Cheap ice depth finder?any good?

[oby]

Hello,
  Could anybody tell me if a $70 portable depth finder from cabelas do the job for ice fishing?  I fish mostly ponds and small lakes.  I'm just using it to get an idea of the bottom and the depth.
   Hope the ice isn't too thick this year, so I can use my hand auger.  Good luck. Oby

[mngonefishing]

I would spend the extra $$ and buy a used fl-8. it should only be about 30 dollars more. it will be worth every penny. You wont have to drill a hole to get the depth with a fl-8 just pore some water on the ice and place your puck down and read the depth. good luck.

[crappieloo]

MGF is right fl-8.

[Wables]

I rigged up an old Eagle for ice fishing last year, and it worked better than nothing.  I then bought a Vex and haven't looked back since.  IMHO, there is no comparison between the two.  The only thing I will say about the LCD is that if you have too short of an attention span to watch the Vex, you can look at the LCD every 30 seconds and see what you missed.  (My 7 year old will be using the LCD this year.)  I would hate to see you spend a C-note on an LCD for ice fishing, when you could spend another fifty and get a used Vex.  That reminds me, using a open water transducer for ice fishing is a pain in the arse whichever way you do it.  Being able to just drop the transducer into the hole is well worth the extra money.

[Cooley]

Hey mngonefishing,you say for 30 bucks more you can
buy a used fl-8,that would be 100 bucks.
Now where can you find such a deal like that.
Just curious.......

[Mr.Seaguar]

What Cooley said.

[Turkeyhunter10ga]

I don't know how good they are , but on ebay they have a little hand held unit that's sposed to work on/thru the ice for about $50.00. Haven't seen anybody post a thing about these yet or if anybody's even bought one.

[fishin fool]

Yeah, where can you get a vex for a bill.  Is buying used the same a s getting someone elses problems?

[OTIS]

The best deal I’ve found on a Vex is at www.Vexilar.com.  You can get a refurbished FL-8 for around $250.00.  On e-bay I’ve seen used models sell for more than that, and the refurbished models come with a warrantee.  Let me know if you find them cheaper.

[crappieloo]

You should be able to find a used flasher for $100.00 or less. Heck i have seen old hummingbirds go for way less than a c-note. Whew! A rebuilt fl-8 goes for that much money? oby, if you can't afford a fl-8 look for any older used flasher, my neighbor has a real old hummingbird and i think it cost $99.00 new.

[mngonefishing]

I bought my son a used fl-8 on Yahoo auctions for 106+11 SH Total 117.00 dollars. (now maybe I can play with my own fl-8) It may take a couple of weeks looking. good luck

[jp]

Cheap ice depth finder?
the chepist depth finder i know of is a chunk of lead and an alligator clip.

[Da_Roc]

Hi Gang!
  I was thinking a padded bucket top would be nice to own.  Owning a vex would be like dreaming.
   I did finally get a hut for xmas birthday annervisery and all that next year too!!!
  Da-Roc

[Mr.Seaguar]

Da Roc: Money must be kinda tight round your house. I feel for ya bud. Dont buy a bucket lid. Buy those foldy-up lawn chairs.

[nocash0000]

hahahahahahah.that's great you guy's crack me up.

[swalleyi]

You can get cheap depth finders for under 100bucks its the fish finders that cost you the big bucks. My buddys got that hand held depth finder for 90$. But i would rather use the vexilar.

[kciH]

I've seen the cheap Humminbird LCD's for sale at a discount retailer for under $70.  I used one of these for a few years with a simple box I built for it.  Worked great, but I fish from a portable most of the time when it's really cold.  You could see a bare hook and crappie minnow on the screen with the sensitivity turned up.  All in all, it was a pretty good deal for what I paid and it would go 5-6 trips easily without recharging a 12V7aH battery that I also used to run my radio.  Not nearly as good as the purpose built stuff, but it was cheap and I caught lots of fish in a state with a short ice season.

[big_buddah]

I use a old humminbird bird trap have used it for years and it works great you can find them for around $30.00 to $50.00.

[FullTmeDad]

I just now found a Humminbird TMH-60 birdtrap on EBay. The auction was ready to end and my bid of nine dollars bought it! Even with shipping it'll still be under twenty dollars.

I use a old humminbird bird trap have used it for years and it works great you can find them for around $30.00 to $50.00.

[Penguin]

I've fished the past 10 years with an Eagle Fish ID. No major complaints, just gotta accept the limitations. With mine I was able to zoom the bottom five feet in 30-40 feet of water with good resolution. It finally popped its last ping, and I've got an Ultra Pack on my Christamas list. There's still a part of me that likes a lot of the LCD features, though, and I'm looking at the Lowrance X67C Ice Machine. Whatever I get, I want zoom with vertical pan control. Anyone know anything about the X67C? 8)

[asphalt_kid]

Peguin, go to the Ice fishing tips thread and under equipment there is a topic on the x67c