Rigging a LMS-332c for ice fishing

[montanagriz]

I have a Lowrance LMS-332c on my boat that I'd love to get set-up for ice fishing this winter. Do any of you guys have this unit rigged for the ice? Right now I have the unit itself on a Johnny Ray mount, and the GPS puck mounted on a Lund pro-track mount, so both are easily moved. Some questions....

- Would mounting the unit on the blue Genz ice box be the best way to go?

- Is a 12v Vexilar battery enough to power this unit?

- Instead of trying to pull all the cabeling out of my boat, where can I purchase separate cords for the power, transducer, and GPS? Do they make shorter cords specifically for ice fishing? Do they make a ice-transducer for the unit?

- The unit does have a flasher mode which I honestly haven't used much in open water. Does anybody have experience using this flasher on the ice? How does it compare to a Marcum/Vex?

- If anyone has pics of how they rigged their units, please post some pics, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks for the help guys!

[Paul Waldowski]

MG,

I have mine rigged up in my truck during the winter and strictly use the GPS functions with the Nacionics Chip. A vex Battery is will run it for about 8 hours in the cold. You can buy all the cords, ducer etc online. Do a search for lei extras.

I can't help with the flasher part though as I haven't used that function ice fishing. Good luck, the 332c is a great unit so I think it will work fine.

[federline]

If you want the factory setup, like a Lowrance Ice Machine, check this out:

-----snip!-----

PPP-16I Part # 16-46 $172.95

Ice fishing portable accessory pack. Includes ice fishing transducer, custom soft-side carry case, battery and charger.

Works with: LMS-330C, LMS-332C, LMS-334C iGPS, X100C, X102C

-----snip!-----

Any Lowrance dealer can order this through LEI Extras. The price above is suggested retail from the factory.

I use my x67c year round, boat and ice. The flasher mode works, well, like a flasher, and it is the same on the 332c. The dual graph mode with adjustable zoom is actually more useful on ice, I've found. I don't ever use flasher mode anymore.

Comparing to Vex and Marcum will start a holy war. Just search FM for the terms "Vex", "Marcum" and "Lowrance" and you'll find more than is useful.

Start with these setting to "tune up" for ice: Ping Speed on high & Scroll Speed on High, Noise Rejection on high, Surface Clarity on High, Auto-sensitivity off, auto-depth off, Sensitivity about 90%. up/down keys move your adjustable zoom window at the touch of a button, very handy on ice.

You can also upgrade your unit's software to the latest version - you can download it from Lowrance's HSOforum for the 332c. Recent versions of the operating system seem more interference resistant.

My opinion, backed up by my two consecutive ice seasons with Lowrance, is that it is the future of ice sonar. Remember - Lowrance doesn't make flashers - they make digital sonars.

[Genofish]

Is there a power cord and space for the GPS antena?

[18 inch Crappie]

If your going to spend $200 on a ice kit, use that money and buy a Marcum or Vexilar for $199. The 332 is a great unit for GPS and open water with the graph but the flasher sucks, Lowrance needs to improve the flasher on them things so bad.

[Snag]

Try and buy just the cords and the ducer. That should save you some money. I have mine on a blue box. I didn't hook up the GPS last year since I have a H20. I think it is better than my FL-18. No noise, full color, bright and more power than the marcums and vexilars. I let my friends and family use the Vexilar. Any way I look at it, you're saving money. It would cost you 400 for a flasher with similar features and 150 for a GPS.

[Red Cabin]

Is it possible your screen or antena could get damaged in extremly cold wether?

[iffwalleyes]

Quote:

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Is it possible your screen or antena could get damaged in extremly cold wether?

---

The screen may slow down but it would take some pretty extreme weather to do any severe damamge and not the antenna would be just fine.

[Edinbuffalo]

I brought my 332 to Action fishing in Anoka.. He help set it up.. First I have the blue box, I used the same battery as My Vexilar the only hassle is taking the gps puck of the boat every fall.(Takes seconds.) I puchased the power cord for my 332 from action it is similiar to a cig. plug in(Male) I drilled a hole in the blue box and mounted the female end flush into the blue box and attached clips that then attached to my battery. I then purchase a mount for the gps puck you also need to purchase a transducer, yes there will by some extra wiring but the is easliy shoved in by thy battery. The total cost was about 160.00 it worked outstanding I have many friends that own flashers and prefered the 332 over it.. It was also great to have will on the ATV finding your fishing holes (GPS Lake Chips) If you would like a picture please email respond with your email.. I'm not sure how to on the site I dont use the flasher program on the 332 sonar works better,You will not see the arches to dispaly fish as if in a boat but horizontal lines the identifies the fish. The cold weather did not bother the 332 at all.

[PierBridge]

dartmasterhd at yahoo

I'd like to see some pics.......I'll post when I receive them.

[montanagriz]

Edinbuffalo, I'd love to see the pics. You can email me at: [email protected]

Thanks to all who've posted..great information guys, really appreciate the input! After checking their HSOforum, I may be making a trip to Thorne Bros. tomorrow to see if they have all the components to rig it up. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

[montanagriz]

It took awhile, but I finally made the trip to Thorne Bros. on Saturday to get the necessary components to rig my LMS-332c for ice fishing this winter. Here's the list of the components I needed to purchase (part numbers included):

- Lowrance Ice Transducer ($69.99)

- LEI Accessories Power Cable PC-26BL ($39.99)

- LEI Accessories 2' GPS Extension Cable N2KEXT-2BL ($19.95)

- LEI Accessories Tee Connector N2K-T ($14.99)

- LEI Accessories 60 OHM Terminator TR-60M ($10.99)

- GPS puck mounting bracket ($14.99)

- Genz Blue Box ($21.99)

- Vexilar float ($4.99)

I already had my GPS puck mounted on the cone that screws into the mounting bracket, so that was one item I didn't need to purchase. In addition, I had an extra Johhny Ray mount, so I decided to mount it on a piece of plexi that I screwed into the front edge of the Genz Box.

It took some time to put everything together this afternoon, but I can't wait to get it out on the ice. Having the Lakemaster chip for ice fishing this year is going to be extremely valuable I think. In addition, I'm interested to use the sonar on the ice. After getting positive feedback from several of you, I'm hoping I can get through the season without having to buy a flasher (my younger bro is taking his FL-8 back to college with him )

Special thanks to the staff at Thorne Bros. They were very knowledgable and set me up with everything I needed. Also picked up some jigs, spoons, reels, and a rod from their great selection of ice tackle. Overall, it was a great experience! I've posted some pics below in case any of you are thinking of rigging up your 332c. Thanks again to all for your input on this thread, it is very much appreciated.

Front view

Top View - Added a foam insert to keep the transducer from rattling around

GPS puck mounting bracket

Tee Connector and Johnny Ray mount

Side View

Another view from above

[iffwalleyes]

Sweet man nice job. I just got mine put together this weekend. but I like how you did your way better. Nice job.

[montanagriz]

Thanks! It took awhile to put it all together, but I'm happy with how it turned out. I'm really excited to try the sonar feature and see how it compares to fishing with a flasher. I think it will take some getting used to, but I've heard a lot of good things from those who used it on the ice last season. Now all we need is some ice!

[10,000 Casts]

hey guys,

I just bought a 334 and the ice kit. (killed 2 birds with 1 stone) can't wait to use it for the first time sun.

My questions are...

will the ducer read through the ice with a splash of water like the vex's?

how much will the lcd slow down, is it noticable?

How is the bottom seperation, will I see a walleye on the bottom?

Is the 10,20,30,40,50,60 Range all there is on the flasher?

Can you increase the gain on the flasher?

Is there an ice setting for the flasher?

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks,

John

[Ralph Wiggum]

I've got the X67c, and I'd assume they work pretty much the same

will the ducer read through the ice with a splash of water like the vex's?

Yes, it will.

how much will the lcd slow down, is it noticable?

It's not LCD. It's TFT, and I fished outside all last winter and it didn't slow down at all.

How is the bottom seperation, will I see a walleye on the bottom?

Great separation. You can play around with the Colorline adjustment to separate them better.

Is the 10,20,30,40,50,60 Range all there is on the flasher?

I usually just set it on auto-depth range, but mine's got 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 100, 150, 200, 300, 500, 800.

Can you increase the gain on the flasher?

Yup. It's called "sensitivity" though.

Is there an ice setting for the flasher?

Mine has one. Hit menu and there's a setting called Ice Machine Mode.

Play around with it, but a lot of us Lowrance guys like to use it in regular graph mode as opposed to the flasher mode. It will show you a history of what your jig and the fish have done in the past few seconds. And if you glanced away for a second and a fish quickly appears, you'll know it was there. Your jig and fish will appear as a horizontal line across the screen this way.

[10,000 Casts]

Thanks Ralph,

Can't wait to put it to good use.

All I can find is ice view which just seems to make the background a little darker. I was hoping to get the sensitivity ajustment on the flasher page.

Thanks,

John

[Ralph Wiggum]

With the flasher page up, just hit the up and down keys and that should adjust your sensitivity.

[CrappiesNeyes]

Nice job! I actually made the same setup last season and I love it. The only thing I did differently is to mount the GPS puck up on the handle so it isn't hanging off of the side. FYI I found that this unit will fit perfectly into a larger soft-sided cooler for protection.It is awesome to mount in on the front of a wheeler and drive right to the structure you want to fish. Enjoy your new purchase.

[DonC]

Getting ready to set up my Lowrance 332C for ice fishing anything new to add to these 3 yr old posts ? Any advice, suggestions or user experiences are appreciated. Thanks in advance