Older Humminbird Portable for ice fishing....

[The Urban Fisherman]

Hey...

 

I can probably get this bad-boy for 40 - 50 bucks and I'm just wondering if it's worth it. All I really want to know is the depth that I'm fishing in - and maybe if the bottom has structure or is flat etc. Anybody ever own one? I think it's pretty old school.

 

 

 

Cheers,

UF

[irishfield]

I don't have that specific model.. but I did use my humminbird portable before I started using my 102C. Works just fine Ryan.. even showes fishies!

[The Urban Fisherman]

Thanks Irish - your word is good enough for me....now it's time for "stage 2" - convince my wife I need it!!

[irishfield]

You just need to make a holder that will keep the transducer straight in the hole. I'll look for the pics of what I made for my 102C. It works great up to about 40 FOW.. then loses some signal using the boat transducer. Picked up a ice fishing trans for this year... but the boat one has never had any issues picking up bottom in even 150 FOW.. just loses sensitivity for fish returns.

[Clampet]

Eee doggies, young feller, that thar is one of those high tech devices compared to mine..

[danbo]

Wow a Collectable thar Jed!

[raysfish2005]

Wow clamp thats a dussie!!

 

I have the p-300E

 

still with the transducer

[BigSmallie]

That is a bute Clamp-it!

[richyb]

i had one just like that and it worked great on the ice ...

[Dabluz]

Hey...

 

I can probably get this bad-boy for 40 - 50 bucks and I'm just wondering if it's worth it. All I really want to know is the depth that I'm fishing in - and maybe if the bottom has structure or is flat etc. Anybody ever own one? I think it's pretty old school.

 

Cheers,

UF

 

 

No matter what kind of structure is on the bottom, you will get a flat line across your screen. In order to see varying bottom structure, your transducer must move. While ice fishing, the transducer is immobile.

 

However, you will get a depth reading, you will be able to see if the bottom is hard or soft and you will be able to see any objects that move between the bottom and the transducer.

 

A long flat line that moves across your screen could be a large fish or could be a small fish that is spending a lot of time in the sonar beam. A quick short spurt of pixels across your screen will indicate a small fish that crossed the center of the beam or a large fish that briefly entered the edge of the sonar beam.

 

A large fish that is hugging bottom.....you will see that the bottom will suddenly come up (an extra row of pixels at the bottom of the screen) and maybe the depth will change by 1/2 foot in depth. However, in very deep water, you will probably not see the fish hugging bottom.

 

If you are fishing a slope, you will have a flat bottom on your screen. If the slope is steep....lets say that it's steep enough that one side of the sonar beam is in 20 feet of water and the other side of the beam is in 15 feet of water, you will not see any fish that are between 15 and 20 feet. The 5 feet of difference is called the "shade" and this is why you often catch fish yet not see them on the screen when fishing close to bottom.

 

If you are fishing over a large boulder, you will just have a flat bottom on your screen and you will have the depth between the transducer and the top of the boulder. You will never see the fish that are hiding in the deeper water all around the boulder and your lure or bait will just be presented between the surface of the water and the top of the boulder.

 

If you are planning to set up an ice hut, I would spend some time in a boat while using the sonar. Use a GPS and find exactly where you want to fish before ice-up. When you are moving around, you will be able to see the structure more clearly. You will see what the slope of the bottom looks like and in which direction it is sloping.

 

To get a more exact position with a GPS, use the "averaging" mode. You must be immobile when using the averaging mode. When you want to mark a waypoint, choose "averaging" mode, click once and then wait. The GPS will take a bunch of readings. You may even see how many readings the GPS is taking and recording. When you have maybe 50 or 100 readings, click on the waypoint button or "register waypoint" again and the GPS will average out all the readings and give you the reading that was registered the most often. When you set up your ice fishing hut, make your ice hole where at the waypoint mark before you set up your hut. If the depth looks right and the fishing is good, set up your hut over the hole. You could even drill a bunch of holes and check each hole with the sonar to see if you are in the right place before setting up your ice hut.

[danbo]

sweet bro!

[Rich]

Yeah dude, that's one step down from the portable I use for ice fishing. Very good at determining depth and bottom content. Actually quite good at detecting fish too. You'll be happy with it, if it's anything like mine.

 

You will however want to jerry rig the transducer on something else for ice fishing.

Edited December 10, 2008 by Rich

[The Urban Fisherman]

No matter what kind of structure is on the bottom, you will get a flat line across your screen. In order to see varying bottom structure, your transducer must move. While ice fishing, the transducer is immobile.

 

However, you will get a depth reading, you will be able to see if the bottom is hard or soft and you will be able to see any objects that move between the bottom and the transducer.

 

A long flat line that moves across your screen could be a large fish or could be a small fish that is spending a lot of time in the sonar beam. A quick short spurt of pixels across your screen will indicate a small fish that crossed the center of the beam or a large fish that briefly entered the edge of the sonar beam.

 

A large fish that is hugging bottom.....you will see that the bottom will suddenly come up (an extra row of pixels at the bottom of the screen) and maybe the depth will change by 1/2 foot in depth. However, in very deep water, you will probably not see the fish hugging bottom.

 

If you are fishing a slope, you will have a flat bottom on your screen. If the slope is steep....lets say that it's steep enough that one side of the sonar beam is in 20 feet of water and the other side of the beam is in 15 feet of water, you will not see any fish that are between 15 and 20 feet. The 5 feet of difference is called the "shade" and this is why you often catch fish yet not see them on the screen when fishing close to bottom.

 

If you are fishing over a large boulder, you will just have a flat bottom on your screen and you will have the depth between the transducer and the top of the boulder. You will never see the fish that are hiding in the deeper water all around the boulder and your lure or bait will just be presented between the surface of the water and the top of the boulder.

 

If you are planning to set up an ice hut, I would spend some time in a boat while using the sonar. Use a GPS and find exactly where you want to fish before ice-up. When you are moving around, you will be able to see the structure more clearly. You will see what the slope of the bottom looks like and in which direction it is sloping.

 

To get a more exact position with a GPS, use the "averaging" mode. You must be immobile when using the averaging mode. When you want to mark a waypoint, choose "averaging" mode, click once and then wait. The GPS will take a bunch of readings. You may even see how many readings the GPS is taking and recording. When you have maybe 50 or 100 readings, click on the waypoint button or "register waypoint" again and the GPS will average out all the readings and give you the reading that was registered the most often. When you set up your ice fishing hut, make your ice hole where at the waypoint mark before you set up your hut. If the depth looks right and the fishing is good, set up your hut over the hole. You could even drill a bunch of holes and check each hole with the sonar to see if you are in the right place before setting up your ice hut.

 

 

Holy crap I'd have been happy to pay for a lesson like that!!!! Thanks man!!! MUCHLY appreciated. For the most part I'll be ice fishing the reservoir down the road which I know really well, so as long as I know the exact depth I'm in, and if I'm close to specific structure, or in the magical 20 to 25' range for Perch, I should be ok. I'm a huge newbie when it comes to hitting the ice though so this was a big help for me.

 

Other than perch I'm hoping to target the ever elusive winter bluegill! which to date have completely managed to dupe me... I know they tend to suspend in the winter so I'm hoping a little graph like this might help me locate those hard to find suspended gills and crappie.

 

I haven't heard back from the seller on this unit though, so if it falls through I might just get a second transducer and graph mount and gimmy rig something for my 597c combo unit. The only down-side is I'll have to drag around my big 12v Battery on my sled.

 

Thanks for all the reply's!

UF

[Rich]

Once the new camera drops into the res those bluegill don't stand a chance!

[purekgw]

yah we had one when we had a small aluminum and worked great we sold it and i kinda wish we didnt i would take it in a minute be good for kayak and for $40 cant go wrong

[DRIFTER_016]

I used to have one of that vintage (one version older I think), I used it once then pitched it!!! What a piece of junk!!!

Crappy Resolution, kept cutting out and the fish looked like building blocks.

Since then I want nothing to do with thier product. It's a shame as the new units look quite capable, it's just I have zero confidence in their products.

It just proves, at least to me that First Impressions are Everything!!

If you are looking for an ice fishing machine pick up a flasher (either a portable or make a portable mount for it)

Here's a pic of mine.

It's a Lowrance 2460 with portable cas and ice adapter. The portable case has been altered to fit a 12 volt sealed lead acid rechargable battery instead of 2 six volt lantern batteries. I have been using this flasher for 15 years now. With a little internet sluthing they can be had used for about the same price (without portable base).

 

 

A portable base is easily made and can be made in a couple of hours.

Here's a couple of pics of the portable mount I made for my Lowrance LMS 350 so I could use it while guiding on Great Bear Lake. I have been using this since 1995.

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2008 by DRIFTER_016