Target Seperation, how big of deal is it.

[Might_B_A_Pike]

Without going into the Vex vs. Marcum vs. Bird debate…

I was wondering how important target separation is? the one piece to my fishing arsenal that I am missing is a GPS with a lake map. I am growing very fond of the Humminbird 597 combo. I feel it will meet my needs on the ice, as well as my cedar strip boat and aluminum boat. I will be selling my Showdown I have now to help cover the cost to get the new unit.

Trying to see if there will be anything that I will miss out on without going a more traditional flasher route. So far, the only concern that I have found is the target separation on the bird is 2.5”, is this bad, does it really make a difference, obviously other marketing teams say it is, but does it really make that much of a difference, and is the difference worth not getting an all in one unit that would work awesome for winter and summer.

Humminbird currently has a rebate to get a free lakemaster chip with the purchase of one of their ice combo units. From what I have gathered, Lakemaster is your best option as far as maps go.

[that_guy]

As a marcum owner, I view target separation as this: It's handy to be able to have the ability to see two fish when there are two fish, but ultimately, if I see fish, I'm stopping to fish. If I notice the fish go away, I go away. Simple as that.

It doesn't matter if my flasher tells me there are 30 fish, or 1 fish I'm going to stop and give them a moment of my time. If the flasher clears, I'm out of there.

I've seen many people on here mirror this last statement and that is once you see the red show up on your screen and its moving towards your bait, you are staring at your rod tip/bobber instead of the screen.

[thatoneguy]

I think that target separation is overrated. As long as you have a unit that lets you know when there are fish under you, and lets you see how the fish responds to your presentation, you'll be fine.

Is better target separation a good thing? Sure. Is it the most important thing? Probably not.

[pushbutton]

I also think it is overrated for seeing fish...1/2 inch or 2 1/2 gets you about the same results. But hard to catch fish without bait and where that good separation can play a role in seeing if you still have yours on.......

[JordyED]

I also think it is overrated for seeing fish...1/2 inch or 2 1/2 gets you about the same results. But hard to catch fish without bait and where that good separation can play a role in seeing if you still have yours on.......

Very true.

[PFUNK]

The target separation debate is a moot point to me when you look at the sonar options being offered today. My bird 385ci can tell me if there are fish staring at my bait or not, and I can make out how many fish are there up to about 4 or 5 depending on how close to each other they are. I would be more concerned with other things when considering the bird 597ci. Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to buy that unit but I will share some things that dedicated ice units do better than the bird 597.

1. Interferance rejection- First and perhaps most importantly, people tend to forget that the IR rejection on these is not as good as the traditional flashers and the lx7. Is it okay? Yes, but it is not as good and can be a pain sometimes. I have had to have my buddies tweak their IR while I tweaked mine to come up with something that works for both of us. I never fish close enough to strangers to have it be an issue, but if I frequented the "villages" it may be more of a problem.

2. Cone angle- The 20 degree cone has suited me fine, but I do not fish very deep nor am I typically fishing very steep breaks. If I were, the dead zone from a wider angle cone may bother me. I really wish they could come out with an update to allow you to use the 9/19 degree ducer (standard with the ICE 35,45,55) on the open water units.

3. Battery life- Having the GPS built in and being unable to disable it means the battery won't last as long as a comparable unit without GPS. If you fish extended periods of time with no access to a battery charger, this is something to consider. I run a 7 Ah battery and can usually get sunup to sundown on one charge, but not always depending on conditions. An extra battery is always making the trip with me.

These are a few things that came to my mind right away. Don't let them scare you though, I would purchase my 385 again in a heartbeat. Humminbird customer service has been great when I needed to speak with them and I have never had a problem on the ice. The 385 and 597 are great units for guys who want a hard/soft water combo. If I was shopping strictly for an ice unit, they wouldn't be on the top of my list. But for the purpose they are meant to serve, they do a heck of a nice job.

[BradHawthorne]

It plays a major part in the electronics we use. I'm usually fishing or searching for bottom hugging walleyes and perch and it nice to know if they are down there at first glance. Think of it this way, units with 2-3" target separation will not mark fish within 2-3" of the bottom they will show it as part of the bottom, you look away for 1 second and you will miss the bottom change and we all have seen fish cruising on the cameras within an inch.

Granted, rough bottom conditions will hide some fish some of the time but personally I like knowing all I can and trusting it before we drill any holes.

[amateurfishing]

i am purely a novice @ this fishing stuff but love my 597ci HD. this was a total upgrade for me from a '84 HB LCR 4x6 for my boat. i totally enjoy all the features it has (but have nothing to compare it to experience wise). i did happen to buy a troller previous to the HB but planning on teaching my son on the ice with that this winter. it does take some getting used to learning the features but think it is a great value buy considering hard water/open water with gps. the nuts n bolts is like everything else, which features & price are most important to you. i personally dont think target separation is that big of a deal but im also far from a pro at this and have no idea what i may be missing (or have missed) but stay within what budget allows my 2cents

[Jim Uran]

Over rated for the everyday fisherman, but as Brad stated, it does have it's benefits for someone that makes his/her living on the ice. Seeing those walleyes tucked into the bottom has it's benefits, but most likely those fish are negative and tough to get to bite anyhow.

IMO I think that it's overrated.

[PFUNK]

Seeing those walleyes tucked into the bottom has it's benefits, but most likely those fish are negative and tough to get to bite

That's what I was thinking as well. There is certainly an advantage to being able to quickly identify these fish though. I will say this. I believe the target separation on my unit is 2.5" but you can certainly identify fish that are within 2.5" of the bottom once you get used to reading the graph. This is one thing I like about having the history as the graph scrolls. You can notice the slight color changes very easily as opposed to a traditional flasher where it is easy to miss those subtle changes that may come and go very quickly. With the history there is no missing it. If you drop the transducer in and you are already on top of a fish that is laying tight to the bottom, you can easily miss it. But if it swims out of the cone (or a bottom hugging fish swims into your cone on a previously clear bottom) you will see the change. I don't fish fast enough to give up on a hole that I don't immediately mark a fish in though, so it doesnt bother me.

[hamms-scooter]

I run the vex fl-20. Might not have the best target separation out there but I can read bottom and below what bottom is. You can see a walleye slipping in with the flicker with in the bottom. The vex reciever is very sensitive and works well for me. Not saying it's the best out there cause I have not ran them all just works for me. Even with the target separation it has I can tell if I am missing the spikes on my jig, or minnow head on a spoon. I say go for that bird and figure out how it suits you best. Good luck and good topic