Does this type of Equipment Exist?

[SDfisher]

Does anyone know of a Flasher/Graph/Sonar that can transmit through ice. Giving you a quality depth reading without having to drive a hole?

I bring this up, because I plan on tip up fishing this weekend on a submerged roadbed. 

It would be useful if I could find the roadbed and stay on or just to side, without having to drill an excessive amount to find the exact upslope of the road ditch.

[bigal409]

The Vexilar is supposed to if you wet the transducer first or so I'm told. I have one but have never tried it myself. 

[hardwater diehard]

http://vexilar.com/info/shooting-through-the-ice/

[grizzlyhackle]

The Vevilar is supposed to if you wet the transducer first or so I'm told. I have one but have never tried it myself. 

As long as your ducer is wet and there isnt snow or something interfering through the ice it should read. I know guys that walk around with a bucket of water and their flasher checking depths prior to drilling holes.

[Moonman]

Yes any finder will do that. Some less powerful units may need to start shooting through water/ antfreeze fiirst, so sometimes people will put the ducer in a plastic bag with some water, then just set the bag on the ice. I have done it myself for years. My simple 100 watt rms finder, will shoot through my cedar strip canoe and gve me perfect readings of depth and fish in summer. Ice is much easier for a transducer to shoot through than a wooden canoe hull.

Moonman.

[SDfisher]

Thz for the responses. Makes sense early on in the year. But were looking at close to 20 plus inches of ice. Not really sure the quality of data id get through that. But even if it allows me to finds the roadbed and drop off it will get me close.

[frozengator]

Thats a lot of ice to try that, if there is snow on or mixed with the ice it will even be worse. My suggestion would be maps and a 4 inch auger the navigation app on the phone is nice too.

[spudsaway]

LX-I DIGITAL HANDHELD SONAR marcum

 The troller that is their  bottom line will do it so they all will read through   wet ice, but the Item above is hand held tool just for finding structure you walk you stop you check bada bing  anyway nice toy if you got the bucks for it i guess. 

[fishermantim]

Unless there is a snow cover or the ice is not clear black ice, it should be able to read thru the ice.
Air bubbles in the ice will screw up any readings as the sonar will count that as something "just under the ice".

[eriksat1]

It works if the ice is clear. Frozen slush or white ice with a lot of air bubbles no. Even so what I do if the ice is not clear ice is drill down about 4 inches and then check depth, it is lot better than drilling all the way though and making a mess with the water. Usually just drilling a few inches gets you to good clear ice. I bring a gallon milk jug with water in it to pour a tiny bit of water into the partial hole seems to work good for me.

[jethro]

I have been told that this works for a long time. I have a high end 4000watt unit and unless the ice is all clear ice it is less than perfect. It will show me the depth, but not cleanly. How often do you find yourself fishing perfectly clear or black ice? Pretty much all the ice has air bubbles in it.

[neveruminda]

just posted this on another IS thread:

I have showdown 5.6 dual beam

if you have fairly clear ice, you don't have to bore a hole to know depth, bottom condition, and to mark any fish - take a bottle of water, clear any snow, pour a tablespoon or two of water, set your ducer on the ice, take your reading

BTW, DON'T LEAVE IT THERE VERY LONG UNLESS YOU WANT THE TWO TO BECOME ONE(hunk of ice)

[tornadochaser]

Thz for the responses. Makes sense early on in the year. But were looking at close to 20 plus inches of ice. Not really sure the quality of data id get through that. But even if it allows me to finds the roadbed and drop off it will get me close.

SDfisher, I carried a water bottle around and shot my marcum showdown through 20" of ice on Waubay and was accurately reading depth out to 28 feet.  With the good ice we have this year you should be fine.

[neveruminda]

This morning I shot thru 23" w/o any problems whatsoever - marked the bottom, weeds and fish above
Last year I was shooting thru 30" - no issues