jim bielecki Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 Hi guys! I've been online now for 2 hours! I can't find straight to the point product reviews for Portable fish Locators. I'd like to know what you use and if you would recommend it for the price. I also need it for ice fishing. Any advice? I looked in the archives but didn't find any topic on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kast Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 Die hard ice fisherman swear by the Vexlar. I never got the hang of reading them the few times I used them, but those in the know think they're great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Ferguson Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 My advice is don't buy a portable. You pay a lot extra for the box to carry it in, plus you also have a much smaller selection of units to choose from. If you are going to use it for more than ice fishing, buy the best unit you can afford. Look for the highest resolution. You can easily make any unit portable by buying a cheap tackle box that will hold the unit and a rechargeable battery. Drill a couple of holes in the top of the tackle box for screwing down the bracket to hold the unit. You mount the transducer on a piece of 1x2 which you then clamp to the transom of the boat. I've used variations of this set up for many years and taken them all over North America. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rich mc Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 at shabbona night ice fishing jan 31 you will see all types , including cameras and best is that you can ask them how, what and why they like certain units . rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 I have enjoyed using a Fishing Buddy 5200 for about 10 years now. I use it from a canoe though they have a bracket for ice fishing. It mounts with a C clamp. Check the models at Bass Pro. The new models are better and cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Fullhart Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 I have a vexlar just for ice fishing, 10+ years now & never had a problem. I did mount it on my trolling motor years back when I did more jigging but just ice use now. I love the fact that if the ice is clear (not too many air bubbles) you can graph right through the ice just by pouring a bit of water on the ice. You need a water to ice connection for the locator to see. I do not have a power auger so to find a spot & even mark fish through the ice is sweet. The best set up but $$$ is both a vexlar & camera, there are time when it looks like the fish is on your bait but you feel nothing. A camera you can watch them pull it right in & I would guess it would be fun in open water too, maybe more then fishing some days.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev-mo Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 I guess it depends on what you are going to mostly use it for. If you are mostly ice fishing then Vexilar, Marcom and I believe Hummingbird just came out with one or two. Those seem to be the best from what I've read. If you check over at chitown in the ice fishing and gear forums there has been plenty of talk about those and other units. You should pick up some helpful info reading those. About 15 years ago I picked up a regular Hummingbird flasher. It came with two transducers, one permanent mount and one with a suction cup for portability. I put it in a blue ice box and used the permanent transducer for that. It worked pretty good for ice fishing. I was also able to bring it up to Canada and canoeing by switching to the portable transducer. I have read of people use the Vexilar for canoeing and boating and don't recall anyone having problems. The only issues I have with my set up are interference from other units (mostly due to age of mine) and the cords are all long as it was made for boating. If I ice fished like I used to and had the cash I would pick up a Vex or one of the comparable units and just make sure I could use it on a canoe or boat if needed. JMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asherman Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 There is a big difference between the flasher type fish finders like the Vexilars that are designed for ice fishing and the LCD fish finders designed for use in boats. The ice fishing flashers are great for ice fishing because they give you you an instantaneous view of what is going on. You can tune a Vexilar so you can see your ice fishing jig and fish that are close to your jig. You can "see" a fish coming up to hit your jig. Many ice fishing fish finders come with narrow cone transducers with nine or ten degree cone angles, which are not the best transducers for fishing from a boat, where a wider view of the bottom is preferable. Many transducers on standard LCD units have 19 or 20 cone angles. An LCD display fish finder gives you somewhat of delayed view of what is going on below, but it "saves" the view for a minute or two, so if you are not looking at the display, you can still see bottom structure or fish that you passed over. All but the least expensive LCD display fish finders should give you an easy to read display that will enable you to interpret whether the bottom structure is hard, soft, or weedy. If you use a Vexilar type ice fishing fish finder out of a boat, you need to be looking at the fish finder constantly. I know guys that have both types of fish finders in their boats. The pre-packaged travel fish finders usually come with a suction cup transducer. As other posts have stated, you can make your own transducer mount that can be attached to the transom of a boat. If you plan on using your fish finder in a canoe (Boundary Waters, Sylvania), then you will want to have the suction cup transducer. It might be worth your while to visit one of the fishing stores around here to actually look at the units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim bielecki Posted January 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 My advice is don't buy a portable. You pay a lot extra for the box to carry it in, plus you also have a much smaller selection of units to choose from. If you are going to use it for more than ice fishing, buy the best unit you can afford. Look for the highest resolution. You can easily make any unit portable by buying a cheap tackle box that will hold the unit and a rechargeable battery. Drill a couple of holes in the top of the tackle box for screwing down the bracket to hold the unit. You mount the transducer on a piece of 1x2 which you then clamp to the transom of the boat. I've used variations of this set up for many years and taken them all over North America. Hi Scott...can you add a picture of your set-up? I'm not sure how you clamp the transducer to the transom of the boat without it falling off when the boat's moving. Also how would you use it through the ice...j you just hold the transducer in the water? I've looked at finders many people are using for the ice....they are too expensive for me to use just for ice fishing. The fishin Buddy 5200 looks nice but I'm not sure how it will hold up...many people have said the clamps break but it seems reliable otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin summers Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Jim, I have an older Lowrance model LCD with a flasher and normal views screen. I have it in a box I built out of 1/2 inch plywood (marine) I believe. It is a bit heavy but if you pull it around on a sled its not too bad. Its powered by a dry cell battery which I have trickled charged for years. I have a clamp set up which I bought at Ed Shirley's It is somewhat of a brand name set up, though off the top of my head I can't remember the brand. I made a few adjustments and it works great on rentals. When ice fishing though my locator says it runs in real time it is a bit behind, however in flasher mode I can see crappies coming up to the jig (quite exciting) and it is a good tool once you learn its nuances. I paid close to $300.00 dollars in 2000 for the whole set-up, the main thing is getting the transducer to shoot straight down, I haven't a level on mine but that will do the trick, I usually just leave the clamp gizmo on a 5 gallon bucket and shoot it down the whole. Shabbona at night sounds like a great idea I'm sure there will be a lot of different set-ups to check out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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