Humminbird Ice Flashers?

[fishersofmen]

Pretty much agree with everythimg there andy as far as the separation and detail on the Bird compared with the other 2 brands. Sold mine after 2 weeks and loving the fl-20.

[fisherman-andy]

Love my 55, came from a lx3tc,,,dont regret it.

Care to explain your pros and cons of each? I am in the same boat you are but I am finding it difficult to leave me lx3tc behind after my last outing.

What is it that your doing with your ice55 now that your lx3tc didnt do? The most stand out features are the water column zoom and the auto depth finder to me. Digital display is nice too.

[Froggy4371]

Well guys, I had the chance to fish up at LOW this last weekend with my FL-8 and the LX-3. Given both I would take the Fl-8. I really want a new bird and want to know if the screen presentation is smoother then the Lx-3. The problem we had is the Lx-3 could not know out my interference with the FL-8. I had no problem with mine. I tried to use the Lx-3 but had a very hard time following the jig as the lines did not follow in smooth pursut. Unlike the Vex I have. I want to know if the bird follows like a Vex or a Marcum. I have tried two Marcum's and have the same issue with both styles. I really like the smooth pursut with the vex I have but I also want zoom and if I can get that from the 35 Bird I want to pick one up and save the money. If not I will save longer and get the Fl-18 or 20.

Froggy

[JacobMHD]

I fished with my Ice 45 next to another 45 this weekend out of the same house on LOW. I was quite suprised by the interference created between the two. Every couple of seconds the screen would blow up with intereference and since the interference was rotating around the screen, the first couple times it happened I thought a three red bar fish was coming up off the bottom to attack my jig. Very frustrating. We played with the noise reduction all weekend but ultimately we had to deal with it. I really liked the unit otherwise. Does anybody have any experiences fishing with two birds next to each other? How did you make it work?

[lovebigbluegills]

I had the same problem-45 and a 55 next to each other. We did the same thing- tried and tried to tune it out, but no luck. They do great next to a vexilar or marcum, there's gotta be a secret to getting along with another humminbird.

[Get'n Jiggy]

Man, I've heard of OCD and ADD is there such a thing as FFD, Fish Finder Disorder? The more I read these threads the more confused I get.

[vexilareye]

Maybe this was answered already, but whats the battery life on the birds with the lcd screen taking up power?

[Scott K]

I have never had mine die, fishing from 5 am until 10 pm, so long enough. Actually better then my Vex.

[jwmiller33]

ive fished with mine for a 3 day weekend (friday night, all day sat and a half a day on sunday) and my battery didnt die. i havent gone longer then that, but i would say the battery life is "above average" for flashers

[jimmyjames76]

Well guys, I had the chance to fish up at LOW this last weekend with my FL-8 and the LX-3. Given both I would take the Fl-8. I really want a new bird and want to know if the screen presentation is smoother then the Lx-3. The problem we had is the Lx-3 could not know out my interference with the FL-8. I had no problem with mine. I tried to use the Lx-3 but had a very hard time following the jig as the lines did not follow in smooth pursut. Unlike the Vex I have. I want to know if the bird follows like a Vex or a Marcum. I have tried two Marcum's and have the same issue with both styles. I really like the smooth pursut with the vex I have but I also want zoom and if I can get that from the 35 Bird I want to pick one up and save the money. If not I will save longer and get the Fl-18 or 20.

Froggy

I have an FL8 SE, and I just picked up an ICE 35 a few weeks ago. I've had it out about 10 times, and so far it's working really well. The additional features (zoom, dual beam) have been great. The display seems to respond to jig movements and fish the same as my FL8. Nice bright colors, easy to see at any angle or in any light conditions. I've been very happy with it.

[landscaper]

just got my ICE 55 this past weekend but havent been out to try it yet.Hopefully sometime this week.

[SFC]

jwmiller33 I have been convinced on the bird. I will go your route and try for a deal next year at the ice show. Can't swing one right now. I think bird should have just givin u one. Looking for a new job?

[jwmiller33]

I think bird should have just givin u one. Looking for a new job?

haha i wish they would have given me one! you would think they did by the way i talk mine up... as for looking for a job.... yes! soon to be college grad! maybe i should contact humminbird

[Froggy4371]

JimmyJames76,

Thanks for the info on the comparison. Thats what I am looking for. I was very frustrated with the jig movement on the screen with the Marcum. To me it was just to slow. I would jig and it took time for the screen to catch up and it you jigged it fast it was just a flash movement. Then if a fish came flying up off the bottom it was on top of your jig before you knew it was there.

I will probally be getting a ice 35 in the next two weeks as soon as I get paid for my Vex.

Froggy

[Chris Haley]

I bought the 35 first. I loved it. That is until I got the 55. Six different colors and the digital depth in the middle of the dial. The zoom is better than anything else on the market. The auto depth mode, no more clicking until you see bottom.

If can swing the extra $90, I'd go with the 45. It only has three colors like the 35 but has the digital depth in the middle of the dial unlike the 55.

Plus reeds has them on sale with free shipping.

[Froggy4371]

Chris H.

Thanks for the info. I might just do that now that you put it that way.!

Froggy

[jwmiller33]

i got my ice 35 from reeds at the ice show for 250

[silverbulletguy]

Love my 35. Wish I had the cash to buy the 55 and keep the 35 as a spare/extra for friends or family to use. I really like the bigger display than the vex. Much easier on the eyes.

[mrscott]

I picked up an Ice45 at the Thorne store for 364.00 The simulation didn't display the zoom very well and the narrow beam wouldn't even register. I had to have the gain up to the 90% range to even see my lure. I was also missing the blue 'ZOOM' marks. I took it back, and Thorne promptly replaced it with a new model.

I love it, it works great. I can't stand the stupid SUPPORT cable.

[thore]

You don't have to have the support cable on the transducer for it to work properly maybe try that

[harvey lee]

Agreed with the support cable. I have never used it.

[Maverick]

I think, but could be wrong, that the main issue with the support cable also has to do with the foam float. I don't use the foam float as it takes up too much space in the hole. I just drape the cable on the side of the hole. What I did was attach the support cable with gorrilla tape making sure the transduce hung freely this way the support cable is on the edge of the ice and the transducer cable is allowed to sit level under the water. I was affraid if I just hung the transducer cable over the edge of the ic that it would put too much stress on the cable. It has worked well for me.

[Stobinator]

i think the humminbirds are ver nice units. however i do have a few issues with them. it seems that if you are fishing in under 20 feet of water it doesn't like to work as good as if you are fishing in deeper water....never had that problem with a vex unit but it wasn't that bi o deal. the other problem is that my buddies and i had 3 of them in use within ohhh 22 feet area of each other and when we got even two of them close to eachother, they would interfer with eachother something bad!!! it didn't matter what was done narrow/wide beam, noise reject, gain....nothing we could do would make them work....shut the others off and run just one.....worked like a dream...all in all though i like the ice 55 i just have to make sure i go far enough away from anyone else that uses one where im fishing

[harvey lee]

I have NEVER had an issue with fishing with either a 35 or a Ice 55 in shallower water.

Seems from what I read is that one needs to adjust these units just like any other unit to get them to play well together.

I have in the past fished with 2 LX5 MarCum units close together and also needed to clean up interference.

[fisherman-andy]

Your gonna get interference no matter what if fishing next to other flashers of the same. I have never fished to another person with a bird so I dont know how well knocking out or tuning out the interference is going to work.

One of the reasons I went with the Ice 55 is hopefully there arent alot users out there yet. Over the past few weeks of using it I have yet to come across someone with a bird. Mostly Vex's followed by Marcums.

Again I too had issues with the bird fishing shallow water 15ft or less. However my biggest problem came when schools of fish started showing up on the screen. In shallower water its even worse. The indicator bars now show up as large clutter blotches unlike a Marcum. I am no longer able to anticipate a light bite. Often times I will set a hook without even feeling the bite when using the Marcum to catch fish in zoom mode. This is a reason why I wont leave my Marcum behind.

Other than that the fancy features of the ice 55 is pretty awesome. However I wouldn't consider it the best flasher on the market depending on your preference. Especially if your a Marcum guy previously who is use to the fine line and target separation features.