Fish finder for open water and through the ice?

[nofishfisherman]

hello people who know more then me.

As I have posted on other threads I am looking at purchasing some electronics. I do both summer and winter fishing and was wondering if there was a good fish finder that works well for both ice fishing and on open water.

I can only get one thing because of cost restrictions and becuase I don't do enough fishing to justify buying multiple pieces. Also I don't have a boat but do rent one a few times a year so what I want is something I can use through the ice as well as bring on a rental boat.

Is there such a thing? Any help is welcome.

[efgh]

When I pull my camper I can;t take my boat becaue it;s a bumper hitch style camper I take my fl 18 along, rent a alumium boat and motor, wet the alumium floor, place the puck on the floor, turn on the vex. works real well for me.

[kslipsinker]

We just received a new unit from Zebco at Gander Mountain that ahs all of the features you are looking for. If I remember right it is less than $100 too!

[nofishfisherman]

That unit at GM sounds about right. I might have to give it a look. Got any details?

[kslipsinker]

Nope, it is a brand new thing. I unpacked them and put them on a shelf. Too much to do getting ready for ice to read up on stuff. It will work for ice and open water without purchasing additional stuff.

[tonyjor]

I have a Humminbird portable that I modified to use for ice. If it's REAL cold out, it works pretty slow. I shouldn't even be out when it's that cold. It works great all the rest of the time. I built an enclosed box to hold it and my aqua-vu and 2 batteries. Kinda heavy but it's better than lugging them all seperately.

[glendam]

I picked up a lowrance ice machine at cabelas bargan cave a couple of years ago. use it all winter and in the spring i attach the suction cup thing to the transducer, stick it on the back of the boat and away you go. it also has gps so you can mark spots in the summer that you might want to try out the next winter!

[iafish4fun]

If someone has more information on the Zebco unit let me know. I do not have a Gander Mountain to check this out.

Also in the Ice Fishing Guide, Reeds has an ad for a Lowrance 100C with boat and ice setup for $500. Not sure if this fits the budget.

[slick814]

THe Lowrance Ice Machines work great for both ice and open water. THere's a high-speed transducer available for open water, and an ice transducer for ice fishing. If you pick up the M68C mapping version, you get GPS, Sonar, Flasher, water temp, good to like 600' deep, and awhole lot more bells & whistles that are too much to list here. It runs a little more than a regular Vex or Marcum flasher unit, but I look at it this way. I can use it year round, it's portable, and I've got a GPS for wherever I fish year round too.

[nofishfisherman]

The Zebco model goes for $59.99

It looks brand new so not much info available on it.

Search the web for Zebco ZF200 and you will find all the info you need.