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I am looking for a summer fishfinder where I can map the bottom of the lake like a hummingbird helix di g2 5 or 7 with autochart live or a Lowrance unit with insight Genesis. Then take the summer mapping information and place it into the winter fishfinder. Very few lakes around me have a map with contours (2) on any cards you can buy. Or am I better off to just get a case and transducer for the summer fishfinder for winter use?
Will down imaging work when stationary when ice fishing if I do not get an iceducer ?
I am interested to know which is easier / better to use , autochart live by hummingbird or insight genesis mapping from Lowrance ?
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I have a helix 9 SI first gen. I also got an autochart pro card for it and recently bought the lake master+ western states card. I don't know much about other finders or mapping systems, but even the basic auto chart live with a helix is pretty darn awesome.
My finder comes off it's boat mount really easily and has a single plug that clips on for all plugs like the ducer and power and Ethernet etc, and you get another one of those plugs for your ice setup if you wanted. So for me I'd buy an ice ducer and use the same finder. I look at like this, spend more on one better unit. You could even use the ducer off the boat if you really wanted. Wouldn't work for my setup but my ducer is probably better than an ice ducer. It has 200/83, DI, & SI.
I'm sure the DI would work for ice fishing. I think the SI would be even better but you would have to be able to know the way the ducer is pointed for to be helpful. It may have you drilling holes chasing fish though lol.
As for mapping or other ideas I have a few for ya. The map cards that you can buy lack so much detail by comparison to autochart. My finder allows me to overlay auto on top of my lakemaster and my auto chart is 10x more detailed. If you get zero lines card you can make your own map card and move it between units. Don't know if that works between brands.
The other idea is to just pull the summer finder off the boat after mapping and bring your ice finder and just hook up the summer finder to your ice finder batter to use it as a GPS until you find ur spot then turn it off. Don't have to have a ducer to use it as a GPS in the winter. Obviously extra bulk to carry but might work for ya.
Hit me up if you have any more specific questions about my setup.
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Both hummingbird and lowrance make good finders and SI on both units are a game changer but you need to be moving for DI or SI to work properly. Since they both make great finders, my suggestion is go with the one that you get for the least amount of money but is still a good deal. This time of the year they are selling last years models at discount prices, so you should be able to pick one up for a great price, especially if you don't mind getting one that is a little older. Do some research on-line, type in Google, both models you are looking for and you should get a ton of info.
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