since you don’t have enough replies yet…[;)]
I had a bottomline fishin’ buddy for years and it was okay, but my eyes were opened to a whole new world when I bought my Marcum Showdown. I have the lower end ice troller model, not the 5.6 which costs a little more. But I have been extremely happy and impressed with my showdown. It shows clear separation between my bait and sinkers, you can watch the fish swim onto the screen, come right up to the bait and bite it, and see where they are coming from- column, bottom etc. Its a blast. Extremely simple to use, get the self contained case, makes it easy to carry and set up. I watched it track a dropped- 2 inch meal worm all the way to the bottom of 80 feet of water at East Canyon once. Couldnt believe it.
Good luck with your decision, don’t regret saving a few bucks and hating what you end up with, spend the money to get something that works, regardless of what you get.
i know this is an old post but can you tell me what does a fish finder have to have in order to see your jig? thanks matt
btw, i’m in the market for one but don’t really want to spend over 300 unless i have to. do think this is possible to get a decent one for this price that i would be able to see my jig/jigs?
If all you ice fish for is perch, it probably doesn’t matter, but if you ever plan on fishing for anything suspended, I would suggest you at least purchase something expensive enough that you can see your jig. It can be extremely frustrating if one can see fish on a finder but has no idea where one’s jig is in the water column.
Sorry this is was what my post was supposed to be in reply to
I have a neighbor whose the best fish finder I have ever used ! I don.t know if he’s for sale or what his price would be though LOL
I made my comment because on the original post he stated that he only needed to be able to see depth and fish. Every fish finder in the $300 range should show your jig.
With a flasher type of fish finder by adjusting the sensitivity one is easily able to see the smallest jig and of course the fish. The older styles of flasher (like I use) don’t work as well in water over about 50 feet.
If one uses a LCD display type of fish finder one needs to turn off the fish symbols setting on most and perhaps all of them in order to see the jig. Again, it is a matter of adjusting the sensitivity to the right level for the conditions.
I suggest you get an idea of some of the fish finders you are considering and then Google the fish finder and you will likely find several videos on YouTube.
I made my comment because on the original post he stated that he only needed to be able to see depth and fish. Every fish finder in the $300 range should show your jig.
With a flasher type of fish finder by adjusting the sensitivity one is easily able to see the smallest jig and of course the fish. The older styles of flasher (like I use) don’t work as well in water over about 50 feet.
If one uses a LCD display type of fish finder one needs to turn off the fish symbols setting on most and perhaps all of them in order to see the jig. Again, it is a matter of adjusting the sensitivity to the right level for the conditions.
I suggest you get an idea of some of the fish finders you are considering and then Google the fish finder and you will likely find several videos on YouTube.
thanks for your reply! I appreciate it. my wife’s cousin has a showdown and you can see the fish and the jig, so you can see where your jig is in relation to the fish. the only reason i’m skeptical bout it is that i read where water could possibly get behing it causing issues. Also, i want to fish blue mesa where i could be fishing down to 140’ i would think.
… Also, i want to fish blue mesa where i could be fishing down to 140’ i would think.
Regarding that, I also like fishing depths and have been fishing Flaming Gorge a lot lately. Some qualities of my fish finder that helps is the ability to switch to a narrow eight degree cone angle and it has a lot of power for high energy pulses to get strong reflections from the depths.
On seeing the tiny ice fishing lure, the target adjust feature turns fine tiny lines on the screen into big bold bright marks you can see at distance at a glance.
Ronald what fish finder do you have. I was looking at the Vexilar this morning on YouTube and I’m not so sure about that one I kind of like the The Showdown I might end up going with that one thanks again
I’ve read a lot about the Showdown and though I never saw one in use, from what I gather they are excellent with the attractive advantage of long battery life and lightweight and compact which fits one of my styles of moving a lot with traveling light and fast which conflicts with my other style of being loaded down with everything.
My ice fishing finder is the Marcum LX-9. It’s amazing! If I were to upgrade, I would get an nuclear submarine with their advanced sonar, but it’s out of my price range.