Hand held sonar ?

[ilovehardwater]

Does anyone have one of these and how well do they work? Im talking about the small hand held ones that tell just the depth and cost 100 or more. I've never used one or even seen one used but wanted some feedback on the performance of these.

[tipupguy]

i dont own one yet but a friend of mine owns one kind of looks like a flash light the main thing is when you use one is to clear the snow away to the ice and you'll need some water to put on the ice for contact a small squeeze bottle works good but its a great way to just check your depth with out drilling and dropping a line maybe i'll get one for christmas this year that's if my family was listening LOL

[bgreen82]

i got a norcross hawkeye last year. it definitely gave me a pretty accurate depth reading for the most part. it also says it will show fish, but i never trusted that. i got a vex this year, and next time out im gonna see what the hawkeye shows me compared to what the vex does, if you want ill let you know.

by the way, i spent about $60 on it.

[ice-man/vexilar-king]

Spend the $100 on a chip for the H2O! Your Vexilar will read threw the ice just dump a little water down out of your minnow pail, they probible needed new water anyway. LOL

They work, StrikeMaste/Marcum.

[ice_it_06]

ilovehardwater:

Had a Polar Vision a few years back given to me which was o.k.

Got me interested in the technology anyway.

Have had (3) LXi by Marcum since 2000. (kids take them on me)

The LXi I have found to be priceless and the portability to finding depths and contours saves countless drilling/searching hours with the auger, and dragging flasher all around. Depth, water/air temp,fish alarm, auto shut down, digital receiver not analog.

Carry a gallon of water or a torch in bad areas in order to get a good reading.

[Sergeant Slabber]

I have the Marcum LXi as well. I also love the time it saves for quickly checking out the depths and finding that rock pile or break line your looking for. I have had it for about 3-4 years now. It has been very dependable and pretty darn accurate. I would recommend it to anyone.

[humpback]

i have the marcum lxi as well and love it. it works good for me.

[SDbowhunter]

I have never heard of the torch idea before how well does that work compared to dumping water on the ice. I hate trying to drive a four wheeler or snowmobile with a bucket of water while trying to find a different spot. I always end up with a wet leg and an exploration trip that would have been a lot shorter if i could have drove faster.

[Sergeant Slabber]

The torch works great. It's much easier than water in a bottle IMO. Just get one of those little torches from the hardware store, Menards, etc. Fire it up when you want to check a spot. It takes seconds to melt a little spot on the ice good enough to get a reading.