nice case... All else aside, it’s hard to beat Humminbird’s large, bright display.

[RFeyoMN]

The H bird Ice-55 is a pretty nice unit.

I wouldn't even consider using an LCD graph for ice fishing. They are far too slow and don't have the target seperation. A flasher...assuming you know what they tell you...gives you all the same information, in a smaller, lighter, more power efficient package.

I'm a Vexilar user, but not a brand loyal nerd. If I bought a new unit today, it'd be the 55.

[JTN]

The two fellows I ice fish with have flashers, fl28 and a Marrcom I use a Hds5 Gen 2 with a ice transducer,some days on a hot panfish bite we're close enough to together to watch each others graphs. Honestly we don't see a lot of difference in performance, and we do compare them and make adjustments.
When everybody has their machine fine tuned it's a wash, what ever work best for you.

[wicker*man]

The H bird Ice-55 is a pretty nice unit.

I wouldn't even consider using an LCD graph for ice fishing. They are far too slow and don't have the target seperation. A flasher...assuming you know what they tell you...gives you all the same information, in a smaller, lighter, more power efficient package.

I'm a Vexilar user, but not a brand loyal nerd. If I bought a new unit today, it'd be the 55.

Just curious on why the graph is slower? I use both vexilar and my bird 688 and I see no difference in speed? Turn the chart speed to ultra and my mark moves immediately when i jig. Not sure about the delay thing.

[Schins]

My guess would be due to the LCD panel's slowdown in colder temps

[Boondock]

Have both here
fl-12 and a lowrance elite 4 and I don't see a difference
like the gps on the low alone with seeing history and seeing how a fish reacted when I lift or drop the lure
Ive used them all pretty much. They all work pretty well when the settings are dialed in

[born 2 fish]

I love my marcum LX-5.

[wicker*man]

I use my old bird 688 i used to have on my boat. I like it way more than any flasher. I turn the screen to black background to see it better and get longer battery life. Problem is when you are in a busy area the other screens will give the bird lots of interference. Especially if it's deep or hard bottom and especially if it's a marcum. Seeing the history on the graph is actually quite useful for getting fish to come back.

[ksubasser24]

I ice fish more than I boat fish. I use a lowrance elite 5 that I had on my old champion. I like for the fact I can put gps spots in it I find when in the boat scanning that I think would be great to set up around on the ice. It works fine as a flasher and I catch a lot of big bluegills deep with it. Those type of units work fine. However a good flasher is better than a boat style graph on a ice pack. My plan for next year since I can't spend any money this year due to upcomming wedding is to get an vexlar flx12 or flx28 for fishing and mounting my elite 5 on my 4 wheeler for gps. I also like the hummingbird ice 55 and 45 flasher and fish with some guys that use them and they are top notch compared to the hummingbird 35.

[Iowa Bass Hunter]

Necro

[Edziu23]

I am looking at getting my HDS 7 on the ice this winter and was going to fabricate something to put it on. My question is what are people using for batteries ? I was going to take an old trolling motor battery and make a spot on an old sled for it. Any other ideas?

[D.O.C. 989]

The two fellows I ice fish with have flashers, fl28 and a Marrcom I use a Hds5 Gen 2 with a ice transducer,some days on a hot panfish bite we're close enough to together to watch each others graphs. Honestly we don't see a lot of difference in performance, and we do compare them and make adjustments.
When everybody has their machine fine tuned it's a wash, what ever work best for you.

My cousin uses the same unit as you and my other 2 ice fishing friends use the fl28 and a marcum. All 3 concur with you.

[DrewFlu33]

EDIT: Ha! Didn't realize I had responded to this thread before.