597 ci for ice fishing

[amateurfishing]

i bought a showdown troller late last year for ice fishing and worked great. i just bought a HB 597 ci for the boat and after purchasing, found out that it was also usable for ice fishing. now im thinking it would always be great to have a backup but found out its another $200 for the ice fishing attachmenets for my HB 597 ci so i am wondering if anyone else out there has used it for ice fishing and how well u liked it or not b4 thinking bout spending another $200 for ice components......or even just comparing it to the troller which i already have.....any info/experience that regarding the 597 ci for ice would be great. thx

[fishwater]

The big drawback to using any graph with ice ducer for ice fishing is you're limited to 20 degrees as your narrowest cone, pretty much the same as your troller.

The biggest improvement over your troller would be the 597's zoom capabilities.

[Brad B]

don't forget the 597 also has the GPS on it. just get a lake master chip if you don't already have one.

[amateurfishing]

don't forget the 597 also has the GPS on it. just get a lake master chip if you don't already have one.

salesman recommended navionics, was on sale so got it, but the ducer is $80 & battery kit $120, is that worth it?

[IcerRon2010]

having GPS and a lakemaster chip alone, and nothing else is worth it. 20 degrees of transducer is alright in most situations. Shallow with heavy cover and anything over 40ftw, I would want an 8 degree. Figure out what kind of sitution you are fishing, and build the proper equipment around it.

[kerryd15]

If you fish by yourself it will work fine. it won't show as fast as an ice machine. You will have problems with feedback with other depthfinders in the house. I used a 798 last winter- for a while.

[amateurfishing]

having GPS and a lakemaster chip alone, and nothing else is worth it. 20 degrees of transducer is alright in most situations. Shallow with heavy cover and anything over 40ftw, I would want an 8 degree. Figure out what kind of sitution you are fishing, and build the proper equipment around it.

so if i would just use it for locations only with gps & lake chip, do i still need to get portable pack for $120 to power it or is there away around that?

[IcerRon2010]

I have a 385ci here are couple things I did. 1)Found a quick disconnect and some Ram mounts through humminbird and mounted it to my ultra pack Vexilar, so the two units are side by side. I tapped into the power source of the vexilar so it powers up both units. 2)There is also a cigarette lighter power cord also available through humminbird for your atv,car, snowmobile. 3) I see alot of people buying a genz box,a power cord,battery. a 9amp battery is available everywhere for 20-25 dollars and you can already use your gimble mount from the boat to mount on the genz box. If you go this route might as well get a tranducer also. I have found that Amazon has the best prices. Call humminbird, they will point you in the right direction far as part numbers, and concerns that you have. They will also tell how much power consumption it will draw with a 12 volt battey. Hope this helps

[stumper]

Portable carry case-20.00 or free if your handy

battery/charger - 30.00

ice ducer 75.00

OR Ram mount it on ATV and only use it for gps. Power it off ATV battery.

I have my HDS 5 set up on ram mount so that I can use it on the sled or quad and have a ram ball on a portable pack so I can use it as a portable pack

[amateurfishing]

thx all!! great info, i just did some research & amzn had it all 35-40% off, so i asked the mrs. & jumped all over it, free shipping& no tax!! ducer + power cord + portable pack (includes battery, hardware, & mount)=160.....i thought very good deal (but im also an amateur & totally new to this stuff)