Fish Finder for X-Mas

[WhoCares]

Got a new Lowrance X125 for X-mas. It seems a bit too big (to much info) for ice fishing?? Does any one have an idea on something smaller, a little less complicated. I want to return and get something smaller? I have an old Lawrance 85.
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[petty4life]

i just got a x-135 and i like all the extra stuff it has and i only use it for ice fishing
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[WhoCares]

Was it easy to figure out? I like to use the manual mode so I can see my bait sink down, move around, etc. Do You have any easy steps I can use to get started? Thanks, the name is Bob
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[mateo]

You named your fishfinder Bob?
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[WhoCares]

Hey, thats a good name. Bob Finder! Do you have any experience with the fish finders?
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[petty4life]

it took me about 3 trips of using it to get it fine tuned and playing around with the simulator on the lowance web site. Polokid has that same model maybe he can point you in the right direction. i have it set up now that i can see my swivel
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[WhoCares]

Thanks, is that lowrance.com? Do you happen to know plolkid e-mail?
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[petty4life]

send him a private message
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[bassrods]

I use a lowrance 334c I want all I can get, it has GPS and all.....
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[Bigcat]

Maybe someone who has the same unit will turn their unit on and write down the settings that are working for them and send them to you and you could start off there.
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[polokid]

Sent ya a PM![cool]
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[WhoCares]

Could you please resend me the info on the conversion of the Lowrance fish finder, I accidently deleted it. Thanks, trying to set it up for tomorrow!! I decided to keep the X-125.
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[FishN2Dmax]

The X-125 / 135 are great monochrome units!!! In fact your old X-85 ( 3000 watts Peak to Peak) is actually more powerful than your new X-125 ( 2400 watts). The X-135 is rated at (4000 Watts) otherwise it is identical to the X-125. What you'll find different on the 125 vs your good ole X-85 is the screen resolution is much better on the 125! Hit the menu button and change to sonar mode (Turn off the fish symbols) and turn off auto depth and auto sensitivity modes. Manually select your screen depth. Once you have manually selected your depth ( you want as much of the screen as possible showing the full top to bottom depths you'll be working). Drop your jig down and Increase sensitivity as needed to see your jig/bait dancing near the bottom. It is very important to make sure your transducer's bottom is level and pointing straight down in order to really get a good solid echo of your jig/bait through the whole water column. When your unit has the sensitivity to see your line / jig on the bottom, it will usually pick-up thermoclines. If you see solid horizontal lines at certain depths, that's not fish, it's thermoclines (change in water temp). I can't tell you how many times I've had friends fishing a thermocline line for hours, thinking there is a fish just sitting their at that depth. I finally had to use my aqua-view camera to convince them it was just a thermocline they were seeing on their finder.....LOL.

Something you might consider that has worked well for my 135 and 102C ( a color version of the 125) is the lowrance portable accessory pack / mount. It comes with a battery pack and has a mount on top of it for the finder. It also comes with a transducer that I mount on a home made (PVC pipe) that straddles the ice hole and puts the transducer down into the water. I think mine cost around $65 - $70? I know you can find the Portable power mounts at Cabelas ( online) or on E-bay.
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[Jedburton]

I just picked up the 102c a few weeks ago and from what i understand it is mostly the color version of yours. It worked out really well for me and it sounds like most have given you good info on how to set your settings. The biggest thing I advise is turn off the fish ID. It usually has false marks anyway and you can usually tell a fish better without them. Second if you are fishing around people with flashers turn up the interferance rejection to medium and Thirdly I usually dummy down the sensitivity until I can see my jig but as little else as possible. Fish are much larger than the jig, so they will show up well but the little bugs and such wont as much. good luck and enjoy. If you look through a couple of posts back you can see the cooler I converted into my portable ice fishing station for my finder batter etc. It works well.
jed
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[DannyNoonan]

I got a few gift cards to Sportsmans and some cash for Xmas and I'm thinking of upgrading fish finders myself.

I put an X125 on my dads boat last spring and it's awesome. I've pretty much resigned to the X135 for my boat but I dont know if I should just get the standard 20* transducer or spring the extra $50 for the dual 12* & 35* transducer.

Any thoughts or opinions will be appreciated...

Thanks.
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[FishN2Dmax]

Danny ( BTW, I love caddy shack - it's a classic!)

You can't go wrong with the X-135. For a little more money, you may want to consider the X-102C. I own both and I've been amazed at how much better I'm able to distinguish targets with color than with monochrome. As far as the transducers, It's my experience the dual frequency transducer works best for really deep waters ( ocean). For our mountain lakes and fishing, the 20 degree is the best all-around transducer and will give you good bottom definition down to a 200 feet (with the 125/135).
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[WhoCares]

Jed
About what date did you post the cooler conversion? And what was the title? Thanks
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[Bigcat]

One advantage to having dual cones is if someone near you has a finder with the same frequency as yours and you are getting some interfearance from theirs then you can change cones (frequency) and clear up your screen.
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[Jedburton]

here are the links
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=293868;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=293868;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread[/url]


[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=forum_view_collapsed;forum=58;page=8;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=forum_view_collapsed;forum=58;page=8;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25[/url];

and
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=294526;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=294526;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread[/url]
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[IceFishingGod]

Vexlar FL-20 or FL-18. I own a X-135 and a Vexlar, for ice fishing I'll take the vex any day.

IFG