Flasher / Fish Finder Opinions

[pacrags]

Stocked up on ice gear last year hoping to try it out ... which Murphy's law led to not much ice - especially here in central Jersey. Had a big project at work this year that had me working crazy hours and i hardly got out to fish so I am really itching to get out on the ice this winter, and would like to up my odds by investing in a flasher/ fish finder. Don't really want to spend more than $400 ( or even less) right now. I plan on getting a kayak this spring and want something that can work it too.

I read some of the old threads here and have been reading things on one of the ice fishing forums and am torn between getting something ready for ice now or something that is suited for the kayak which i expect to use more and upgrade / add an ice transducer in the future.

Right now i am leaning towards the hummingbird helix 5 - probably a model with DI and GPS , but depending on the after Christmas sales and shipping times to coincide with the ice that may be available next week my lean can change.

Looking for some opinions to help me decide which way to go.

[crewchief2]

If your not concerned with GPS and features like that, i suggest a Humminbird Piranhamax. I have the 155 and it works very well on both my canoe and for the ice. It comes with the carrying case for ice fishing, which holds everything. And in the summer i have it mounted on an old fishing buddy mount for my canoe.

[NJSquatch]

no brainer get a finder with gps.....di is nice to have if your doing a lot of vertical fishing....a flasher will be of no use in a kayak....

the humminbird finder units have a flasher screen that works pretty well for ice fishing...personally i use the regular sonar view with the wide RTS screen (real time sonar) for ice fishing...

one thing to consider is the transducer for the ice...u can get a separate ice fishing transducer or use the standard transom one on some kind of stick mount or float it on the surface of the hole with styrofoam...

i have the gen1 helix 7si on my boat and really like it...i made my own ice carrying case from a small tackle bag, scrap wood and zip ties.....

the helix 5 has great reviews...check out used units on ebay at a discount.... you will also need to pick up a 12v battery (get the highest amperage you can afford) and good charger (battery tender)....turn down the brightness on the unit to prolong battery life on the water.....

[Ken Lyons]

If there is any doubt in your mind about the benefits of competition look here. We now have four really good companies battling it out and the only sure winners are us. The question really comes down to what you want. I fis a lot of small electric lakes with no maps available. If you think you really know such a lake wait until you map it. Lowrance has a service for this but others will do it right in the unit. Side imaging speeds mapping up. There are are those who use it to find fish but I haven’t.
Cost is a consideration too. I have had two 5 inch screens and my next will be a 7 but it’s a $100 more. If you can wait to go to the shows it might help a lot.
Good luck.