Anyone use the marcum showdown's for ice fishing?

[oneal]

As title state's,looking for input on the marcum showdown's and how they perform.Is there any good reason's to run the single or dual beam's over the less expensive troller model?

I know ice is a bit away but am upgrading a few item's and getting ready beforehand,Thank's!
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Ask any group of seasoned ice anglers what is the best sonar and you will get as many opinions as there are anglers.

I have been ice fishing for at least 4 decades and have either used or observed just about every make and model available in operation. My personal choice...going back about 4 years now...has been for the Showdown...with the vertical column instead of the flashing light dials of some other popular flashers. To me it suits my style of fishing better.

And yes, I get the dual beam. The "troller" model works fine for most applications but as I recall, the target separation is a bit more, as well as a couple of other minor details. In short, the dual beam model gives a better overall picture of what is below.

One of the major things I like about my Showdown is using it as a "troller" by shooting through the ice as I walk around looking for the right depth, the right bottom conditions or to find fish under the ice before drilling a hole. I bring along a couple of insulated containters (Thermos) with warm water to dribble on the ice. As long as the ice is fairly clear and free of cracks and bubbles you will get a good reading. Even if there is a bit of snow on the ice you can scoop or kick it away enough to dribble on some warm water and get your reading. Sure does save a lot of time by not fishing in water without fish. No guarantee you can catch them if you find them but you can't catch them where they ain't.

Another great advantage of having real time display of both your lure and the fish coming through is to be able to drop down or reel up to fish that come into the cone above or below where you are fishing. There have been a lot of days when that feature has helped put more fish on the ice.

Anything else?
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[davetclown]

which ever modle you choose, one of the most important things to concider is the angle of your cone.

cone meaning the degree at which the radar spreads outward as it goes down.

wide cones are great for shallow water where as narrow cones are best suited for deap water. Reasoning is, in shallow you need a wider spread to see what is next to the hole you have drilled. In deaper water wide angles will show fish in your buddies hole 30 feet away at 35 foot of water. so unless you want to see what your buddy is fishing for narrow is your choice.

but one the other other hand, if you fish like me where most of the time I am far away from other anglers or fish multiple depths from 3 foot to 50 foot or more, I find the wider angle works for me. I just have to drill extra holes to get on top of them.

I find my pocket modle works as well as any of them for finding fish. I once in a great while fish over top of my finder/sonar if I get board.

You are right that it is never too early to get ready for ice season.

[oneal]

Great info guy's,Thank's! I went with a co-worker last year to the gorge and he had the showdown 5.6,not sure of dualbeam or single...he had his limit in an hour on the ice while I only managed 1.I was sold on the showdown and liked how it worked but just was not sure on which model to pick up.

I imagine the showdown would work from a boat locating fish to jig for also.
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[hooknhunter]

I have a Showdown ice troller. I liked it at first, and I still think it is a useful unit, but I sure wouldn't buy it again knowing what I know now. The quality is substandard, IMHO. What I'm currently using is the Lowrance Elite 4x ice machine and in my opinion is far superior and well worth the extra money. I personally like it much better than a rotary. Two of my friends I fish with often have the older rotary style flashers. One wouldn't change, the other prefers the vertical display like mine. To each their own.

I've been ice fishing for over 25 years, but have only been using a flasher for about 5 years.
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[TubeDude]

"I imagine the showdown would work from a boat locating fish to jig for also."

[#0000FF]Yes it will. I have modified one of my Showdowns (I now have two) to mount on my float tube. It works very well for fishing vertically...for perch or whatever. Great to see your jigs and fish in real time, etc. But, most moving screen sonars are better for non ice fishing applications. In addition to being able to see bottom structure and contours you have options for temperature, speed, etc...plus a visual record of the past few seconds...not just what is currently under your transducer.[/#0000FF]
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