Garmin STRIKERPlus 4 Ice Fishing Bundle review experience?

[Macdrizzle]

Does anyone have any experience with this guy?

What are pros and cons? Looking for something relatively basic. Can't seem to decide between the Marcum M1 and this guy.

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/14277...YaAh5hEALw_wcB

[Ruger.308]

I've used it a dozen times this year. I definitely enjoy it. I've never used another fish finder so i cannot personally compare it against anything else. It is simple to use, you can use it as a flasher or the traditional mode. Transducer is a dual beam which is super nice in deeper water. I would 100% recommend the Garmin to anyone looking for a ice fishing sonar.

[Probar]

I have had mine for 3 years and haven’t felt a need to upgrade as of yet. There are great YouTube videos on how to set it up.

I like using mine on Traditional mode with ultrafast scroll of history and with Ascope turned on. So you have a flasher on the right of the screen and the history scrolling on the left.

Sometimes is a pain to set up in shallow water as the cone in 200HZ shows way too much gain. And the cone in 77HZ doesn’t show enough. So getting to know how to set it up manually will be important. But again there are so many YouTube videos that can help a guy out.

The screen could be bigger if you’re staring at it all day. But the trade off is battery life. The battery is 3 years old and can last 2 days of all day ice fishing without a charge.

Again, year 3 and I haven’t seen anything significantly better at a reasonable price point that would make me want to switch.

Have fun


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[Macdrizzle]

Thanks guys. The sale ends in a couple hours here. I literally just bought it based on your 2 reviews.

[RDFisher]

Worthwhile getting, especially when on sale. Covered already here, but there's lots of tutorials on how to use it to get the best out of it. I pretty much use the flasher mode exclusively, which works super well. However, lots of other features which are nice to have.

Definitely worthwhile paying a bit more to get the ice fishing transducer. While you can get the open water bundle for cheaper, then you have to deal with finding a way to fix the transducer under the ice. Just seems bulky and a PITA vs. dropping the ice transducer in, fixing the float height and go. Much easier to pull it out when you have a fish on as well.

Only upgrade I would make would be to a livescope set-up. Prices on those are still really high though so I'm good with the Striker for now.

[Fradaburidi]

I'm not sure if it's the same thing but they look similar. https://www.gpscentral.ca/product/ga...rtable-bundle/

I wanted a small one for a kayak and this came with an ice fishing transducer as well. I mostly use it to measure the water depth since most of the fishing is on the bottom and you will not be able to see the fish unless is 1' or so off the bottom but I believe this is true for most of the relatively not expensive sonars.

I didn't use it in open water yet, but I assume it will serve me for the same purpose: to figure out water depth and drop offs.

I also have a cheap underwater camera that I find it way more useful than the sonar for ice fishing, although it has its limitations (can't use it too deep and at night or if the water is not clear enough) but now I feel like I'm blind if I can't use it.
I carry both of them and I can see the sonar only detects lure/fish when it's 1' or so off the bottom. It depends on the bottom too. It might be that you can mess with the gain and other settings but I didn't since not all the concepts are clear to me, so it stay on auto/factory default.

All I can say is that it is way better than without any.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Macdrizzle

Thanks guys. The sale ends in a couple hours here. I literally just bought it based on your 2 reviews.

You won’t regret it, price wise and versatility it is a great package.

Running the striker 4 package for four years, on ice, kayak etc.

Once you know how to dial it in they are easy to use.





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[Macdrizzle]

Originally Posted by RDFisher

Worthwhile getting, especially when on sale. Covered already here, but there's lots of tutorials on how to use it to get the best out of it. I pretty much use the flasher mode exclusively, which works super well. However, lots of other features which are nice to have.

Definitely worthwhile paying a bit more to get the ice fishing transducer. While you can get the open water bundle for cheaper, then you have to deal with finding a way to fix the transducer under the ice. Just seems bulky and a PITA vs. dropping the ice transducer in, fixing the float height and go. Much easier to pull it out when you have a fish on as well.

Only upgrade I would make would be to a livescope set-up. Prices on those are still really high though so I'm good with the Striker for now.

Is the open water transducer different than the ice fishing transducer? I just looked at the dual beam ice fishing transducer it's an additional $117.

[Fradaburidi]

Originally Posted by Macdrizzle

Is the open water transducer different than the ice fishing transducer? I just looked at the dual beam ice fishing transducer it's an additional $117.

The link that you posted shows an Ice Fishing Bundle which includes 2 transducers. Just wait to arrive and see.

Yes it is different. The cable is soft and doesn't harden in the cold and it stays in the correct position when you drop it in the hole.

The open water one is supposed to be mounted on something to keep it in the correct position. Never used it on ice but the cable is different, I bet it will harden in the cold. It can be used but as someone else mentioned it might be harder to keep it in the right position, other than that I don't think there are other differences.

[Probar]

The open water transducer works fine. I rocked it for a year and did just fine. I did upgrade to the dual beam ice transducer the following year. It does make enough of a difference I think that for the life of how long the garmin will last you it’s a worth while upgrade.

I did forget to mention what others have said. I use it all year round. In my kayak, buddies boats that have no fish finders. It’s just a handy darn piece of gear. Good purchase


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[RDFisher]

Originally Posted by Fradaburidi

The link that you posted shows an Ice Fishing Bundle which includes 2 transducers. Just wait to arrive and see.

The bundle in the link only comes with the ice fishing transducer. The open water transducer is a separate purchase.

You can jerry rig the open water transducer for ice fishing, but it's so much easier to be able to just drop the ice one down the hole, set it with the foam float and fish.

[Fradaburidi]

Originally Posted by RDFisher

The bundle in the link only comes with the ice fishing transducer. The open water transducer is a separate purchase.

My bad. I didn't read the description properly.

[Moosetalker]

I Just bought the Striker 4 plus ice combo for the wife as she has only used a camera till now. Will compare it to my Hummingbird Ice45 once I get a chance.

As a plus my 20+ year old portable fishfinder I used on my tin boat decided to give up the ghost so will get the optional transom mount transducer for it.

Question for 58thecat and other Members running the Striker . Is it worth the extra $$$ for the GT8 over the generic ?

I most often fish rivers in summer. Not too much big water.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Moosetalker

I Just bought the Striker 4 plus ice combo for the wife as she has only used a camera till now. Will compare it to my Hummingbird Ice45 once I get a chance.

As a plus my 20+ year old portable fishfinder I used on my tin boat decided to give up the ghost so will get the optional transom mount transducer for it.

Question for 58thecat and other Members running the Striker . Is it worth the extra $$$ for the GT8 over the generic ?

I most often fish rivers in summer. Not too much big water.

I personally never got the ice transducer, the open water transducer once you adjust it to sit proper below the ice works great, no issues at all and I see exactly what other see with the ice transducer.

Hope this helps, great units for the price, 3 full days on one charge is a bonus too.