Upgrade options, and size ideas

[miked77]

Hi All, Have the itch to replace my old Lowrance X55 ice machine sonar. It still works well but have the itch for a new toy lol! I have 2 directions I can go in with this upgrade and am torn on what to do.
Option 1 is to purchase the ice fishing kit for my Garmin Echomap Chirp 9" that I have on the boat. I think it would be pretty sweet to have a 9" sonar on the ice, and I am already familiar with it which would be a plus. The hard thing for me is its around $500 (canadian) just for the conversion kit. In a way seems expensive to me.
Option 2 is to buy a complete ice fishing sonar. If I go this route I'm likely only looking at a 5-7 inch unit to stay in budget.

Whats nice out there in the way of sonars? Is there a point where its just too big? Anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks all for any info.

[WYIfish]

Another thought that works for me still.  Nine years  ago I bought a nice Garmin off of ebay for $200, new old stock they called it, it was new and came unused in t he original box.  New price would have been maybe $450. I have faithfully learned what it likes and what it doesn't like to show me. I just used it yesterday. My only issue is it likes the bigger battery, two motorcycle batteries only last 6-8 hours in the cold (my only complaint).  It has a 4x6 screen that is 256 color. I can see a 3/8 oz jig 2 inches off the bottom in 50 feet of water. Meets my needs.  Look into a model that was top of the line of last year and the price might surprize you.

[Drift Dodger]

Well I can confirm a 9" sonar (Garmin EchoMAP Plus 95sv) is sweet on the boat and on the ice as well.

I built my own ice pack with additional Garmin components so nothing needs to be removed from the boat other than simply detaching the head unit ...

- Bail Mount with Quick-release Cradle (12-pin) (echoMAP™ PLUS 92sv/93sv/94sv/95sv) (P/N: 010-12673-03)
- Threaded Power/Data Cable 4-pin (echoMAP™ CHIRP) (P/N: 010-12445-00)
- GT10HN-IF Transducer (P/N: 010-12677-00)
- 8-pin Transducer to 12-pin Sounder Adapter Cable with XID (P/N: 010-12122-10)

... plus a soft case, Lithium-Ion jump starter and related home-made power cable/termination.

And yes, it's a bit pricey whatever route you go.

By the way, the additional features provided on the Garmin 7" and 9" Garmin EchoMAP Plus models (touch-screen, memory buttons, shortcut keys) are AWESOME!