Garmin Striker 4

[Dave R]

I have a friend who is thinking about getting one to use on his kayak and next fall buying the ice transducer. I'm not familiar with them so I would like hear from those that have one. And please don't tell me he should look at this or that. He and I are only interested in this particular unit. TIA

[bottomrock]

We run the striker 4cv portable bundle with ice transducer for winter and a clearvu transducer for summer.  Our model also has built in maps.  Some basic models don't, although those still allow waypoints.

[Laststandard]

I can't speak to the winter use, but I had a Striker 4cv I used on my kayak.  Worked great.  I think it's a nice little unit for the money.

[bootstrap]

he should look at a bigger boat. ha ha lol

[robert.d12]

Mine works great. Been using it a few years. I use the normal transducer in the winter as well. The ice transducer me be better but I haven’t spent the money to get one yet, because I haven’t seen a need.

[jpohlic]

I use a striker 5 on my kayak in the summer and in my shanty in the winter. The ice transducer is worth getting.

[79rac]

I have moved my striker 4 back and forth between my kayak, boat, and ice fishing kit.  It worked awesome for each application.  I am sick of moving in and re-rigging it.  I think I will just buy another one for the boat, based on how affordable they are.

[Barfnick]

I have both a Striker 4 and a Striker 5. I like them both equally. The 5 is a little nicer because I can have the graph and the flasher on the screen at the same time, but the 4 running graph mode with the A-Scope turned on pretty much covers it all. The A-scope is basically a flasher in a vertical bar. The ice-ducer is nice to have, but there are ways to make the normal transducer hang straight and work on the ice, it just isn't as convenient.

[BlueDuck]

I agree with all that has been said by others.  I have the portable model and later added the ice transducer.  I use it a lot ice fishing.  If you only ice fish once in a while Id stick with the regular transducer.  It works fine ice fishing, just a little less convenient.  If your a hard core fishermen, Id spend the money and get the ice transducer too.  I think the Striker 4 works great and is the best deal out there for the money.

[rpmilius]

I have the Striker Plus 4cv and it works well in open water. I bought the the GT8HW-IF transducer for ice fishing. Again, works well for that. Great bang for the buck.

One thing you should be aware of is that there's no way to share/store maps you create on it, if that's important to you. There are obscure ways to save/share waypoints, but not maps. Mine didn't have any maps installed. If you ever upgrade to another unit, you have to start over with mapping. I welcome to be shown otherwise! Also, since there's no data port or sd card, you can't update the firmware. What you have is what you get.

But for the price, it's a great little unit.

[hippiemick]

I bought the Ice package this winter because the Hummingbird Helix's were unavailable . Was worried that it was too small but could see it fine . It replaced a Marcum LX 5 because the head end fried . I'm impressed with this unit and its so much lower in cost .

[brad3324]

I can't say enough good things about these  units. I made a Pvc set up for ice because I'm cheap. The ice transducer would be better. I was warned about seeing tiny jigs but they showed up great in 13 feet of water. My girlfriend loves it so I think I'll be buying another in the fall.

[RapShack]

Was worried that it was too small but could see it fine.

For jigging in graph mode screens like the Striker 4 and Elite 4 are better than the Striker 5 or Helix 5 because they are taller.

[raindaddy35]

I can't say enough good things about these  units. I made a Pvc set up for ice because I'm cheap. The ice transducer would be better. I was warned about seeing tiny jigs but they showed up great in 13 feet of water. My girlfriend loves it so I think I'll be buying another in the fall.

you have pictures of the pvc by chance?

[Barfnick]

For jigging in graph mode screens like the Striker 4 and Elite 4 are better than the Striker 5 or Helix 5 because they are taller.

I have both the 4 and the 5. I like the 5, since I can use both the graph and the flasher at the same time, but I usually just watch the A-Scope anyway.