Helix Ice Reviews

SW Eyes wrote:

I love mine. I’ve expressed this plenty around here, but some reasons why:

-I autochart some lakes and drop waypoints during open water during leagues/tournaments/casual fishing. It’s taken my <em class=”ido-tag-em”>ice fishing to another level. Autochart on some small obscure lakes has me dialed in on spots very few people, if any, know about. That alone is worth its weight in gold.

-I love the 2D Sonar. Really nice having the history available (cadence when the fish approached and bit or spooked off, etc). I think it provides better info, but I also find it more fun to watch as well than the standard ring.

-split screens are great. You can have flasher/sonar on one, GPS/contours on another. Really nice feature, don’t have to toggle or carry multiple electronics, switch cards around, etc when out gridding/searching. Makes it way more convenient (no more forgetting cards in desk drawers, leaving a gps unit on the workbench, gps out of batteries, etc).

The best part (this can be had in many other new devices as well) is the absence of the constant “hum” that you get with the older motorized Marcum/Vexilar units. I fished with a guy last night with a bird 55 with the motor, and my God that’s annoying after getting used to not hearing it.

I’ve had no problem with battery life. As mentioned above, cut down screen brightness. I’ve actually found I get more batter life out of my bird than my Marcum (which is now a “backup” that never gets used).

There’s a lot of gadgetry out there that isn’t worth a damn. But, I’ll say this is the purchase I’m most happy with (2 way tie with my striker suit). I can say it has helped me catch more fish. I can’t say that about fancy shelters, custom rods, boxes of fancy lures etc. At the price point, there is no comparison, IMO. If you can afford $3k to drop on the newest Garmin unit, I’m sure they’re wonderful. But, I’ll take my unit for around $500 every time. Nothing better in that price range.

Time will tell on the durability. I use it heavily year round. Thus far, after 2-3 seasons of banging around its held up very well. Just had it out last night, and it’s still operates as well as the day I bought it.

Cough Cough…..

There are several that are better

The Garmin 73 does all the same things and more (touchscreen, ability to add Panoptix, etc)

If you don’t want a touchscreen you can get their 6″ version for around $400 (63cv Ice Bundle)

Garmin Striker 5 ice bundles can be had for a similar price as a dinosaur Fl-8

My unit was $479

SW Eyes wrote:

I love mine. I’ve expressed this plenty around here, but some reasons why:

-I autochart some lakes and drop waypoints during open water during leagues/tournaments/casual fishing. It’s taken my <em class=”ido-tag-em”>ice fishing to another level. Autochart on some small obscure lakes has me dialed in on spots very few people, if any, know about. That alone is worth its weight in gold.

-I love the 2D Sonar. Really nice having the history available (cadence when the fish approached and bit or spooked off, etc). I think it provides better info, but I also find it more fun to watch as well than the standard ring.

-split screens are great. You can have flasher/sonar on one, GPS/contours on another. Really nice feature, don’t have to toggle or carry multiple electronics, switch cards around, etc when out gridding/searching. Makes it way more convenient (no more forgetting cards in desk drawers, leaving a gps unit on the workbench, gps out of batteries, etc).

The best part (this can be had in many other new devices as well) is the absence of the constant “hum” that you get with the older motorized Marcum/Vexilar units. I fished with a guy last night with a bird 55 with the motor, and my God that’s annoying after getting used to not hearing it.

I’ve had no problem with battery life. As mentioned above, cut down screen brightness. I’ve actually found I get more batter life out of my bird than my Marcum (which is now a “backup” that never gets used).

There’s a lot of gadgetry out there that isn’t worth a damn. But, I’ll say this is the purchase I’m most happy with (2 way tie with my striker suit). I can say it has helped me catch more fish. I can’t say that about fancy shelters, custom rods, boxes of fancy lures etc. At the price point, there is no comparison, IMO. If you can afford $3k to drop on the newest Garmin unit, I’m sure they’re wonderful. But, I’ll take my unit for around $500 every time. Nothing better in that price range.

Time will tell on the durability. I use it heavily year round. Thus far, after 2-3 seasons of banging around its held up very well. Just had it out last night, and it’s still operates as well as the day I bought it.

anyone done live mapping on the ice with their unit? how close do you have to drill holes to get a good reading? Also if one was to run their 5 or 7 at full brightness how long would it last. I think of getting a 7 due to the large screen size but not sure if the cost is worth it?

I’ve been using my Helix 5 g2 for a couple of years and have had both vex and marcum in the hole right next to me and have’nt had any interference issues that can’t be cleaned up crystal clear.

Tom