Ice fishing setup

Trying to decide between: Humminbird ice 55 flasher, Marcum Lx7 or Humminbird helix 7 ice, Any past experience and advice is appreciated! Reasons why you prefer one vs the other, Thanks!

This post has been edited by fishmaster420 on Nov 13, 2020 - 09:33 am

If you go Humminbird I recommend the Helix. It has a flasher mode anyways and you can swap it to a boat/canoe/kayak come softwater time. I have a Helix 5 and I'm very happy with it on ice and on my kayak.

IMO go with a graph with a flasher mode. Same cost and you get way more info and multi use from a graph.

+1 vote for Helix .
Great unit which can be used in both soft and hard water applications.
I used Helix 5 GPS unit for a few years and recently bought helix 10 Mega SI/DI for soft water

I would not go over size 5 for the winter just due to the weight of the unit .

Helix 7 and if you ever flip to a boat it is compatible to network with a Helix 8...9 or ten....unfortunately the Helix 5 will not.

I have a Helix 7 Ice with the conversion kit for soft water. Its been three years. zero issues so far. Weight is not a problem for me, and I am a walker. I would recommend a unit that can be used for all seasons, due to the relatively expensive price point. I don't like things to sit around and not get used, except for rods, that's okay. Don't tell my wife.

I would go with the new Marcum MX-7GPS Lithium. Have an LX6 and will be upgrading.

I have the helix ice, and always use graph mode, not flasher. The graph is easier to read IMO.

the new garmin echomap ice with livescope is available now looks pretty sweet !

I use portable hummingbird piranha max 4...its cheap and it does what you need unless you want a gps... Color screen no problem telling perch from waleye...i just adjust sensitivity so i can bearly see my jig and any red mark is usually a big fish any other color is usually perch depending where your fishing...no need to waist money on big finders for ice fishing...just my opinion

Helix 7 all the way!! I use mine on the boat and made a battery box out out an ammo box with separate gimbel mount on top for ice fishing. having the ability to have sonar or flasher is a huge bonus. The newer models also allow you to have split screen where you can have sonar and flasher readouts on the screen at the same time. And don't forget the GPS function. Straight flasher units are obsolete in my IMO.

I have the Helix 7 for my boat. Bought a battery ,power cord,ice transducer and added it to a Genz box. I can use my navionics on split screen and als the built in GPS . It has a built in flasher but generally i use the sonar and zoom in. This way i have a history if i look away or take a sip of coffee i know i missed a fish. Just my opinion. When ice fishing is over i mount it back on the boat.

helix 7 has the ability to have GPS, sonar, navionics and a flasher all in one, (abilities ranked in order of personal value to me). If you can't afford the helix 7, get the helix 5, you will not be disappointed. The newer versions and ICE versions allow a split screen sonar/flasher which is super handy, the best of both worlds.

Go with helix 5 or 7 with GPS on it, you can mark any locations you like to fish later and with Navionics map you can choose good spots you wona check

I just picked up the helix 5 with gps. The gps with maps will be a game changer. Can locate underwater humps.

I have been using the marcum mx5 for years and I’m interested to see the difference in sonars.