Using a portable fish finder through the ice?

[fishinaround]

So I have one of those Hummingbird portable fish finders. Has anyone tried them in a hole before. I have never tried a vex and am not really in any financial position to buy one. My guess is that members will say that a vex is the way to go but I was just curios if I will be able to see anything going on with the portable. My concern is that the transducer will interfere if used near the top of the hole and not lay flat if put below the bottom of the ice. Let me know what you think. Thanks. J-

[fordkisskrazy]

I try'ed one last year, made up a rack to hold the transducer n all. It was to cold for it I'm guessing, just wouldn't work right.
  I use a 31 year old humminbird Tom Mann birdtrap, the old yellow boxed fish finders, its a flasher kinda like a vex. Not as good but gives me the depth and can see where my jig is and spots fish. You can find em on ebay sometimes as low as $30.00 . Like I said not as good as the new stuff but I do find fish with it. I found mine in a bunch of stuff that was my grand dads so hey, its gotta be good.Lol.

[Lobes]

Best thing to do is to just try it. The worst thing that will happen is it won't work. I have feeling it will be useful for you. It may mess up if you set up too close to someone with a real high output flasher. That will only give you false/garbled readings though.

                                             
NBG

[FISH2163]

I used a Humminbird 110 when I first started ice fishing. It worked fine, showed the bottom, showed my jig, and showed any fish that were under my hole. Certainly improved my catch rate. The guys I normally fish with thought I was crazy at first for using any type of electronics. They all own Vexliars now.

[DasRottweiler]

I made a Vex style carry-pak modeled abit after the VexPropak. I made it out of PVC board. Mounted my Garmin Fishfinder160 on it which is not only a scrolling graph lcd but also has a flasher mode on the right hand side of the screen. Mounted a Gps Holder to the rear of the unit too. Looking forward to trying it this season. I own an FL18 Propak2, but was looking for a unit for my sons to use when they came with me.

[BCSHANTY]

I used a fish finder last year that worked great, Showed where the fish were and most of the time i could see my jig,I have a fishin buddy fish finder-so the unit hooks right onto my sled.

[stevek]

I used an eagle that I made portable. It had a transom mount transducer, so I made a tip-up style holder for it. That worked pretty good.

[fishinaround]

thanks everyone, i figured it worked work to some extent. cool ideas too. -J

[WildOutdoorAddict]

I use a Eagle Cuda 242 that I made portable works good and can see my jig with it along with the fish. If you do a search on here, you will find threads with this topic and pictures of lots of them. Good luck

[scavengerj]

Thats exactly what I stared with...two HB LCR portables. It should work fine. The only issue I ran into was when it was really cold it would stop working. The problem was that they had LCD displays, which as most know, the "L" stands for liquid which will begin to freeze when it is cold enough.

But it will work.

[mattg]

i was thinking of buying the x67 ice machine, tackle shop owner advised me not to because with the liquid crystal screens they dont work in cold weather, however if you are fishing in mild weather i would think that a regular sonar should be fine

[frostbit]

I have a eagle portable that was my first fishfinder thirty some years ago. It's beat up but still works, but it only shows me bottom and fish, Not my jig. So it helps, Alittle. I just baught a vexilar lx8se yesterday, Can't wait for the weekend to get here.

[ih772]

i was thinking of buying the x67 ice machine, tackle shop owner advised me not to because with the liquid crystal screens they dont work in cold weather, however if you are fishing in mild weather i would think that a regular sonar should be fine

The tackle shop owner was wrong about the X67c in the cold. I've used mine in temps below zero and it works just fine.

[Woodsman]

Here's how I rigged my Humminbird to work on the ice.

[hertzy]

Here is mine that I made last year. Works pretty good. Just need to get a float.

It's in one of my kids old soft side tackle bags.









I just use the battery from my landscape trailer.



I used the charger set up from a old jumper power pack. The small holes are leds, so I know when it's fully charged. ! 

[minnowguy]

This is how I set mine up:

[kevheads]

I've used this set-up for over 10 years. I have no problem seeing my jig, I do lose it close to the bottom, probably the last foot or two. Notice the level glued to the transducer. Majority of my fishing is fishing for suspended gills in the main basin of ours lakes. The way I set mine up is to turn the "fish ID" off, turn the "display speed" up, turn "Sensivity" up then change the "Depth Range" off and set it for 60ft, then turn the "Zoom" on,that way my scale on the screen is setup for 5ft increments so I can see 15ft of the water column on the screen. Our small lakes are usually under 25ft deep so I can see 10ft down to the bottom. Would love to switch to a VEX but this set-up works.

[NickN]

i was thinking of buying the x67 ice machine, tackle shop owner advised me not to because with the liquid crystal screens they dont work in cold weather, however if you are fishing in mild weather i would think that a regular sonar should be fine

I have fished with my Lowrance X68 (same screen) in sub zero temps and never had a problem with the screen not working.   

[iowabucks]

I have heard that some fish finders have a "flasher" mode that can be turned on and used like regular flahsers.

[DasRottweiler]

I posted earlier about the rig I just put together for a spare. (I own an FL18) Unit I made utilizes a Garmin FishFinder160 which has a flasher feature and split screen. Made from PVC board(axack? sp!). The eyebolt transducer support comes out, so whole rig slides into 5gallon bucket, ala Vex style. Little electrical clamp pops out of eyebolt ,unsnaps and resnaps to adjust transducer depth. Gonna set my Vex up with the same deal, much better than that friggin float etc. I mounted a Ram Mount for my Garmin Legend GPS to make finding old holes and marking new ones a snap.(thanks kids-mount was a BD present) Of course ya gutta have a rod holder for a spare setup, or quick hole hops. Still need a battery (Cabelas $14.99 ~come on Santa!) and will be adding a puck holder to riteside front of unit. Can`t wait to see how it works.