New Hummingbird Ice 45

I havn't used one but I have a fl-18 and have used an fl-20, they are perfection, and a salesman from Scheels told me the humminbirds are underpowered. thats my $.02

I used an FL-8 Hondex (Micronar to Hondex to Vexilar) for years. I still have it. I bought an FL-20 last year and you couldn't pry it from my hands. I won a Marcum flasher last year in a fishing contest, and I haven't even tried it out. Never even tested it because the FL-20 is such a performer. I know that most of the guides up at LOW and Arnesens swear by the Vex. I don't have any experience with anything else, because I don't want to use anything else. I vote Vexilar.

I got the Lowrance Ice Machine at a very good price. Anyone with any input on this unit? I have heard it is very good. I have not had it out yet.

Used one a couple of times shallow water worked good. Want to try 40ft to see how it works. Hard to beat a vex

sdwxman,

mine is the 522 and i abosolutely love it. fish it w/ the graph and not the flasher mode. graph is the same information as the flasher only you have a visual record of about the last 15 seconds or so. read your owners manual. i use the display mode that has the white background. can't remember which one it is at the moment. ping and scroll on high speed. find the bottom and use the 4X zoom. you will not believe the detail. nothing like the mesmorizing action of your lure making waves on the graph and then having that fish follow it up turning your graph into a rainbow of colors. have fun. you won't go back to a flasher.

I have done much research on the three flashers this year. All them them will up your odds of catching fish over having nothing. After my research and my years using a Vexilar I find it difficult not to have a unit that has been bulletproof for so long. I cannot find any reason to get rid of my Vexilar for any other unit that simply is a knock off trying to get some of the winter marketshare.

If you keep the humminbird please tell us what you think of it. If you can find a buddy with a Vex to go fishing with you so you can test the two side by side. I am curious of your findings.

keep the humminbird - why be like everybody else. With regards to the ice machine - put it on graph mode - it pings just as fast. If you like to come home without your neck hurting (as it is cranked down lookin at the vex 100% of the time vs. mine lookin at the tv) - youll like the ice fishing machine and the history.

Great thread. Hope to try it today or tomorrow. thanks.

Well I have been fishing with a Lowrance Ice Machine for 3 ice seasons now and say Vexilar what? I used to have an FL-8 but once I used the Lowrance I didn't care for the Vexilar. I use mine in graph mode and it works perfect. I dont like the flasher mode but maybe that is why I dont like the Vexilar. In my eyes they both work awsome but the deciding factor is the graphing mode ability. Maybe Vexilar should make a graphing mode for their machines (if they do I want my cut for the idea) and take back some of their hold in ice fishing sonars.

Three years ago, I went from a vex. FL-8, to the Lowrance M-68. It works great when I am not near anybody else with a sonar unit, but if I am within 50+ feet(unless very shallow water), I get a lot of interference from their machines. Maybe I don't know how to truly adjust the settings, but whichever route you do go; make sure there is good interference rejection (ie. Vex or Marcum). Sorry but I haven't seen the Hummingbird in action yet.

Just got back from testing out my Lowrance Ice Machine. I have the X67C version. Worked great! I love the graph mode and the "memory" feature the graph brings. Marked a couple of fish, but no takers. I was checking my tip-ups and glanced back at the graph and sure enough there was a fish that came through when I was not looking. Thumbs up so far.

Just got off the ice. Used my Bird 55 flasher for the first time today. I liked it.

Deepest I fished was 12 feet so please take into consideration. I was in a fish house that had the holes about 3 and a half feet apart. In one hole it was 10 feet in the other one twelve, so ther was a slight break there.

I had to raise my spoon 9 inches off the bottom to mark it, but that was the same as the FL8 and FL18 we had in the house. It must have been becasue of the dead spot caused by the sloping bottom.

With a minnow head on the spoon, you could at times see both the spoon and the minnow head. Not all the time, but about 50% of the time. I thought that was ok.

The zoom worked as advertised.

The 6 color option was really nice. You could really dial in the spoon when you switched to the 6 colors.

The greatest part was having an FL8, FL18, and the Bird all within 4 feet of each other and never had any interference. That could have been the water depth, but we normally would have had some.

Fish marked well, so did all the shrimp.

All in all I would say it works just fine. Lights are bright and having the LCD in the center that automatically adjusts the depth scales is sweet.

I think I will keep mine.

I also have the 45 and i love it. i would take it over a vex any day. the response further up mentioned a salesman at scheels saying they are underpowered, typical scheels salesman. they want you to buy the more expensive one so they can make more profit off of the commision. i fished from 7 in the morning to around 5 in the afternoon and my 45 showed 90% battery life remained. tell me that it is underpowered... anohter reason i like it is because it is quieter than the vex's, especially the 8 and 18. i don't think the lowrance ice machine would be a bad option either. that would be silent and still color. i would wonder about battery life on that one beings that the screen is backlit and heated, but it wouldn't be a bad decision. i also like the aqua vu showdown.

I work at scheels, and had a chance over last season and this to take out every unit we carry, and after all of that, I decided on the aqua vu showdown. The target separation is better than any of the flasher styles. Don't get me wrong, they all worked great, but when fishing perch and walleyes that are tight to the bottom, It's nice to be able to see them there. Also, battery life is like 3days, instead of 8-12hours. It's also silent.

I bought a lowrance 520c for my boat this summer and decided to get the optional ice kit for it so I could use it in the winter. I like the flasher style fish finders so I figured I would give it a try. Little did I know that I would not be using the flasher at all and using the graph mode all the time through the ice. It works great and I wonder if I will use a vexilar again. Those of you that are looking for a new sonar for ice should give it a try and see for yourself. I did not like the flasher mode on the 520 though. There seemed to be a little too much lag in it even with the ping turned all the way up.

got a 35 humminbird love it

have had vexs for yrs and the only prob i ever had was when my wife threw it at me and it hit the wall