Fish Finder Help

Lately I have been doing some research on fish flasher/fish sonar units. One unit that has really caught my eye is the Lowrance Elite 4 ice machine (from CT $350, comes with both skimmer and ice transducer). The reason I am interested in this unit is not only because it has a sonar screen, but a flasher screen and a vertical flasher (much like a showdown) from what I understand. I am also interested in this because I will be able to use this all year round and the unit also includes GPS. I am just wondering what you guys think of these units? How is the flasher on it and how well does it mark jigs, fish and target separation? Should I just spend the few extra bucks and buy solely a flasher? Thanks, Dave

i just got the elite 4x ice machine, i don't think its on sale anymore but i got it for 230, some say the flasher isn't all that great i love it and its really helped me with those finicky whities, mine came with summer and winter transducer but mine does not have a gps, the flasher on mine marks micro jigs and shows the fish chasing them very clearly.

Thanks Bowslayer, from what I understand the only difference from the 4 and 4-x is the GPS and chart plotting capabilities. How would you say it is speed wise? If its marking micro jigs that is good because that is what I was lenient of.

I don't like flashers but I'm also not a hardcore ice guy. I got the Elite 4x last year and absolutely love it - its a big upgraded from the toaster I was using before. Marks well although sometimes in really deep water I lose my jig if there are many people fishing around me. I just got off the phone with a die hard ice guy ( he owns a couple different finders, one of which is the Elite 4x ) who was talking about some sweet Hummingbird he picked up - I'll get the model number for ya

Hummingbird 587HD - similar price point and hes likes it way better than the Lowrance.

they are both good machines that do the same things, i have a very expensive hummingbird on the boat, which can be used for both seasons and also has gps, navionics, etc. from there on its just opinion. i do a lot of ice fishing and am out at least ounce a week, i use both lowrance and hummingbird but like to take the lowrance on ice trips, just because i don't need all those gps and other fancy options on the ice and don't bother dis-mounting the "bird" from the boat. the lowrance is a great flasher/finder combo and is good for deepwater and shallow water as long as you set it properly in different conditions. mine has never lagged and i was out this past saturday with arctic air warnings up north (-35) with a -45 windchill and it never froze or lagged, i love it!

just got my lowrance elite 4 gold a few weeks ago. took it out on simcoe over the weekend and it worked great though I did have to use the noise reduction setting once someone in the area was using their sonar. the unit marked my lures and small whities just fine. I really like the flasher screen and the split zoom screen. the gold package comes with the navionics gold card which is worth about $170. not sure if you need that as I understand that you can get the navionics app on an iphone.

I really like the GPS and chart plotting which shows the depth contours - I walk to my chosen destination. screen colours on this unit are also quite good. there was a $100 rebate for units purchased before January 5. my unit did not have the ice transducer but I managed to make my own t bar with the standard transducer and bought a portable battery and I've been using the unit on the ice - it worked fine once I had it mounted right side up :mrgreen:. also the unit does not use a lot of battery power. I probably used 1/8th of the battery last time and I was out around 6 hours.

Redneck has a 345c Portable from humminbird and I had a chance to view it at work. It was crystal clear and you could tell when you moved your jig even the slightest amount. There were lots of guys around and I didnt notice much interference if any. The split screen was really nice too. I have a cheaper unit and felt disadvantaged having to zoom into the last 30fow (fishing 120fow) meaning 90fow wasnt being marked on my unit.

you can chose to lower interference on the elite 4 x, you also have a split screen with a flasher on it, not only that but you can zoom into a certain spot witch in some cases is even better (like shallow water whities that i like to fish) you chose the fishing mode, i was fishing for rainbows on a back lake, in 8 fow, in general fishing mode, i couldn't even see the screen it was all colourful like a rainbow, switched to shallow water mode and put the max depth to 10 feet and i had a 5 pounder on the ice, before the other holes were drilled!

Get a marcum or a vexiller if you like a flasher.

I think having a dual purpose unit will give you the best bang for your buck. A lot of hardcore anglers love traditional flashers, they give you the quickest update possible. But if you miss that flash you could miss that fish. The flasher option on fish finder screens will be a bit slower reaction compared to traditional flashers. Most anglers who have the flasher option will end up using the fish finder screen after playing with the flasher option. I personally love looking at a screen and seeing some history on what’s happening at the bottom and adjust my technique.

Henry Nguyen
Legend Boats

Good points made by all. I too am pondering whether to go graph or flasher. My train of thought is get the Navionics App which will be greasy for waking and sledding around to find a potential spot based on bottom contours and the flasher will be great for presentation and fish confirmation. With technology changing so fast I'm reserved to buy into the well you can use the graph in soft water too as I won't be getting the boat that I want for a coup,e more years yet.

CWebNation said:

Good points made by all. I too am pondering whether to go graph or flasher. My train of thought is get the Navionics App which will be greasy for waking and sledding around to find a potential spot based on bottom contours and the flasher will be great for presentation and fish confirmation. With technology changing so fast I'm reserved to buy into the well you can use the graph in soft water too as I won't be getting the boat that I want for a coup,e more years yet.

Click to expand...

I just picked up the marcum lx6 which has a digital display where you can view traditional flasher mode and graph at the same time. You can also download software updates as they become available

Here I have the graph and virtical flasher on display but you can set it up however u want

Good points all.
Soooooo confusing with all the choices available.
Like buying a new car.
They should have a lemonade site like with car issues.

Don't get too caught up in the gadgets and extras that you won't use. Set a budget and you'll find something you'll love within it. If you're going from no electronics to electronics, you'll instantly improve your chances immensely.

I picked up a Lowrance elite 4x last winter and love it. Seeing the fish rise and chase is incredible.

As I see it, if you are inside a hut you might as well be looking at a flasher as there is little else to see. If you are outside then you can glance at a graph and look around at the scenery, see if anybody else is catching, watch deer, turkeys and such wander out on the ice, then look back at the graph and you can catch up with what you might have missed in the meantime.