Fish finder question(s)?

[Carlos2222]

First of all, I am a complete novice when it comes to using a fish finder.   Although I have went out with friends that had them...  I personally didn't pay attention to it and have never owned one.    I am considering buying a somewhat cheap portable fish finder and curious;   A few I have looked at claim the transducer can be mounted to a pole/stick as well as just floating in your ice hole.   So is it possible or effective to drill one hole and point the transducer sideways and rotate the pole to see what is around you 360 degrees and then use that to decide where to drill more holes or follow a school of fish, or simply see that their is good structure 50 or 100 feet in any direction?   Or are transducers simply not designed to work sideways?   Or only certain types?   

Thank you in advance for any able to provide some insight!

Carlos

[Gunflint]

You get what you pay for. A Panoptix Livescope costs several times the price of my Helix 5 - and is worth every penny. I own both fish finders. There is no comparison.

[skifisher]

It’s nice you can afford a Panoptix Livescope, but unfortunately not everyone can. Buy what you can afford as an inexpensive unit is better than no unit at all. 

[FishGut]

The first finder I paid for was a pre Y2K Fishin' Buddy II. I bought it for the innovative side scanning option, and it was worth every penny, especially during hardwater. Depending on how you set the transducer, you could get a real good image of fish suspending just under the ice. There are other threads on here that give advice on how to hang a transponder

[Icefishingute]

i have found that tipping my transducer doesn’t work very well. There are units designed to do just that, but they are pricey. In fact, if you get a fish finder I would highly recommend getting an ice ducer to get your beam shooting straight down. That gives much better results.  I really like both my hook by lowrance and helix by hummingbird. Won’t fish without one. 

[joedevera]

Yes and No...Before Panoptix and Livescope lots of guys would swing their transducers and pick up little blips to stay on top of roaming schools.

Depending on your transducers cone size and output power, you may get interference or noise from the signals bouncing of the ice making it useless to use in "forward view"

Personally, I'd be more confident buying an entry level flasher and something like the beam bender than trying to convert open water fish finders for ice fishing

[matzilla]

You can take any transducer and point it in any direction you wish under the ice.....there's no way you're going to defy the laws of physics by turning a transducer on its side

Yes you can use this method to follow fish or spot structure X amount of feet in the pointed direction. Once you learn to read the screen it is pretty easy to figure out whats going on, especially with a 2d graph view. a simple hook on then handle of your ice scoop can be used to hold the transducer/cable so it can be pointed in any direction under the ice

[SLAYERFISH]

You being a complete finder noob I would suggest getting a flasher.  A vex or Marcum.  its all you need. can't see sideways but much much easier to deal with

[grababrewski]

You being a complete finder noob I would suggest getting a flasher.  A vex or Marcum.  its all you need. can't see sideways but much much easier to deal with

Yep, it's best to be able to concentrate on the fish that are in the "strike zone"

[slipperybob]

I found some flashers online for sale. Both around $300. I don’t know enough to make an educated purchase and am struggling to find the information I need online. My options are, a Vexilar fl-18, used lightly but old with a bad battery. Or a marcum m1, not sure how old it is, battery is fine. Which is better? I’m leaning towards the marcum just for the fact the battery works and the case is convenient. Any insight would be appreciated thank you!

@ $300 for a used Marcum M1 is like paying full price.  Considering that is often the sale price new.

[filetandrelease]

 $349.00 for a reconditioned vex 18 in a genz box  with a 12*transducer with a 2year warranty and 1year on battery
 Don’t know about shipping cost

[TIBS]

IMO, the best bang for your buck would be the Garmin Striker 5 ice kit.  Has a ton of features and still pretty well priced.  Whatever you choose, get one that has a dedicated ice transducer.  Trying to level a boat transducer on a pole on the ice is more trouble than it’s worth.

[Buckshots]

The Humminbird ice-35 is a great entry level flasher. Don’t count it out. Comes with a dual beam transducer and zoom.

[skifisher]

For a great value, (under $350.00), and excellent customer service, I’d like to recommend the Marcum M-1 flasher through Amazon. Comes with a battery, charger and soft case, and is a good starter unit.