Many of you questioned my review of this product earlier this year. As you can see that many others are having the same success I have had well using this unit. Regardless of a sponsorship or not the unit speaks for itself. No matter what brand or unit they ate not flawless and issues may occur at one time or another. I stand by my posts and hope nothing but success for all of you this fishing season! Tight lines!
MM
Hey guys,
I have now been fishing with this unit for a while now and have formed my option. First of the interference questions. I fished for 4 days at Lake of the woods next to both a Fl-20 and a LX-7 to determine if I would have issues. The answers was NO I was able to fish as if I was by myself! So for the guys that say you can’t fish next to other units I strongly disagree. Next the two strengths of this unit is its GPS with lakemaster chip that’s obvious. The 2-d sonar is by far my favorite. You are able to see how your bait is moving in the water column and hwo the fish is reacting to yout presentation.
I could ramble on about what I love about this unit. You guys all have options which I respect but I highly recommend checking this unit out!
The battery life is not as long as a traditional flasher. This is due to the fact that its lighting a LCD display screen rather than on Humminbird’s flashers the most light produced was when the background light was turned on. Additionally the battery it takes to run the GPS system with this unit. With that being said I have been able to fish with this unit all day and not run out of battery. I have not tried running the unit nonstop for multiple days. I recharge when I get home and haven’t had any issues. Like I said though it doesn’t have the battery life of a traditional flasher but either does the LX-series in my option either.
December 21, 2015
Hayward Lakes Area Outdoor Report
Steve Suman
Moderate winter weather continues in the North Woods. This week’s forecast shows highs in the mid-30s and lows ranging from mid-teens to mid-20s, with temperatures cooling toward the end of the week. Precipitation is in the mix nearly every day, coming in various forms including rain, freezing drizzle, sleet, and snow.
Here’s wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!
“It may look and feel like winter some days,” says Pat at Happy Hooker, “but it is not enough for participation in favorite winter activities.
“Until we get good, hard ice on the lakes and marshes, crews cannot stake them for travel and the trails will remain closed until conditions are right. The ATV trails are open, however.”
Kelly at Hayward Bait says they look forward to soon seeing some substantial ice.
“Some anglers are targeting walleye, northern, and bass with shiners and walleye minnows, but there isn’t much ice. If you go, be safe, check the ice as you go, and use extreme caution!”
Mike at Jenk’s says a couple cold mornings helped a bit with ice on the Chippewa Flowage.
“Temperatures are forecast for the mid-30s for the first part of this week, however, and that will put a damper on ice formation.
“Conservatively, there might be one inch of ice. If you do decide to go, go using EXTREME caution!”
As far as the questions everyone on this forum as be asking regarding the interference next to other brands of units. I have not had issues with this occurring this ice fishing season. The key to having this not occur comes down to knowing your unit and how to have it properly setup. For example: Noise reduction, sensitivity, and lastly cone width. This unit is not completely perfect but has it’s place. Not unit made by and company ever will be perfect but this unit will absolutely save you time on the ice this season by drilling less hole which in turn will help you catch more fish my fishing sooner.
Tight Lines and be safe out there! Merry Christmas!
MM
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patk- This is true that you’re able to add a ice transducer to that unit. I have used a 989 for many years to have a 2-D image of my jig as it is presented if you were fishing in a boat vertically. Additionally you can also add a Lakemaster chip for different states to use the internal GPS of that unit as well. Many people are not use to the LCD style of the flasher component of this unit as well as the new Ice Helix 5.
This is not an crazy new idea they are taking a newer unit and making it more efficient for ice fishermen.
As far as all of the questions go. This is the first year Humminbird has produced this product for ice fishing. Last year it was tested limited for only 3 weeks max. I’m still going through lots of my primary testing with this unit. Helix uses a Switch Fire sonar. As the winter goes on and my product testing continues alot more details and questions i will answer. One feature I know is unique is the build in gps with lake master chips.Great for saving time and also easy to transport your summer fishing spots
700 or 800 is plenty of power. Beware of buYing used equipment without looking throughout the entire unit. You have two types of used equipment. The units people take care of and the units that don’t get maintained.
any questions let me know MM
These are some more pictures of the trip
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As far as I know there is no safe ice in northern Wisconsin anywhere. The only safe bodies of water are in Northern Minnesota. I am currently out on Red lake siting on 6 inches
Yes they did find some ice for this week episode chasing first ice blue gills. Tune in to FSN this weekend at 8AM Sunday morning! Don’t forget to set the DVR if you are not able to tune in!
