[hartman756]

Any one use this cheapie fish finder? Don't do much ice fishing and just looking for something simple. want to be able to mark the bottom and what depth the fish are at is all.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/HawkEye-Portable-Fish-Finder/3661652

What about the Marcum 2.0 ?

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/MarCum-Showdown-Troller-Digital-Handheld/dp/B0081X0SN2/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t"]Amazon.com: MarCum Showdown Troller 2.0 Digital Handheld Sonar: Sports & [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@41RYT5nLMEL[/ame]

 

[itchyrichy]

I have the Marcum Showdown Troller 2.0 and I love it. I store it in a plano ammo can with Styrofoam to keep secure. It sees the tiniest jig, you can even tell the difference between your jig head and your bait. The only problem so far is if other people are using flashers in the area, you can get lots of lines. After some adjusting of noise it usually works fine. It is my first time fishing with electronics and I like it. It has helped me catch some fish I wouldn't have before.

 

[Stand By]

Went up to Jays to get one of those. They were out. Ended up getting the Elite 3x with ice pack. Think I'm much better off. 3x by itself was only $99. Long life/ rechargeable battery. No maps, but tunable.

 

[hartman756]

Thanks to those that replied! I ended up ordering the Marcum 2.0. Probably overkill for what I need but looking forward to trying it out later this week when it gets here.

 

[Burksee]

Once you've had a chance to use it for awhile come back here and please give us a review.

 

[Boardman Brookies]

Thanks to those that replied! I ended up ordering the Marcum 2.0. Probably overkill for what I need but looking forward to trying it out later this week when it gets here.

You are going to like it. I have drastically increased my catch with one.

 

[sfw1960]

Once you've had a chance to use it for awhile come back here and please give us a review.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Very NICE Greg!!Lord knows I have spent way too much money on cheap0 POS - junk units over the years if I just would have spent the money of something worth a toot the 1st time around, I would probably have a pair of 10" Humminbird 1199 or ONIX units on the boat instead of a 5", 7" and 8" trifecta of Side Imaging units I now own.

:evilsmile

MSRP on the HB 798ciSI was $1049, I got it on a clearance price - and it's on it's 5th season of service without a problem. My stepson & I punched our tickets of yellow perch last Sunday and we could have caught many more.
I wouldn't own or use that HACKeye POS if you paid the $20 bill it's NOT worth for me !
:fish2:

 

[Burksee]

Hey now Robert! Not that I'm looking to upgrade from my "Little Green Box" there's nuthin wrong with being budget minded! :SHOCKED:

I hear what your sayin, there are some things your better off paying a bit more for the first time out but other than wine and whiskey I haven't found to many others yet! :yikes: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[sfw1960]

The Lowrance LFP300 was NOT a cheap FF back in the day.
Now it can't image items 100 feet to the side or show fish in submerged tree tops, but back in the day we serviced a lot of them....



Does this look like a boat to you Greg??

Maybe game fish and bait??

I know, it's no "green Box".... CLOSE, but it's more capable.

:lol: :lol:

No more cheap 0 FF's for me any more, that's all I'm saying.
:evilsmile

 

[ZachEno]

You're really going to love the Showdown. Very easy to use. I have the original Showdown and plan on upgrading at the end of this season to the 2.0. The upgrade is only $50.

 

[Trevor17]

i have the troller 2.0 and a humming bird ice 35, the marcum is great when im trying to cover a lot of ice to find fish its so light wight and has the digital depth read out. Once im on the fish i switch over to the ice 35.

 

[WELDINGROD]

SWF 1960, how well do the traditional boat sonar units work when your not moving? i.e. just straight down a 6" ice hole?

Honest question.... I'd like to hear your impression from using one in those conditions, everything I read states the graph is meant to show bottom while the boat is moving...

I LOVE them on the boat, just not sure how well it would work sitting still, i.e. keep ghosting the image over itself and might be just hard to read, i.e. a single fish ends up being a long streak across the screen or a good portion of it..?.

Do you have a traditional flasher screen on those units or do you find it is not needed because other graphical representations are more effective?

Also just to confirm I believe those screenshot you posted above were taken on a moving boat (i.e. slow trolling speed 1 to 1.5mph?), please correct if wrong... but love the images.. I don't have side imaging yet, that will probably be my next electronic upgrade on my lund for softwater season.

 

[seespyder]

I have a Hummingbird 110 portable bought last week. Put it down the hole reeds fish real clear but as the graph scrolls the fish seem to move with it. Some come back some do not. So I would like to hear the answer of Weldingrod 1st ? also

 

[zer0]

I have been using a HB 150 portable the past 3 ice seasons. The display will show a constant line for each mark, be it jig, fish or bottom. I think this is very easy to discern what you are looking at on the display unit. The lake/riverbed reads as a thick line on the lower portion of the display, you can see your jig as it drops through the water column, and fish can easily be read. Keep in mind that the display is scrolling so any new events will be shown on the right leading edge of the screen, and everything to the left is displaying what has elapsed. I did purchase the ice ducer and it greatly improves the performance. I have been fishing this unit side by side to my buddy who runs a marcum showdown, I get no interference from his unit and can easily mark my small pan fish jigs.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[hartman756]

Once you've had a chance to use it for awhile come back here and please give us a review.

Been out several times with it and it is a blast watching the crappie come off the bottom and come up and grab the minnow! Also the same with the pike, although they really rocket up at times. Easy to know if a hole has any fish or not. The down side is having to watch fish come up to the minnow and then not bite. It eats batteries if you are out all day but there is the option to upgrade to the package that has the carrying case and rechargeable battery. You can zoom in to the bottom ten or five feet but not pick a section in the water column and zoom in on that with the 2.0 for those that want that. I have not used it in shallow water yet so cant say how it will work with that(been in 25 to 36 feet)

Again it is overkill for what I need to find and catch fish but the entrainment value of watching the fish and the minnow is worth what I paid for it!!