converting my depth finder 4 ice fishing

[skip across]

I know it it is a bit early to start thinking about this but I have a hummingbird 858 depth finder that I would like to convert into an ice fishing outfit. Does anyone know if they sell a transducerfor ice fishing for this unit and if so do they sell cases to carry it with and or mounting brackets to mounted on a carrier. I am guessing they have cables to convert to a small battery. Any help would be appreciated

[kerryd15]

You can make your own. I did with a 798 CSI. I used the SI transducer. I know there is an ice ducer that will fit.

[rickwalley]

how do the screens do in freezing temps? Seems they would run slow. I know the new Marcum LX6 and LX7 use a screen heater to keep the data flowing in real time.

[kerryd15]

I only used it inside a portable house. I didn't want to chance it outside. I don't keep it real warm in there though.

[kensom]

You can make your own. I did with a 798 CSI. I used the SI transducer. I know there is an ice ducer that will fit.

Just curious as I was considering trying my 598 Side Imaging thru the ice.....how do you hang that thing below the ice? Does the side imaging transducer allow you to see suspended fish and determine where they are so that you can drill holes in the right direction to find them?

[TruthWalleyes]

They sure do run a little slow in very cold temps. I've used mine as a GPS on the ice before (898csi).

I've often debated dropping my SI transducer down an ice hole, but it's never been removed from my transom. I'm sure if you're SI Savy, you could easily tell which direction to drill your next hole. I know i can tell what's going on when my boat is stationary or moving very slow. I bought the latest and greatest auger last year so now i just punch a few more holes and drop the marcum down the hole.

Another thing that works quite well is identifying structure in the summer months and use that gps info in the winter to reduce your search time. I at one time had every rock and trasition marked on my GPS. Eventually i found that was not necessary and deleted all my waypoints this year.

[kerryd15]

I tried spinning it but that takes patiece. I set it in the hole in split screen SI and graph. We were tipup fishing in shallow water- 4 foot and less. I used it more to see if there were fish moving past. The fish will show up as lines that appear and dissapear on SI off to the sides. We were fishing in a channel that was 6-8 inches deeper than the surrounding area and by positioning the ducer I was able to determine if they were moving up and down the channel or crossing it. Which helped with positioning the tipups. I took the boat bracket off the ducer and turned it backward, taped the ducer wire to the bracket so it hung strait. I didn't have much problem as long as it was below the ice a few inches.

[Nilsfisher]

I was thinking of doing the same thing this year with my DI unit. I think though I'll just use the transducer that came with it for this year. The cable is a little "stiffer" than an ice ducer cable but I'm sure I can get it to hang straight, either from the arm I made or the float.

I'm curious with an ice ducer, will the unit know and change on the screen the kHz numbers that show up?