Lowrance elite 3x all season

[copperjig]

Anyone have one and if so what do you think?  Like/dislike.  I heard that they get interfered with very easy.

[Allejo]

I just bought one. It's my first fish finder so far I'm fumbling my way along. I used it for the first time Sunday. It's funny you mentioned interference. My buddy was using a 4x but with a regular transducer instead of and ice transducer next to me and once and once in a while we screen would change as if my settings were changed. I asked my buddy if his could be interfering with mine.

 The one thing I don't like is it doesn't have a flasher mode. I didn't realize it t at first. Seems silly since they advertise it as being good for ice fishing.

[copperjig]

Yeah I was told the interference shows up as little blue specks in the screen.  I like that it is easy to read but if you have to deal with interference all day Ill stick with my flasher.  Good luck thanks

[DFresh75]

I have strong opinions on this stuff but here is my 2c. 

200khz is going to bang against other 200khz any day of the week.  The reason Marcums seem to handle it a little better is due to the "arms race" or more power.  Bottom line, unless you are on top of one another you should be ok.

This is why in a fishing tournament, Humminbird Ice 35/45/55 units seem to have an advantage as they are the only traditional sonar to run at a frequency other than 200khz (240kHz/19° and 455kHz/9°)

That being said, I LOVE the graph display.  I went back to an old FL8-SE this year which works fine, but the LX6 I used to have I think definitely helped me catch more fish and see ANY thing coming through the bottom.

I'll be adding a transducer to my Helix 5 to see how it does with interference, but from what I have seen (even back on my old Lowrance X67c) the lines may be interference, but its a lot more useable than flasher interference where everything looks like a fish.  Interference on a graph looks like noise but you can make out fish better than a flasher unless its brutal.

[copperjig]

Well I'm gonna have to try er out then.  I see your point on knowing what is a fish and what is interference as opposed to being a fish.

[Frontier87]

I got one last year and it's easy to use. Doesn't hurt your eyes to look at it all day . Never had trouble with interference but I don't fish next to to many people. It's a great machine for the price. Good luck tight lines

[copperjig]

Thanks to all of you.  My wife got it at Cabelas who has a great return policy.  So if it doesn't work as well as my Humminbird 35. Then back she goes.  If it works better, than the 35 will be showing up in the classifieds.  Thanks folks tight lines and stay dry.

[DR.SPECKLER]

got me thinking about taking my lowrance 3x off my boat and try it.will the boat ducer work or do I need the ice ducer?

[DFresh75]

Speckler - You can use the summer ducer, just have to make sure it floats flat.  I'm in the same boat, Do I spend $125 to get an ice ducer, genz box and additional mount or just jerry rig it together.

I'm leaning toward the latter to see how it works before investing in it

[DR.SPECKLER]

Speckler - You can use the summer ducer, just have to make sure it floats flat.  I'm in the same boat, Do I spend $125 to get an ice ducer, genz box and additional mount or just jerry rig it together.

I'm leaning toward the latter to see how it works before investing in it

yeah I'm jerry rigging mine.its nothing special on my boat and I have plenty of vexilars.want to see what all this graph on ice is better talk for myself.it will be a loaner unit anyways.i thought I saw  a thread where you just tie a loop in the cord down by the ducer to keep it level

[lefty2053]

I have the 3x and never used it on ice but would like to buy the Ice pack with ducer. I also have 2 Showdown trollers that work great for me.

[copperjig]

So I took it out yesterday and fished shallow water with it 8-10'.  It's okay.  It marks fish great which is a huge plus over a flasher.  You know they're fish and not interference.  However, I was trying to see the jig and was having issues.  It is the sensitivity setting I am sure.  I am going to try it in deep water,, 20 plus before I make a decision. 

[Frontier87]

So I took it out yesterday and fished shallow water with it 8-10'.  It's okay.  It marks fish great which is a huge plus over a flasher.  You know they're fish and not interference.  However, I was trying to see the jig and was having issues.  It is the sensitivity setting I am sure.  I am going to try it in deep water,, 20 plus before I make a decision.

I have some jigs that don't show up well. Depends on how small they are. Mess around with the settings. And use the zoom to get a better look when your down deep.

[DFresh75]

Let me know how this goes.  I have a Lowrance Elite 4x that I just grabbed.  I'm wondering if it will be any better.   

I wonder if its a power issue.  180w RMS vs 250w RMS on the Elite 3x vs the 4x respectively.

[kc_]

The elite 4x works great. I am able to see a size 12 swivel on my line above my fly and jig

[SALMONEMIA]

The elite 4x works great. I am able to see a size 12 swivel on my line above my fly and jig

I have this unit also it works well but wish it had more power. I was told to use manual sensitivity settings, I find this to be not very good. Auto sensitivity is way better IMO. You can still adjust the sensitivity while in auto sensitivity which is a plus. While fishing next to people if I get interference I turn on noise rejection to low. That helps a lot. Be careful with surface clarity setting if your jig is small it will vanish on the screen especially in deep water. If you have any surface interference that you wish to remove you can go into settings and change depth range to custom. For example if   your in 35 fow and you have clutter at 1-3 ft you can set the depth to a range of 3ft - 35 ft, that way you wont see the clutter on top. also zoom mode will help you see small jigs better if your having trouble seeing them.

[copperjig]

how do you adjust the sensitivity while in auto mode?

[Iceballs204]

I have both the elite 3x and 4. The 3 is an awesome unit. Very simple to use and less submenus to deal with vs the 4. Purchased the 3x bundle on sale for $220 cnd out the door( cheaper than tri beam ducer ).  I agree with one of the posters above that there is interference that shows up like little blue 2 mm lines but very easy to distinguish lure and bottom hugging wallys

[copperjig]

Well I made the decision today, after two days of using it, to return it to Cabelas and stick with my 35 for now. It worked just fine but I really needed a new flip shelter and couldn't pass up the deal on Amazon for one.  So it went back.  So for those of you from the Western NY area that are looking for an Elite 3x all season there are two at Cabelas in Buffalo for 150 bucks.  Thanks for all the input from you all.