lowrance 520 for ice fishing

[Minn Fish]

any one use a lowrance 520 in the flasher mode for ice fishing.and can i use the same transducer?thanks

[fishwater]

They have an ice ducer for it and most everyone uses it in graph mode. Far better IMO. Basically you get lines across the graph for you lure and any fish within the cone. You can expand the intensity bar to show you lure action too.

[JimBuck]

I run the 522 in s blue box. The flasher works great. I have heard of people running in graph mode which I think I will give a try.....there sweet with a lakemaster chip.

[Todd_J]

I run a Lowrance in graph mode for ice fishing. Takes about 5 minutes to get used to, but once you do, flashers no longer cut it.

Give it a try.

[JimBuck]

Alright guys. I took out the 522 yesterday evening for it's maiden voyage on the ice. The GPS was great for finding the spots I located earlier in the fall. The problem; my graph and flasher mode doesn't seem to pick up my jig? I messed with a few different settings including colorline and sensitivity. The transducer seems to pick up the bottom depth and everything just fine. I hope it's something I'm not doing right and not the ducer'. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[fishwater]

JimBuck - here's an old thread with some good advice. Ice Machine Settings!!!

[Todd_J]

The problem; my graph and flasher mode doesn't seem to pick up my jig? I messed with a few different settings including colorline and sensitivity. The transducer seems to pick up the bottom depth and everything just fine. I hope it's something I'm not doing right and not the ducer'. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sometimes I've found if the "surface clarity" and "noise rejection" are set too high, smaller jigs tend to get washed out. Try turning these down to med/low/off and see if this helps.

[Fishinguy40]

Is there any place to purchase the iceducer or an ice kit other than from Lowrance directly? I have a gift card to GM and would like to be able to use it for something like that.

[chaffmj]

I was in the same situation except my gift cards were for Joe's. They ordered it for me so you could try it with GM.

[JimBuck]

I got mine from TB. PerchJerker on here can get you onto some electronics from what I hear......

[Frank Boling 41]

I'M tempted to get some electronics,but I only ice fish about one month out of the winter,and do very little open water down here,so I really can't justify getting some electronics,or can I?...Heh.

[PerchJerker]

so I really can't justify getting some electronics,or can I?...Heh.

If you can't justify new electronics ..... you need to try harder

I can order Lowrance Ice Ducers and Ice Accessory Kits. I don't have them listed on my HSOforum but if you're interested send me an email and I'll try to help you guys out.

[quijibo]

I could have sworn that I picked up my ice kit(PPP-16i) at GM. I used it to convert my lcx-25. It worked out pretty good, except that the 7" monitor is real heavy and doesn't quite fit in the enclosure.

Frank, I think that Lowrance is in Tulsa, they might have some sweet deals on refurbished units.

Adam

[JimBuck]

fishwater and Todd_J thanks for the tips I'll give it a whirl tonight and see how she does.

[CAB]

I picked up a conversion kit from GM 2 weeks ago. ($149.00) Includes: Ice-Ducer, carrying kit, battery and charger. I have it on my 522 and IMO it works satisfactory.

Word of caution. If you use it at night, use the low light level setting. After looking at the bright setting for a couple of hours at night, I had a square purple spot burned into my retna. After about 30 minutes, the spot clearned up but it made me a little nervous at first.

[Todd_J]

Hey Jim?

do you have an ice ducer, or are you running it with a skimmer on some sort of pole/float rig?

if your running it with the skimmer rigged up to some hand-crafted rig, you HAVE TO make sure that thing is level level level. otherwise the beam/cone may be off ever so slightly and missing your jig; still picking up the bottom and fish but not your jig.

(the main reason i finally broke down and coughed up the hundo for the ice ducer two seasons ago)

all this is moot of course if you have the ice ducer, in which case make sure it is level, then fiddle with the clarity and rejection.

[MuntzAngling]

Minn Fish,

I have a 522 ice kit and use it ice fishing often. I hope you already tried bumping up the sensitivity to the max, the green area. If you use a float on your ducer, it may angle it slightly to the side. That cone may miss your lure. I have made a couple special ducer holders to help aim the cone to where the bait is.

The first one I made is T-shaped with a pivot on a wing nut and hardware at the bottom to attach the ducer.

My new and so far untested solution is promising though. I used gas line connector hose and mounted if to the base of my ice machine. Attach the ducer to the other end on coat hanger wire. It stays in place where you position the coil and winds up easily too. 11 bucks and a coat hanger and you're gold!

These are essential for deep water ice fishing!

[JimBuck]

Gotcha. Thanks again Todd. I do have the ice ducer. I was also keeping it in another whole no more than a few inches away. I'll double check how level it is....i'll have to take off the float and give that a whirl.

[Todd_J]

I was also keeping it in another whole no more than a few inches away.

This might be it as well, particularly if you are in shallow water (<15)

[JimBuck]

Oofta! Yeah about 8.5 ft. So the signal radius must be much smaller then? I'll check it out tonight....thanks Todd.

[JWB475]

I believe the ice ducer is a fiberoptic cable whereas the regular transducers are not. Not having the iceducer could affect your perfomance on the ice as well...

[JimBuck]

Should I be having problems picking up a 1/16th size pan jig in 8 f.o.w? I just find it hard to believe that the cone angle is that small....

[MuntzAngling]

No problems, make sure the sensitivity is maxed and then try moving the ducer while jigging until you find it.

[JimBuck]

sounds good. thanks again guys.

[Chode2235]

Also be sure you are running in "Ice Mode" should be a check box where you set the color.

I dont have any problem picking up tiny jigs 1/64th and smaller with my 334.