Which ice fishing electronics to choose?

[denied access]

Looking for an entry level ice fishing sonar or flasher. If it could be used in a kayak in the summer that is a bonus.

Down to these 3 but open to any suggestions

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/107620/lowrance-hook2-4x-bullet-gps-plotter-fishfinder-with-all-season-pack

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/137327/lowrance-hook2-4x-fishfinder-with-all-season-pack

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/142774/garmin-striker-plus-4-ice-fishing-bundle

Hummingbird looked to be more money for less features but I could be wrong. Any other ones I missed? What is the good, bad and ugly on these units?

[mlee]

I went away from bird to garmin a few years ago....have had 4 garmin units in that time and have loved all of them. If it's in your budget I'd look at a Striker 5 setup. Great flasher...better ducer than the bird imo....and you'll have way more summer features like live mapping and down imaging should you buy that ducer.

[mlee]

On sale even. Then just buy the clear view summer transducer for $100 and you're set year round.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211104/1d5e5efb6c0d811717dc0580cca0e408.jpg

Sent from my SM-G981W using Tapatalk

[AlbertanGP]

The vertical screen on the Garmin is better suited to ice fishing. The horizontal screen on the Lowrances will be better in the summer. Getting a case with the Garmin is a big plus as they are typically pricey to add afterwards. I'm not familiar with these units, but get the best you can afford. ;)

[slamilton]

I am also looking for this and have done a ton of research and watched youtube videos and the Striker 4 is where I am leaning. There are alot more tutorials and a great facebook page for the Striker too. The Hook looks good also but most recommend the Striker over that but I guess it is personal preference.

[58thecat]

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/134498/garmin-striker-4-portable-bundle

I bought this 3 seasons ago, use it on the ice, in the canoe, kayak etc and never have had an issue with it at all....great piece of kit and now I see it is on sale too.

[jpohlic]

I have a striker 5 and use it in my kayak in the summer and in the ice shack in the winter. I also recommend getting both open water and ice transducers

[mapleleafman3]

I have a Helix 5 and don't have anything bad to say about it.
Which brand of electronics is like asking which brand of vehicle you prefer. I find it all comes down to personal preference.

[Poppa]

Yeah, it's really personal preference. We bought a Helix 7 that was on sale last Christmas and really love it. I still say we get more value out of our AquaVu 715c, but the Helix is nice, as well...

[Gbuss]

I have run the Garmin stryker 4 for 2 years now. It is great. I can mark way points for structure I find. The battery last like 48hrs run time with no issue. The summer transducer works in the winter. It is a simple but is lacking the mapping feature.

I think the stryker 4+ has the mapping capabilities and Clear vuii as well.

For a all arround sonar it is probably the best bang for your buck.


Gbuss

[Jims83cj5]

I have a striker 5 set up in a small pelican case and an ice ducer. It works ok, I also have an LS7 marcum flasher, hands down a better unit.

[denied access]

What is the difference between the striker 4 portable
https://www.cabelas.ca/product/134498/garmin-striker-4-portable-bundle

and the Striker 4 ice

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/142774/garmin-striker-plus-4-ice-fishing-bundle ?

Is it just the transducer?

Also any recomendations on cameras?

[mlee]

What is the difference between the striker 4 portable
https://www.cabelas.ca/product/134498/garmin-striker-4-portable-bundle

and the Striker 4 ice

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/142774/garmin-striker-plus-4-ice-fishing-bundle ?

Is it just the transducer?

Also any recomendations on cameras?

The second one is a "plus" model which means it has clear vu and lake mapping capabilities. Neither of those units come with the actual ice ducer though.
Ther 5+ unit I listed above for $469 will do clear vu lake mapping split screen and comes with the gt8 ice ducer.
As for a camera...I've had one of those Eyoyo cameras off Amazon for 4 years now....every bit as good as my buddies AquaVu that was 3x the money.

[SNAPFisher]

Garmin LiveScope / Panoptics ice bundle :)

Picked up mine from Ontario last year on sale on New Years Day. $600 off. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! Game changer for sure.

[AlbertanGP]

Garmin LiveScope / Panoptics ice bundle :)

Picked up mine from Ontario last year on sale on New Years Day. $600 off. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! Game changer for sure.

A great option for sure, but hardly entry-level. And probably not very kayak friendly either. lol

[TROLLER]

I use the Marcum Showdown. I picked it up at Cabella's on sale for under 300

I like it because everything is verticle easy to read especially for an old guy like me who needs all the help he can get. You can remove the finder from the 12 volt and with double a's move around and check other holes. Very handy.

[AK47]

The second one is a "plus" model which means it has clear vu and lake mapping capabilities. Neither of those units come with the actual ice ducer though.


4+ Ice model comes with ice ducer. Unless it is not ice ducer you have in mind?

https://static.garmincdn.com/en/products/010-01870-30/g/lf-lg-763f8c57-62b2-4d46-9b78-93edd8ce9abb.jpg

[Dean2]

For ice fishing a flasher is far and away the best choice. They are easiest to read, immediate response, no screen lag or issues with pixels in real cold weather. They also stand up much better to the conditions out Ice fishing. The Vexillar Fl series are still far and away the best Flasher made for that work.

https://store.vexilar.com/products/ice-fishing-sonar.html

[mlee]

4+ Ice model comes with ice ducer. Unless it is not ice ducer you have in mind?

https://static.garmincdn.com/en/products/010-01870-30/g/lf-lg-763f8c57-62b2-4d46-9b78-93edd8ce9abb.jpg
Not all of them do....the links he posted both of those came with the standard chirp ducer. All of the 5 and up ice bundles come with the gt8 ducer.

[AK47]

Not all of them do....the links he posted both of those came with the standard chirp ducer. All of the 5 and up ice bundles come with the gt8 ducer.

What is the benefits of gt8 ducer vs chirp?

[mlee]

What is the benefits of gt8 ducer vs chirp?

The gt8 is a dedicated ice transducer....you'll get better target separation and the ability to adjust the cone angle from 16-24 degrees.

[AK47]

The gt8 is a dedicated ice transducer....you'll get better target separation and the ability to adjust the cone angle from 16-24 degrees.

Thank you for explanation. Spent couple hrs watching different ice fishing videos explaining sonars, transducers, chirp, cone angles, etc... feels like I know a bit more now. Lets see how that pans out on the ice.

[aulrich]

I have never been much of a fan of the ice packages not enough bang for your buck. Seeing that you are planning to use it on a kayak with a little ingenuity and a kid's backpack you can leverage the kayak mount into an ice pack for next to nothing.

So I say look at the summer-only version of those sounders and think of what you will do with the money you save. Not all of the sounders have a flasher mode so watch for that. though I usually find myself using both modes when you are a bit distracted it's nice to have the scroll history to show if a fish has been by. Even when you crank the ping speed you don't have to spend your time always staring at the sounder.

It's going to take some serious convincing for me to give up the idea that the only difference between an ice transducer and a boat transduce is that an ice transducer is made to hang in a hole and the boat is designed to hang off a boat and it is very easy to mod a boat transducer to hang in a hole.

to me a transducer is a speaker and a microphone all the other work happens in the head.