01-05-2020, 08:32 AM
I picked up a used Humminbird Helix 7 with both boat & ice transducers for $300 a few years back. My buddy I fish with a lot has a Showdown and he says the Helix 7 shows far more detail and is easier to read. I usually use the screen that has a vertical display (like the showdown) but also streams the history to the side. If I step away for a few seconds when I come back I can see if a fish was just nearby and can try to get its attention again. It also has the circular flasher screen if you still prefer that style of display. Being able to use it year round and having down imaging is also a plus. An ice ducer is definately easier to plunk in/out of the hole when managing bigger fish and line in the same hole as your finder. Hope to get a newer Helix with GPS and Chirp in the next couple years but couldn't be happier with the used purchase.
I have had varying degrees of interference, giving or getting, with friends who have Marcums, Vexilars and Humminbirds. Slope of bottom and distance apart seem to be the biggest factors in how far we've had to fish away from each other. Making sure no one sets up directly downslope from each other helps out a lot in my experience. With that in mind a comfortable talking distance in the open is usually not a problem. Tents up can be a little harder to talk comfortably and avoid at least some interference.
Whatever route you go a quality finder is a game changer for ice fishing. Just as much for telling you where the fish aren't as for where they are.
And when you get into aggressive fish that are chasing lures all over your finder screen, nothing better than that [fishon]
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I have had varying degrees of interference, giving or getting, with friends who have Marcums, Vexilars and Humminbirds. Slope of bottom and distance apart seem to be the biggest factors in how far we've had to fish away from each other. Making sure no one sets up directly downslope from each other helps out a lot in my experience. With that in mind a comfortable talking distance in the open is usually not a problem. Tents up can be a little harder to talk comfortably and avoid at least some interference.
Whatever route you go a quality finder is a game changer for ice fishing. Just as much for telling you where the fish aren't as for where they are.
And when you get into aggressive fish that are chasing lures all over your finder screen, nothing better than that [fishon]
[signature]