handheld sonars

does anyone use these, i have been reading about them and they say they will indicate if there are fish there, does it work that good or should i save my money

I have the LX-I from Marcum. Thank you North Pole. I like it and its way easier to map out water with it on my belt and an auger in tow than dragging around the big locator at the same time. Mine does not have a lit display however so night time depth checking proved to be harder than I thought it would be. It does mark fish after it tells you the depth you are in with beep and a new depth of where the fish is. I am not sure about the accuracy of this feature however….it could be right on or too sensitive also. The ice I was on was cloudy and it did not shoot through it, again, better ice will probably be a differnt story.

The fish finding feature on the LX-i works but I would not count on it. First it will read the bottom and then is scans the water column for other targets. I would use it for the bottom reading, it is very accurate.

As far as reading fish, I would not count on it. Once in a while it is right on when it picks up suspended fish but for the most part you wont get a good fish reading.

For the price they have to have for one of these I’ll pass. I can see how they’d work good for “mapping” the bottom quickly but a locator can do that too, just with more bulk. I think they are aimed at the guy who has to have everything. Guess that means I’ll get one someday anyhow…

My buddy owns a junk yard and he found one in a car that came in. We cant figure out how it works though. Its got a long shaft that you put into the water and reads just like a lowrance on a boat.

Strikemaster had some on the website for 40$ in the middle of december. This was a special however and is not running now. As I said, mine was a present….better than underwear.

They are REALLy slick. I use mine all the time, especially early ice. It is a lot better then drilling a bunch of holes in the wrong spot and they read through the ice better then your trasducer will. Early ice you don’t even need water.

Thanks a lot Scott. Now not only do I need to upgrade my locator but I’m going to start thinking I need one of these goofey handheld jobbers too. My wife is just gonna love you!

i have a lps-1 from vexilar and i love it, you can find drop offs,structure very easily with it. really handy..