Ice Fishing Fish Finder Comparison Table

How Ice Fishing Fish Finders Work & Their Benefits

Ice Fish Finder Buying Guide

Display, Lighting & Screen Resolution

The display is how the fish finder transmits the information it gathers. The best transducer won’t be worth much if it’s attached to a low-res, 8-bit display. A high screen resolution will illustrate the conditions under the ice, as will a colored display, which can help delineate features from one another. For high definition, the higher the number of pixels, the better.

Fish Finder Type/Material

The construction of a fish finder is important, especially in icy conditions. One of the most common mistakes is trying to use a warm-weather fish finder for ice fishing, but most of those models aren’t waterproof and suffer reduced battery life due to the cold or cease working if water is introduced.

Furthermore, if you're looking for a castable fish finder, you'll want it to be durable enough to handle getting knocked into the side of an ice fishing hole or being dropped on the ice occasionally. Many fish finders are boat-mountable, which means you can use them year-round.

Transducer

Dimensions & Weight

The last thing you want is to have a heavy piece of equipment weighing down your sled on the way to a frozen lake or pond. There is a tradeoff since a larger screen enables information to be shown in greater detail. A thin fish finder won’t be as durable as a thicker one is, so anglers will have to find a happy medium between all these different factors to find the electronics that will best suit them on an ice fishing trip.

Fish finders can weigh less than a pound, or they can weigh well over ten pounds. Some anglers want the best and biggest technology they can find while others are happy enough with a super-portable model that runs on a cell phone and fits in their pocket.

Power Source

Some fish finders run on AAA batteries, which generally gives them a longer life on a fishing trip, while others have rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable batteries may not last as long, but the more sophisticated models simply can't draw enough power from the disposable batteries to make all their various functions run.

If you don't need all the best features but prefer a quick look at what's most likely in the water, then a AAA-powered fish finder will likely work just fine, but the tech with the most useful features will run on rechargeable battery power.

Frequency Type/Cone Angle

Frequencies used by fish finders range from 15 kHz (kilohertz) to 200 kHz. Lower frequencies (closer to 15 kHz) are used for a wider, weaker signal. They send signals out at a wider angle that doesn’t go as deep in the water as a higher frequency signal does. It’s not necessarily the case that less advanced fish finders send out lower frequency signals, though.

Most have dual-frequency transducers that allow anglers to send one lower frequency signal and one higher frequency one. That way, anglers can conduct a general scan with a wide cone and then narrow the signal to a stronger, narrower sonar to see everything in the water column all the way to the bottom.

CHIRP Sonar, GPS Integrated

Scanning

Price & Warranty

Even with the nicest fish finder on the market, it’s always more comforting to be a purchaser when there’s some kind of a guarantee. Some have manufacturer’s warranties, where the manufacturer is ensuring replacement products or refunds only if there is an evident defect created during the original construction of the product.

Others have full warranties that insure against any damage no matter what. In other markets, there are lifetime warranties, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a piece of electronic equipment that would dare to offer such a thing.

1. Marcum LX-7

MarCum has designed the best overall ice fish finder on the market with its LX-7. While the 8-inch LCD is not the largest available and it offers four color palettes where other models offer five, the LCD is the most detailed, and the color palettes on offer are plenty to get the job done.

It has all the information you’d expect from a fish finder and most of them at a level more advanced than you find in competing models. A variety of displays allow anglers to concentrate on different parts of the water column and completely customize how the display looks so they can focus only on the information they want. Interference rejection on this model is great at preventing signal confusion from other anglers’ non-MarCum devices.

One additional feature of our top pick fish finder that’s missing from most competing models is the USB port, which allows anglers to upgrade features and export or store data gathered with the device. It comes with a padded soft pack, and it's ready to use pretty much right out of the box, although we recommend charging it to 100% first.

Everything on this model works so well that there’s very little negative to say except it doesn’t have a GPS capability included. That’s easily remedied with a phone app on a cell phone, however. For everything else, this MarCum is top of the line.

2. Deeper PRO+ Smart Sonar

The Deeper PRO+ gets high marks for its superior portability, and many fair-weather anglers love that its castable from the shoreline. Being able to cast it out doesn't matter quite as much for ice fishing, but it could appeal to have the best portable sonar ice fish finder that can also be used when the weather warms up. Since the Deeper runs via a WiFi connection to your cell phone, there’s no need for additional gear like a transducer or a bulky monitor. The Deeper can be carried around in your pocket quite easily.

While the portability is a significant plus of this Deeper model, there are some performance shortfalls due to the smaller size. The readout on the resulting graphics when the Deeper is in the water are not as hi-res and don't give target separation that is as detailed as the ones from larger models, but they are more than fine for catching fish. The battery won't last as long as some of the larger batteries do.

Something prospective buyers should note is that the Deeper sits on top of the water in your ice fishing hole. Slush in the water can cause interference, so take care to clear all the slush with your ice scoop properly. If you're fishing in ice thicker than two feet, it's imperative to make sure you use your augur to drill a hole that is vertical and not angled so that the Deeper can get a clear reading.

Some advantages to the Deeper beyond its portability are its cloud-based storage system that allows anglers to store and view maps from anywhere, its superior signal strength to Bluetooth models, and the readability of its bathymetric maps. In addition, the Deeper offers several different readout options such as a flasher, 2D sonar view, a zoom mode, and a hallmark feature to mark your fishing spots. There is also a split-screen mode so you can mix and match.

3. Humminbird ICE-55

We have rated the Humminbird ICE-55 the best ice fishing flasher for the money. With more features than the Humminbird 45 or 35, the ICE-55 is an ideal model for anglers who prefer the real-time information a flasher gives compared to the readout on other fish finders that can be lagging a minute or two behind current conditions.

It's also a great model for those who haven't yet learned how to read a flasher because of the included Auto Mode, which can sense the depth of the water without the angler having to know. Auto is also handy for anglers who are comfortable reading a flasher but don't know the exact depth.

For added portability, the Humminbird 55 comes with a carrying case that has a handle and doesn't need to be removed entirely to use the device. The display offers six colors for a clear delineation between fish, your lure, and other features in the water. One nice thing about this model, as with all others from this brand, is that Humminbirds operate on their own frequency. In case you’re worried about interference from other devices, this feature will prevent everything except other Humminbirds from giving you any trouble. 

It has dual-beam sonar, but the range at the wide end is a bit less than competing models. The round bottom is designed to fit the bottom of a five-gallon paint bucket, which is great for transporting it safely on a sled and just as handy for keeping it up off the snow. It's also a good height to watch when you have your line in the water.

Best of all, for those getting used to reading a flasher, the LCD display in the center makes reading depth levels a cinch, so you only have to learn how to understand the various contents of the water column according to the colored ribbons on the outer edge.

4. Venterior VT-FF001

Venterior has crafted a portable fish finder that is renowned in the fish finder market for being one of the least expensive models available. If that's your primary concern, then this is the fish finder for you. It works on sonar, like many other models, but it’s powered by four AAA batteries. What you see is what you get with the VT-FF001, which has four buttons and a rudimentary screen that nevertheless tells anglers what they need to know about water depth and the presence of fish and vegetation.

It communicates what it thinks is down on the bottom or swimming in the water column with flashing symbols, which is likely to be good enough for basic fishing but probably won’t cut it if you need detailed information.

The transducer has a 25-foot cable, which is really handy and should give you plenty of room to suspend it in the water. It comes with a buoy that you can cast out in warm weather or drop in your fishing hole when you’re out on the ice; the reading will come back to you really fast.

One drawback is that, while it will show you if there are fish in the water column, every fish is represented by the same symbol, so it isn't going to tell you any information about the fish in terms of its size or type. A small grid represents the depth in the water column on the righthand side of the screen, but it isn't as exact as other models and can be confusing.

Maybe the nicest feature of this fish finder is that you can use it before you cut a hole with your augur. By clearing the ice of snow and pouring a little water on the surface and letting the device freeze to the small amount of new ice, you can get a reading of what’s underneath the ice.

It’s worth mentioning that this cheap ice fishing fish finder is more than enough for tons of anglers. As an introduction to fish finders, it may help get your feet wet. For exact accuracy, this model doesn't quite cut it. But if you're stretched thin with your budget, and you need something that can tell you if there's fish and at what general level they are in the water, this is a reasonably good option.

5. Vexilar FLX-28 Ice ProPack II

Designed specifically for ice fishing, you can take this portable fish finder ice fishing and have all the most useful features you need. There are some additional features built into this unit that you normally wouldn’t expect to see in a flasher. One of the most useful features is the automatic depth detection, which can be paired with the automatic zoom functions to make sure you can get right to fishing once your fish house is set up.

The auto-zoom has two different options, a 6-foot zoom, and a 12-foot zoom, so you can take a closer look at conditions near the bottom and a bit higher up in the water column.  Best of all, toggling between these two modes is easily done with a convenient switch.

This Vexilar comes with five color modes, each of which offers unique color assignments for various purposes, including a low-power mode to avoid smaller fish and a color select mode for anglers with colorblindness. A convenient weed mode helps anglers see-through weeds with clarity and go after fish that are hiding there. Just like the Venterior VT-FF001, this unit can see through the ice if you put a little bit of water down first. However, this Vexilar does a much better job at it than the cheaper Venterior.

Like other models, this one is designed to fit in the bottom of a five-gallon paint bucket for transport and to support it off the ice during use. You can check the battery level at the push of a button, and the whole device is pretty light, weighing in at just over a pound. The features on this Vexilar are tailored to tick all the boxes on an angler’s ice fish finder wishlist.

6. Garmin Striker 4 with Portable Kit

7. Vexilar’s GP1812 FL18

Don’t let the simplicity of this Vexilar’s face fool you. It’s very sophisticated in terms of its scanning ability and the detail of the information it gives anglers. The split-screen flasher display is one of the first on the market and comes in handy when you want to zoom in on the bottom six feet and still keep an eye on the entire water column.

There’s also a built-in shallow water mode to get a look at what’s underneath the ice at depths below 15 feet. The 10-step interference rejection technology on this model prevents other anglers’ equipment from corrupting the data you need to hook fish.

The ice ducer on this Vexliar is a 12°, and while its cable is only a few feet long, it does send sonar to a depth of 160', which is deeper than the wider 19° ducer will do. The accuracy of the information is also much greater with the narrower-angle ducer. Compared to some other models, this Vexilar offers less in the way of color displays. It relies on the basic three-color display, which should work fine for the majority of anglers but doesn’t afford as much detail and differentiation as models with multiple color modes.

That being said, they have stuck with the most reliable color presentation on this flasher. There are five depth levels to adjust to most bodies of water, but there is no automatic depth register mode. The signal clarity and brightness on this model make it very useful when the sun is out. While it may fall short on some more advanced features, this is a great fish finder for both ice fishing and fishing on the open water in warmer months.

8. Lowrance HOOK2

9. HawkEye Fishtrax 1C

It may not look like much compared so some of the more robust models, but the depth finder on this little HawkEye is super precise. It comes with some handy features like a fish alarm and an algorithm specifically designed to prevent the device from displaying false alarms. The display is honestly lacking compared to more detailed readouts, and many anglers may find that they prefer a flasher or a more traditional fish finder readout.

Still, it's undeniable that this is an accurate little machine and should work great for any angler who just needs some kind of hint as to what's going on under the ice. It's also really portable, fitting into most large pockets, and it runs on 4 AAA batteries that give it long battery life.

The housing is waterproof, which means it can handle all the ice and snow around your fishing hole. There's an ice-mode made just for ice angling that looks more or less like a flasher, but the screen isn't quite large enough to do the flasher display justice.

It will probably work for beginners, but if you're used to a full-size flasher readout, then you might not find the HawkEye version on this model very enjoyable to use. Auto-zoom bottom targeting makes it easy to hunt the more lethargic fish that sit still near the bottom when water temperatures plummet in the winter.

Ice Fishing - Finder vs. Flasher

How to Install Ice Fish Finders

Fish finders are usually easy to install for ice fishing purposes. The transducer and power source have to be plugged in and then set up near your fishing hole (see below for instructions), but after that, you're ready to go.

Some fish finders can be used in warm weather, and for that reason, they are designed to be mounted or installed on a boat. This can be done with a transom mount, which holds the ducer on the transom of a boat, or with a thru-hull mount, which mounts in the hull of the boat and comes up through the boat material.

Using Ice Fishing Fish Finders

To use an ice fishing fish finder, it's essential that you use an augur to drill a really clear hole and then use an ice scoop to clear all the ice shards from the water. This will help your fish finder get a clear reading. Next, drop your transducer into the water.

It may have a buoy to attach, or it may float on its own. Make sure you can get your line back out of the water quickly without hitting your ducer since you could easily lose a fish that way. Use the auto-depth mode on your fish finder or else adjust the depth setting to see where the bottom is, and you'll soon have a useful reading of everything below the surface.

Care & Maintenance

One of the most important ways to care for your fish finder is to make sure you store it right. The transducer can easily be damaged if the cable leading to it is stored bent up. The insulation can also strip away if the cord is used as a handle.

To clean a fish finder, you can use a product designed for that purpose and a microfiber towel. Spray the towel, and then you can wipe down the entire fish finder unit. Make sure to dry it and remove leftover streaks before you finish. 

People Also Ask (FAQs)

Will the ice damage my fish finder?

Most high-quality fish finders are built to last in icy conditions. Still, the cold can eat away at the battery life nonetheless, so it's best to elevate your finder off the ice with a five-gallon paint bucket or similar implement.

Can I use a regular fish finder for ice fishing?

Most of the time, yes, but it won't be as effective as a specific ice fishing fish finder because the transducer won't work as well in icy water. Plus, the freezing conditions could damage a regular fish finder.

Which is better, down imaging or side imaging?

It’s best to know how to use both in combination to get a full view of underwater conditions.

What does CHIRP mean on a fish finder & what is the difference between CHIRP and sonar?

CHIRP is a method of sending a combination of high- and low-frequency sonar to get continuously updated and more detailed information about fish and other things under the surface. For just about every purpose, CHIRP sonar is more accurate and more useful than 2D sonar.

What other ice fishing gear should I have aside from fish finders?

You need an augur, a sled, an ice scoop, fishing rods, bait, and possibly a fishing hut if you want one — more than likely, you'll want some really warm clothes as well.

What are the top fish finder brands?

Conclusion