Author Topic: X-67 Reading through THICK ice and COLD temps.? (Read 5262 times)

Barleydog · « **on:** Feb 20, 2006, 03:22 PM »

Hey Folks!
Got a different question perhaps someone can answer? My partner owns a FL-18 which is a fine unit. I would like to step up from the Vex's 80's technology and pick up a multi-use unit, (the Lowrance X-67.) Anyways, last weekend we used my partners FL-18 to find holes in 40-50 FOW through 44+ inc. of ice with little success. We utilized water on top of the ice to assist the transducer.... Still not great, reading 1/2 the depths desired for fishing. I'm interested in the Lowrance X-67, but have zero stick time with the unit. Question is, will this unit read through 40+ inches of ice and at subzero temperatures? This is important to me because drilling trough late season ice in interior Alaska is actually hard on me, the auger, and really time consuming! The ice is extremely hard, and at times, laden with glacier silt which dulls your blade enough to limit your fishing to possibly only 4 holes! Soooo it's important to get a good reading the first time, and limit wasted time in the cold. So what do ya think? Will the Lowrance unit read through thick ice? Will it operate in -20 degree temps? Thanks for your time!

-Barleydog

ice dawg · « **Reply #1 on:** Feb 20, 2006, 04:42 PM »

44 inches of ice is a lot to read through with any depthfinder and I'm sure the glacier silt makes matters even worse. I would think that ice that thick would have some bubbles in it also. Give a Marcum a try and let us know what you find out. I hear they walk on water at the very least.

trapperdirk · « **Reply #2 on:** Feb 20, 2006, 06:37 PM »

Oh no you don't Slipperybob .

I haven't tried the Marcum thru 44 inches of ice and I pray I don't . I've gone thru maybe a foot and usually by the time the ice gets that thick or thicker by slush etc freezing and the ice not being perfect to do this anymore she's pound hole time and I don't waste my time even trying to shoot through ice .

Now I know slipbob you have one of those Marcum LXi handhelds with mega power of 2500 watts . They are supposedly made for shooting through ice so what say you .?

For myself with the conditions I mostly run across here I personally can't say that it works with any consistency . 44 inches

Geesh ok .

I'll get right on that after I get another section of auger .

As far as freezeup of the TFT screen of the X67C . We used it at those temps and had no probs and I think it just trash talk .

TD

Barleydog · « **Reply #3 on:** Feb 21, 2006, 10:46 PM »

Good stuff guys. I'm surprised that you haven't encountered any thick ice up your way Trapper, that's suprising indeed! OK, so the rest of the planet doesn't live in the ice age, (7 months of winter.) Well can you guys at least tell me what was your thickest ice your units read through?

I must admit that I only fish glacier water once in a while. Icedawg you could be correct about the silt deflecting the waves? I can tell ya that the river I fish has pockets of silt, not through the entire river. It's kinda hit or miss I guess. Slipbob, I'm really not a big fan of finding holes in the summer, although I do at gun point with limited success.

Some of the areas I fish are hard to traverse to via boat, or impossible due to it's remoteness. The Tanana river is the closest thing to a chocolate milk class 4 turbo blender full of monster burbs that I prefer to visit only in the winter! (I like my boat and life just enough to avoid ending up in an aluminum lined coffin.)

$:-\$

trapperdirk · « **Reply #4 on:** Feb 22, 2006, 03:23 AM »

LOL BD .Yes over the years I have cut holes through the ice that is 4 ft thick by chiseling down etc. to get the auger low enough to get through but it is rare lad and these days 30-36 inches is more the norm but I do almost bottom her on a lake or two in the bush every year and thats around 42 inches .All depends on the snow and how soon it falls . I think our average snowfall is almost 16 ft .

44 inches regularly of ice. Are you crazy .

Shooting through 44 inches of ice .

Please excuse my pessimism but I myself am interested to hear that .

Can it be done even with Slipbobs specialty tool under perfect ice conditions.

I'm listening but since this is the x67c icemachine thread I'll bet my money on the ice .

TD

ChrisinSTJVT · « **Reply #5 on:** Feb 22, 2006, 06:43 AM »

Just got my x67 last week have used it twice since.I read this thread before I left work yesterday to go jiggin. Tried to shoot thru 18" could get the bottom but no fish when we knew they were there.ie trying on ice right beside hole we were pounding them out of.

billybono · « **Reply #6 on:** Feb 22, 2006, 09:33 AM »

i never bother shooting through the ice with the icemachine or the vex. fire up the auger and drill a hole. just as quick as playing with water imho

billybono

billybono · « **Reply #7 on:** Feb 22, 2006, 02:10 PM »

Quote from: slipbob on Feb 22, 2006, 02:07 PM

Not if there's 44" of ice it's not.

true....but if there was that much ice, id be drilling off gps waypoints

actually id be home probably, because im not sure i got the tools for that kind of ice

billybono

crowkiller · « **Reply #8 on:** Feb 22, 2006, 03:46 PM »

i have the x67 c and it will work fine in sub zero temps to -40 so the instuctions say n up to 24 hrs on a 9 hour charge depending on temp

Barleydog · « **Reply #9 on:** Feb 23, 2006, 12:25 AM »

Billy in my case a GPS is just a plastic rock with pretty colors. I'm a HUGE GPS fan, but can't get bodies of H2O up in AK on any accurate mapdata program etc... I'm fishing bodies of water that you can't get to in the summer without risk, OR 1/2 your wits damaged by alcohol! Still drawn to the prospects of big fish on hard water...

TrapperD, Your the man! Straight to the point and always informative! I may have to wait til' next season for a chance to find out... I was really thinking someone had a X67 in the arctic! Kinda like air conditioning for Eskimos. I messed with the unit at a local store and it seems Germ proof!

Burbot Beware!

Crowkiller, Thanks for the input on the sub zero temps! Where did you encounter such temps? Good to hear it didn't "freeze up" or place the power cell in hibernation.

AKDan, Way to be Dan! Catching one laker on Harding is hard enough, not less alone two! Good stuff! You'll have to share "a little" of your success.

I have messed around with both Marcum and Vex units. Great units/companies, but I was considering the Lowrance due the companies great rep, nice features, etc... You know our conditions here, Frigid and thick! That's why I was concerned about the units ability to read properly. Maybe Sportsman's Warehouse will let me "test" one over the weekend eh?

ChrisinVT, Thanks for the input!

ChrisinSTJVT · « **Reply #10 on:** Feb 23, 2006, 01:58 PM »

We fished yesterday where we fished tuesday and I was able to shoot thru our old holes that had about an inch of ice in them (filled the small indent in the ice with water) worked perfect we stepped right on them without drilling any holes and we were able to kick out the old holes to fish.
After we fished and chased the perch in 30' of water for a while I watched them swim off with some big fish behind them at 15'.So I reeled right up, jigged a couple times and bang hauled in nice fat 24" 3.5 lb pickrel.Just awesome on ul gear.
Absolutly love the x67 can't wait to use it every where we fish.

ol crawdad · « **Reply #11 on:** Feb 23, 2006, 02:26 PM »

Quote from: Barleydog on Feb 20, 2006, 03:22 PM

The ice is extremely hard, and at times, laden with glacier silt which dulls your blade enough to limit your fishing to possibly only 4 holes! -Barleydog

I would carry a good file or auger sharpener, and become proficient with it. I doubt there are any flashers that can go through that much ice and grit, and consistently give you accurate readings. I have the Lowrance 68c, and I think it does a great job, but I don't have to fish in the type of conditions you described. OC

ol crawdad · « **Reply #12 on:** Feb 24, 2006, 07:21 AM »

Quote from: AkDan on Feb 23, 2006, 09:51 PM

Stopped by sportsmens for ya Barely just to make sure and they did have the 68 on the shelf today. Talk to Brian about it. He doesn't know anyone with it but after his speel on it, there seems to be a lot of nice things there. Including the GPS!

I do like the adjustable nature of the unit, and the GPS is pretty cool. The regular fishfinder is also excellent, and almost handier than the flasher, because of the history it shows. (15 seconds?) So, if a fish comes into the cone briefly and leaves, you will know it for 15 seconds, where the flasher blip disappears immediately when the fish leaves the cone.

Barleydog · « **Reply #13 on:** Feb 24, 2006, 10:11 PM »

Yeah Crawdad, SOunds like you like your unit. The conditions are a bit rough, but not impossible if you can keep the unit warm in the shanty. I do carry a lansky sharpener with me on most trips... for the auger. Getting pretty good at sharpening Strikemaster blades on the fly. Still a pain drilling holes with a 12" extension.

AKDAN, Thanks for the help. That unit at Sportsmans has druel all over it from me! Messed with it the other day again, and I really like it. Crawdad's right about the history on screen, nice with all the bells and whistles.

Your laker adventures sound great! I do stay pretty mobile, and use thin line with lot's of action. We have marked fish in the past, but they seemed lockjawed at best. Some of the persistant marks we found to be least ciscos. They are pretty prevalant in the lake and are commonly spit out of large fish caught in the summer. I can attest that there are some hogs in the lake. Caught 3 fish over 20 lbs. last year trolling. The char are even more fun! Everyone in the family has caught several trophy class fish from there. 10+ pounders are common place, but 15+ are not impossible! I nailed one that went 19.8 lbs. it was really 21.2 freshly caught on Friday, but by Monday it lost almost 2 lbs. by the time fish and game measured it. All the lake fish there are big with TONS of attitude but a A+ challenge to catch.
I'm helping a partner with his trapline this weekend, otherwise, I'd be out. I think the next state record burbot will come from that lake! I'd seen him with me own eye's I tell ya! Sadly, I have yet to get into any sizeable fish on the lake... We'll hook up before seasons end.... Maybe I'll get a weekday off eh?

Barleydog · « **Reply #14 on:** Feb 25, 2006, 02:31 PM »

Yeah, I'm the guy... Momma works there. She put em there when they first opened up. Nice local touch I guess? I toyed with the icemachine and really liked all the options... I guess some history is better than no history at all. $:-\$ 3 years ago, I was marking "clouds" of bait on my graph, and individual marks in around 35 ft. fishing around the area you talked about earlier. Certainly like to put an aqua-view or camera down the hole. Clarity is not a problem that's for sure.

billybono · « **Reply #15 on:** Feb 25, 2006, 02:34 PM »

ive beel loving the option to look at trends in the graph mode

billybono

crowkiller · « **Reply #16 on:** Feb 25, 2006, 02:37 PM »

im more than happy with the sonar i dont have any use for the flasher

Fishin Fireman · « **Reply #17 on:** Mar 03, 2006, 10:29 PM »

I've become desperately interested in the X67C Ice machine but SW only has the 68C, a little pricey for me and I already have a GPS so I really don't need two, I'm not that wealthy. I found one on line at ]http://www.deepblueelectronics.com/Lowrance-X67C-Ice-Machine-P1316.aspx?src=GGL&cpn=low_x67c_ice&kwd=[x67c+ice+machine] for 265 plus free 2nd day air but the sale ends on Sat, they said they shoud be in stock soon. I'm not sure how I would explain that to the wife

well any way I may just waite til later this year. There will always be a sale. I found some great deals other places but not that low. thornew Bro.s has it for 299 with a free summer transducer but shipping it up here would kill me. Reeds Otdrs was also a good place and was willing to give me a deal but would have to pay 25 or so in shipping. Don't know what to do?

I have been doing my home work and Cabelas has there version of the X67C IM with the floating tranducer for 280 and also a short video on it. Lowarance says that it will work fine down to -30

we need to see if we could snag one and do product research for them. alaska ids the perfect testing climate. I just bought the eagle cuda 168 and it worked okay for 99 but the ice transducer tacks on another 81 bucks so I would much rather upgrade than spend more money on a so so rig.

interested in hearing more good and bad about both the 68 and 67 ice machines so everyone fess up and "just the facts"

thanks

FF

billybono · « **Reply #18 on:** Mar 03, 2006, 10:31 PM »

look at the different topics here...ive said my peace

im happy with the m68c, and im a former vex owner

billybono

beagledogxxx · « **Reply #19 on:** Mar 08, 2006, 06:41 AM »

Bought my x67c from Marine General for 315 total. A little more than most but they were the only ones in the nation that actually had one in hand and didn't have to back order it. I used it all winter and shot through up to 5.5 inches(thats as thick as it got here) with no problem, showing both the depth and the fish accurately. The screen seemed small to me until I bought it...it is so bright that it makes up for its small size...it's no smaller than a vexilar and if you do have trouble seeing it, you could always turn up the sensitivity a little. As far as temperature, there were no problems and if you turn up the ping speed all the way, its as real-time as any flasher out there. Lastly, I thought the battery draw would be a problem but in a 9 hour day, i never even used more than an 1\8th of the charge.

Barleydog · « **Reply #20 on:** Mar 09, 2006, 07:44 PM »

Thanks for the input BeagleXXX Good stuff!~

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