HOMEMADE ICE FISHFINDER

[welderhillbilly]

HAS ANYONE TAKEN A REGULAR FISFINDER AND USED IT ON THE ICE? I HAVE SEEN SOME OTHER STUFF ON THE NET WHERE SOMEONE HAS MOUNTED A REGULAR FISHFINDER TO A BOX OR BUCKET, INSTALLED A BATTERY AND SUSPENDED  THE TRANSDUCER FROM A HOMEMADE SUPPORT OF SOME KIND. THEY COMMENTED THAT IT WORKED WELL. ANYONE HAVE ANY COMMENTS.

THANKS
SHANNON

[ratherbefishing]

you could use it to locate fish in an area, and depending on the sensitivity you might even be able to track their movement toward a lure. However in terms of the real-time feedback of a flasher.. I'd be afraid it might leave you unsatisfied.

It would depend on your unit and your desired result. I'd be willing to do some tweeking with you on the ice if you wanted.

[Scott Mac]

I use a hummingbird matrix fish finder. It has part of the screen that works just like a flasher.

  Ratherbe I know you saw mine last year.

[welderhillbilly]

I DISCOVERED SEVERAL OLD LOWRACE FISH LO-K-TOR'S ON EBAY AND WAS WONDERING HOW WELL THEY WORK. ONE OF THE CONCERNS IS OF INTERFERENCE FROM OTHER FLASHERS NEARBY. THESE UNITS ARE AFFORDABLE FOR A SMALL BUDGET FISHERMAN LIKE ME. AS FAR AS I KNOW I CAN WIRE IN A NEWER 12 VOLT BATTERY INTO THE UNIT TO POWER IT, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH THESE UNITS?
THANKS
SHANNON

[JustNutts]

HAS ANYONE TAKEN A REGULAR FISFINDER AND USED IT ON THE ICE? I HAVE SEEN SOME OTHER STUFF ON THE NET WHERE SOMEONE HAS MOUNTED A REGULAR FISHFINDER TO A BOX OR BUCKET, INSTALLED A BATTERY AND SUSPENDED  THE TRANSDUCER FROM A HOMEMADE SUPPORT OF SOME KIND. THEY COMMENTED THAT IT WORKED WELL. ANYONE HAVE ANY COMMENTS.

THANKS
SHANNON

I bought a hummingbird 565 I believe and tried it.. Came with the case and battery bla bla.. It was the most worthless thing I could have ever had on the ice. The screen will freeze up and not move in the cold weather... You could look down the hole and see fish... wouldnt pick them up.. Get a real flasher.

[ratherbefishing]

I do remember yours Scott! Can you operate it on the standard screen? You also had a clip for your cam that was pretty handy. Let welder know how you did that too.

I'm in the process of trickin' out my sled a little bit. I'm putting brackets on so I can carry 2 buckets on the outside. Keeping the vex, cam, and clam in the sled with plenty of room. It should help out a lot.

[beckslabs]

I bought a Hummingbird Super 60 flasher unit on e-bay. I made my own Genz box out of plywood. It will fit in a 5 gallon bucket. I bought a 12 volt gel battery (also on e-bay in the industrial section) for about $13.  Used a piece of aluminum to make an arm for the transducer. I used epoxy to attach a leveling bubble on top of the transducer so it will read better in deep water. Small ice jigs do not show up on the unit because it is not quite strong enough, but it does work great for fishing for saugeye because you can see the lure in real time. This unit does have an adjustment for sensitivity and noise.

[welderhillbilly]

HEY SLABS

HOW WELL DOES YOUR SETUP MARK FISH? THANKS

WELDERHILLBILLY

[beckslabs]

It can show the fish just has trouble with small ice jigs!

[Scott Mac]

I can see my jigs and fish. I watch them all the way to the bait.I will post some pics of the setup soon. I have to dig it out of the garage.

[TURKEY09]

Scott just wondering how well do u like your Matrix?

[SlabJunkie]

I did the same thing with a super sixty at the two years ago and used it at Alum. I could barely see my ice jig when I turned it up while I was setting my depth. Then I backed it down. I did mark fish and had a decent day. The only problem I had was the unit got cold and stopped working. I elevated it on a jig box and put the buddy heater pretty close to it and it lasted longer. I don't know if your's will act the same as mine, but if it does you can have an idea of what to do. I don't know how shallow it will work, I was in 20fow at Alum. I didn't use it anymore i found it to be a hassel, so i saved up the money and bought a vex before last season. Good Luck!
      Evin

[Hillbilly]

i use a humminbird 535, works rather well. Have used the flashers, i'll keep the sonar.
I can mark a 1/124 with bait down to about 20 feet.
Have had trouble with the transducer, needs to be perfectly level for it to work properly. Planning on buyin and ice-ducer this year, and not fooling with rigging the flush mount up.
But yes, it can and will work.(better than you might think)

HB

[Scott Mac]

My setup works really well. The lakes I fish only get to about 13 feet at the deepest. I have had no problem seeing anything I want to see. I still want a flasher but I cant complain about the results I had with my Matrix last year.I use a car battery and I can run my sonar and the camera for several days without charging which is nice. The only thing that Is difficult sometimes is the transducer. Sometimes it can be a pain to get it hanging right. But I only have around $150 for the whole outfit and it was brand new.