Up in the air on a new ice unit

Ice Season is right around the corner (in my mind) and I’m thinking of adding another unit for guests/better half.

For you guys who put some time in with the new helix units last season. Any issues that can’t be avoided like lag, separation, shallow water, etc…. Did you like it over your previous unit or did you think of switching back? I understand that some units will have warranty issues so that really is not a deciding factor for me.

Mapping is not really a huge concern/dealbreaker even though having it on 1 unit is a plus.

Basically I’m on the fence between two units, the flx28 and the helix.

I have both only reason I bought the helix was because the woman said she wanted a “vexilar”. So I bought her the helix so I could have the mapping and use it in my boat in the summer . The vex in my opinion is far superior. I like the bright white color when the fish is going to smash it or say f u and turn around

That bright white mark is the reason I’m still on the fence, dropping the ducer down the hole and seeing 1 white line next to red let me know fish were on the bottom. I used the 28 a few times last year and was depressed when I had to switch back to my 18. Thanks for the reply Smackem!

Is there a particular reason you have limited your selection to these two brands?

Just personal preference. I’ve used/fished next to quite a few others. All worked just fine. I have been really happy with my 18, fishing next to other units I never felt the want to switch, I just preferred mine. But as I said earlier, I fished with a 28 last year and it was just nice. The only reason Im considering the Helix is after all they hype last year with the G2 models coming out, removing lag, better clarity etc… it sounded like the bees knees, plus fishing with a graph on the ice would be a nice change. Basically just wanted to hear some reviews after some time was put in with the Helix.

Okay. Just had to ask. If you have never fished next to or with a Garmin Panoptix unit, I would recommend checking them out. No I do not work or have any affiliation with Garmin, I just own one and am that impressed. Good luck in your search.

pulled the trigger on the helix last year and am glad I did. No complaints

pluses
-mapping
-side by side flasher and 2d. its nice seeing the history of the fish.
-clarity
-weight

Henpecked wrote:

Okay. Just had to ask. If you have never fished next to or with a Garmin Panoptix unit, I would recommend checking them out. No I do not work or have any affiliation with Garmin, I just own one and am that impressed. Good luck in your search.

I am interested in this for sure. Just cant figure out how to explain the price tag to the boss… I have seen a few vids on locating the fish under the ice but never fishing directly above…

I would go with the garmin 73cv. Personally or splurge a little and get the sv if you want side imaging in the boat as well. If not the CV is a awesome ice unit very fair price and u can upgrade huge from there but awesome unit as is. I had the helix but when a buddy of mine brought his garmin to the party I sold my helix the next day

The garmin 73cv is pretty cheap if you look on Ebay and Amazon. The sv is a few hundred more

If mapping isn’t as much of a concern, traditional dial flashers get my vote. I have a 28 in addition to a G1 Helix. I know the G2 units are much better than the G1’s, but you still don’t have the clarity and definition of the FLX units on a G2 Helix.

I have a Garmin 73sv on my boat. It looks like an ice ducer is available or an “ice pack” with ducer, battery, and carrying case. How have you guys set up the 73sv for ice?

I got the helix 5 g2 early last summer and used it over the hard water season this last year. I loved how i could map out my local lake during the summer, pull the unit off my boat, attach the ice ducer, slap it in the shuttle i built for it, and have all of the data i collected during the open water season. I was really impressed with the ice fishing specific update that Bird put out last fall. Lots of useful features for the ice. i fished the Bird side by side with my vex fl18 for a few weeks and then just stopped bringing the 18 out. I also fished with a buddy that’s color blind and the vex was useless to him but could use the Bird with the different color pallets. For me, I probably wouldn’t have bought the Bird if it’s only purpose was an ice unit but the added bonus of it being a seriously functional ice unit just sweetened the deal. The only con that i’ve found is that the battery drains a bit faster than on a vex. Great, now i can’t wait till the hard water season…

I’m curious to hear about interference issues around other units with the G2 Helix.

brian_peterson wrote:

I’m curious to hear about interference issues around other units with the G2 Helix.

No interference between Vexilar and g2. Both have interference rejection. Biggest problem i had was picking up my buddy’s jig that was sitting 3 feet away.

Hey Luttes, with the mapping on the Helix, or Humminbird in general, do you use the bottom composition tool for hardness/weeds when mapping a lake. If you do is it accurate? I had this feature on an Elite TI unit a cpl years back but never used it for ice fishing. Sure would beat the hell out of trolling a new lake with a camera marking waypoints.

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Can you use the ice transducer on the helix for mapping, or just the open water one?

I think the new ice model coming out this fall will have an open water transducer in addition to the hard water transducer.

watisituya wrote:

I think the new ice model coming out this fall will have an open water transducer in addition to the hard water transducer.

Any links or insight to where you heard/read this?

The News section of Humminbird see pic

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Thanks! I bought the portable kit and ice ducer at clearance prices this summer which are now sitting in my basement and have been waiting on a good deal for a 7 DI (or SI) GPS G2 to make it year around use.

So basically what I started building. I’m just going about it the hard way.

not sure if I want to get the helix 5 or keep my fl20?

Last year everyone convinced me to keep my FL18 I was considering selling off. So I had my FLX28 and the FL18. The FL18 was actually used by friends and my FIL multiple times so this winter I’ll have those plus the Helix 7.

brian_peterson wrote:

I’m curious to hear about interference issues around other units with the G2 Helix.

I used my g2 7 with 2 others, no interference. Used it with multiple vexilar units, no interference. Never used any Marcum units

I have a helix 5 di/gps and might upsize to the 7 chirp gps

Mat Peirce wrote:

I have a helix 5 di/gps and might upsize to the 7 chirp gps

Great time to do so! 299.99!
Took some work but I was able to get Cabelas to match it so I could use my $100/$80 gift cards.
https://www.reedssports.com/humminbird/humminbird-helix-7-chirp-gps-g2-276541?utm_source=SLNL-0-101022-341619-&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SLNL-0-101022-341619-

exactly! that deal is awfully tempting!

Holy savings Batman!

AaronMoore wrote:

Can you use the ice transducer on the helix for mapping, or just the open water one?

technically you could use it ice fishing, you would have to turn off the sonar between hole hopping so you do not receive false readings in between as you walk hole to hole created false map contours