Lowrance Elite 5

[student]

Anyone use one for Ice Fishing? I've seen some chatter about them but not much past that. I'd really like to get a review from someone that has used them fairly extensively and had success. I am currently using a Ice 45 and like it, but I want to get something for GPS with mapping capabilities and going with a GPS/depth finder seems to make more sense.

[student]

Nobody?

I guess I won't have interference issues.

[CaptainMusky]

A buddy of mine uses one. Mounts it on his ATV or snowmobile, then uses it in his fish house. I believe he really likes it. he was using a 522 prior, but this is much more reliable.

[Cecil]

No reason you couldn't or shouldn't use the Elite 5 for ice fishing. Can mount in truck, atv, sled or portable box.

[Fred_Bear]

I use an HDS 5 so I would think it's similar. Using it next to a vexilar I get more interference then when I use a vex next to a vex but nothing terrible. The HDS does have a noise rejection function which works well but causes the sonar to slow down a little bit.

My personal opinion is I really like the GPS chart capability of the HDS and I will continue to use the unit for ice fishing. I slightly prefer the vex for actually fishing but the built in GPS chart more than makes up for it.

[student]

I'm finding some discussion threads online from other forums and there seems to be a learning curve to transitioning from the industry standard round sonar screen to the flat graph style for ice fishing. Once you learn it though, it seems to have great results. I am excited to use the gps and for the price, $400 at Scheels in Fargo for the Ice Pack, I think I will be very happy.

[Cecil]

But if you have used a sonar like that in your boat, then the learning curve is pretty minimal...

[morepower02]

I was a Vexilar guy until I purchased the Elite 5 with the ice pack this winter. Having built in GPS and mapping made it a no brainer purchase. I ended up selling my Vex a month ago so you could say I have been converted.

[student]

How is it fishing with other older style units in the vicinity?

[morepower02]

I was concerned at first but after sitting a few feet away from a FL8 wth no issues with his or mine I was happy.

[fishwater]

Is it possible to turn off the gps on the elite-5? As far as I know this isn't possible on the HDS-5.

[CaptainMusky]

Its not possible to turn off the GPS on the HDS, but not sure about the Elite. The older Lowrance Units you could. I wish you could turn it off.

I use my HDS 5 ice fishing and love it. It took a little bit to get settings just right, but there are a lot of people doing it so I was able to cut that down quite a bit based on the experiences of others.

I also have an LX3 and use the two units side by side with ZERO interference.

I have used the LX3 for a number of years now, but I prefer to use the HDS in graph mode it is so much easier to read.

The vertical display is nice, you dont have to translate anything in your head, like when you are in zoom modes, different depth scales, etc.

The nicest and most useful thing I think is the fact you have a visible history for a few seconds on the screen. You can see a fish come up to your bait and react to your presentation.

You could see fish that "took a sniff" while you were busy lighting a cigar or something. On a flasher you have to be watching it all the time or you would never know.

I purchased a 12 Amp battery for my HDS just so I could make sure I would never have issues with battery life. The elite is less powerful, but I would suggest using a 9 Amp anyway.

[WEB 78]

took mine off the boat and bought an ice pack kit for my elite-5 this past winter. Haven't really missed my vexilar all that much yet. Have not noticed any interferance with other units. Great unit to have! have about 3 different options for the way you want to use it.