hand held depthfinders

[PEATMOSS]

I am considering purchasing one of those hand held depthfinders[the ones that look like like a flashlight].

Seems like this would be a great tool for locating structure.Anyone have experience with one of these?Any recomendations/info appreciated.

[Dan Thiem]

Welcome aboard Peat,

Take a look at Daves report. Some pretty good info Here

[KidWalleye]

I have the Lx-i and I love it. Abottle of water and the Lx-i and you're set. I was a bit skepticle at first but it is really accurate. Good luck, I don't know anything about the others so I can't speak on them. Kid

[CNY Tim]

I used the MarCum LX-i last season and it works great, a little water for coupling, and you have the depth readout and scans for fish location depth in a bold digital readout with alarm.

[CrappieJohn]

Instead of carrying water bottles, try a long butane lighter. Just hit the ice for a second and you are ready.

[Kodiak]

I have wanted to purchase one also, but i have been talked out of it by guys that have them and they say they just use your vex/marcum and that will show you fish too at the same time. I got talked out of an LX-i he said i could borrow it so i will just do that and see if i like it, i will post results for ya. But some guy wrote up a nice review on here about the LX-i check it out. I use my beer...

[tightlines]

I use a torch with a pistol grip and button for auto lighting and shut off. Works really well. 1lb bottle of propane lasted me almost an entire season, and melts snow on top of ice in just a few seconds.

[LaVoi]

Maybe its just me but I'm not gonna waste my beer on checking depths...well maybe if all I had was a case of Pabst. I use a squirt bottle of water.

[stick]

I just purchased an LX-i since when I am alone and looking for structure, I end up making a big path with the auger drilling multiple holes, and then I carry back to my gear, and grab the flasher since I can't carry both. Then I retrace my steps and check all of the holes, finding out that a large % of them were heading in the wrong direction. Then I start the dance again to find the spot on the spot. If the ice is clear enough to shoot through, well then I just use my LX-3 and I can cut to the quick. But if I need to drill the hole to check the depth, it is convenient to have the handheld on my belt, and I can zero in on the spot very quickly. My $0.02.

[Kodiak]

Quote:

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Maybe its just me but I'm not gonna waste my beer on checking depths...well maybe if all I had was a case of Pabst. I use a squirt bottle of water.

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bottle of water is just one more thing to carry, plus the amount wasted is probally cheaper than a propane torch

[Whopper Stopper]

The LX-i sure beats lugging the big locator around. If I lost mine I would definitly buy another one to replace it. And yes what Dave wrote about it was excellent!

WS

[Ray Esboldt]

One other thing you might think about is the beating your transducer takes while reading through the ice. I wrecked a couple Vex transducers doing it, and stay away from that practice with my MarCums. I am very happy with my LX-i.

[spearingboy]

I have the Lx-i and it works great sometimes but a lot of other times it wont put out a reading or it will say that it's like 3.3ft when really it's a lot deeper. Do you guys have any problems like this with yours? Does it have to do with the ice?

[Ray Esboldt]

I've had the 3.3 foot syndrome before. That's because I was not using enough liquid to light the way. I have also had the 14 foot syndrome. Again, not enough h2o on the surface of the ice.

[cliffy]

I will be starting my third season with my LX-I and I love it. It seems to work pretty good as long as you have decent ice conditions and good contact. I just use a little water out of the minnow bucket to make a good connection. I have only encountered a problem when attempting to shoot thru bad ice....you know, ice that seems to be full of air bubbles or ice that has broken up and re-froze...like frozen slushy stuff.

I also had a problem my first year when somehow moisture got inside the unit...probably from around the battery compartment. I called Marcum, mailed it back to them, and within a few days I had a new one...just for the price of shipping the old one back. Cant beat that!

[PEATMOSS]

IN SHOPPING AROUND, I SEE THAT VEXILAR MAKES A SIMILAR UNIT. THERE IS ALSO A POLAR VISION UNIT THAT LOOKS ABOUT THE SAME.ANYONE HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH EITHER OF THESE?

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I also have the MarCum LX-i. It works great!

Cliff

[tightlines]

I just picked up a LXi hoping to get away from the 3.3 syndrom. I have a strikemaster handheld that has had that problem about 30% of the time shooting. Must be a common problem with hand helds if they both do it. Probably not a good enough contact or bad ice. Even with the 3.3 syndrom it still saves a lot of extra work and time. The one thing I didn't like about the strikemaster is the LED is small and on the side of the unit. Strikemaster does however have a back-light which I don't think the LXi has...

[ddsbyday]

I have the polar vision. I use a jug of washer fluid, it won't freeze on me. If there is a little snow i write the depths in the snow and can cover a lot of ground in a matter of minutes without punching a hole. I use a vexilar which does the same thing so I thought handhelds were dumb until I got one for Christmas 2 years ago. If you want to see fish through the ice use the vexilar. If you want quick and easy to find the same spot the fish are year after year go handheld.

[LaVoi]

I got a polar vision for x-mas about four years ago and am still using it today. I think its a good unit and I know they have improved their product. But I don't think you can go wrong with any of the units out there.

[tightlines]

Lavoi; What improvements have they made to the polar vision? Thanks Doug

[LaVoi]

I had a friend that bought one last year that had a temperature gauge on it and it was also a much smaller unit about the size of the vexilar units compared to the large flashlight style unit that I have. At least I am almost sure it was a polar vision, they are the only ones that make a blue hand held unit aren't they?

[P.DONA]

I have the polar vision from about 4 years ago, too. Yep, 3.3 ft must be common for a depth.. It also doesn't like anything under about 0 degrees.. Well worth it to find out depth, though. I do like shooting through the ice, too.

Any of these, I would say keep in your coveralls, warm. That seemed to make a difference..

I should have tried the accuracy with my 2 finders on the boat this summer, DUH!

How accurate are the polars?? I suppose I can drop a line down there with the depth, but never remember..

[LEECH21]

I got a Polar Vison 2 years ago and have had the 3.3 problem. It can be usually fixed by adding more water to the surface or by moving over a few feet. If there is to many air bubbles in the ice it won't get an accurate reading. By moving to some clearer ice it works wonders.

I tried it out on open water this last spring on a trip up to the Rainy River. Just leaned over the side of the boat and set it in the water a bit. It seemed to work great and was pretty accurate I believe.