01-23-2019, 11:01 PM
I haven't used it enough to have any cons so far. I am not one to like a lot of controls, adjustments, to be able to utilize technology, and this was fairly straightforward. I got the XI 9 20 ice transducer. I read in the specifications it was supposed to work with the helix, except for DI models. There are other ice ducers that are supposed to work with it, so I recommend checking the literature and with hummingbird to get one that suits you.
This first trip, I simply put the transducer down the hole I was fishing, and turned it on. Saw a lot of lines throughout the water column. So found the gain adjustment and actually turned it down to about 25% or less. The noise went away, and I could still see my terminal tackle in 30 feet of water. the exciting part was that the lines that moved up off the bottom, turned out to be fish, not noise, so I was elated.
I found that being able to see your lure/bait, and the fish gives you a lot of advantages. You know the depth your bait is at precisely. You can see what jigging motions get some reaction from the fish. They may or may not bite, but you know you have found some fish. The only other thing I did with the finder was mark the spot in waypoints for future reference.
For LDR and Skunked, my standard ducer is mounted on my trolling motor so I wanted to leave it installed. But I didn't know for sure it might work for ice fishing mode with the Helix, so I might have tried it if I had some confidence it would work ok.
Yes, I envy the guys that get full use out of their electronics and was a little wary of the flasher type units. For me it turned out to be surprisingly easy and productive. We'll see after some more trips, because it is an extra item to carry in the sled, so it has to help or it gets left out.
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This first trip, I simply put the transducer down the hole I was fishing, and turned it on. Saw a lot of lines throughout the water column. So found the gain adjustment and actually turned it down to about 25% or less. The noise went away, and I could still see my terminal tackle in 30 feet of water. the exciting part was that the lines that moved up off the bottom, turned out to be fish, not noise, so I was elated.
I found that being able to see your lure/bait, and the fish gives you a lot of advantages. You know the depth your bait is at precisely. You can see what jigging motions get some reaction from the fish. They may or may not bite, but you know you have found some fish. The only other thing I did with the finder was mark the spot in waypoints for future reference.
For LDR and Skunked, my standard ducer is mounted on my trolling motor so I wanted to leave it installed. But I didn't know for sure it might work for ice fishing mode with the Helix, so I might have tried it if I had some confidence it would work ok.
Yes, I envy the guys that get full use out of their electronics and was a little wary of the flasher type units. For me it turned out to be surprisingly easy and productive. We'll see after some more trips, because it is an extra item to carry in the sled, so it has to help or it gets left out.
[signature]