Handheld Depth Finders?

[stillwaterangler]

Has anyone ever had any success with any of these units? My brother is asking me about one and I mentioned the Marcum Showdown Ice Troller and he's looking at the kind you can simply press up against the ice to tell depth before drilling. Any thoughts would be helpful!

[BartmanMN]

That would be the Marcum Lx-i. You can do the same thing with your flasher by wetting the ice and scanning through it.

[amateurfishing]

totally awesome, i luv mine, not only will it show u depth b4 drilling, will also let you know if there are fish already there or not!!!....if mine does not show movement or any signal just above the bottom, i move on b4 drilling, saves a ton of time & effort.

my first major buy was gas auger to keep myself from having a heart attack b4 getting a chance to fish in 2 foi, the 2nd was the respectable priced troller to find fish & depth b4 drilling as to not waste time drilling were there is no fish, & u can also watch your jig/lure drop on it for suspended fish or see it hanging right above the bottom

[Jim Uran]

I have no experience with the handheld units like the Marcum Vx-1, but ever since I had a flasher I would just wet the ice and use my transducer to tell me what's going on below.

To those with handheld shoot through the ice type units, is it simply the fact that it's a bit more portable than lugging around your flasher that gets you to buy these, or do they read through the ice better?

I have a Marcum Ice troller, and that thing is as light as they get, stores in my pocket, and accurately reads the depth and locates fish and my lure!

[robert aldrich]

Cant go wrong with the marcum showdown troller. i love mine and it even goes down to 120 feet.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I use my MarCum LX-i to read through the ice to find the edges of drop offs and the desired depths that I want to fish. It will also beep if there is anything suspended off of the bottom, (fish), hopefully!

Very light and easy to carry and use!

Also have used my LX-3 and LX-5 for the same purpose.

Cliff

[Mike Walerak]

These work well and are a valuble tool when fishing new water. I actually have mine listed on HSOList right now.

mw

[TroutYammer]

I have used my Marum LX-I for over 5-years now for scouting. Nice to have a depth finder that fits in your pocket and shoots thu ice. Batteris are spendy so I went out and bought three rechargeable batteries and a charger....rotate as needed.

[Esox_Magnum]

Any flasher will do the same thing, if ice conditions allow. Wet the ice and set the ducer on the wet spot.... Once you get scow/ crusted surface ice neither work well....

[hawgchaser]

I got my LX-1 5 yr. ago for half price from bargain barn using Cabelas points. I like the convenience and use if for scouting & zeroing in on points. I wouldn't pay full price with green stuff to replace it, since a flasher does the same thing.

[Jim Uran]

So it's based on convenience and ease of use! Well in that case, I'd just use my Marcum troller!