Last Updated on January 30, 2023 by Afsar
It’s the time of the year again. Everything is turning white, and the weather is becoming cold. Sunny days are gone, but the good thing is that this is the time for ice fishing. Pulling a fish out of a small hole in the ice is just as much excitement as fishing in a typical sunny day. Sure, the weather sucks, but not for us anglers. We still get to have the fun of fishing.
Ice fishing is different than traditional fishing. It requires skill, different types of ice fishing rods, insulated boots, augers, and the best ice flasher. A lot of people goes ice fishing without an ice flasher, and they would regret if they knew how much fishes they are leaving on the table.
Ice flasher is a sonar unit which can reveal the objects in the water column in a circular screen. Fishing the best ice flasher may be a tough job for both the newbies and professionals, but I have done the research to present the top best ice flashers. In this article, I will help you how to find the best ice fishing flasher along with the list of the best ice flashers.
Best Ice Fishing Flashers 2023
Humminbird ICE-35 Flasher
Humminbird is a popular manufacturer of fish finders and ice flashers. Humminbird ICE-35 is one of the best ice flashers ever built. Thousands of fisherman relied on this ice flasher to catch fishes with ease. ICE-35 is a portable flasher which offers near real-time accuracy with three color fiber-optic detail to the most pro ice fisherman. This ice flasher comes with four controls including zoom, gain, noise, and beam. This three-color fiber-optic flasher display can be seen very easily in direct sunlight.
ICE-35 has an eight watts peak-to-peak power with dual beam transducer which offers incredible performance on the shallow and deep water. There are four depth scales available in this ice flasher: 20′, 40′, 80′, 200′. There is a seven amp-hour battery with charger and a built-in battery status indicator. The sonar selectable dual frequencies are 240 kHz/19° and 455 kHz/9°. It is equipped with other features like the 10-step interference rejection, backlit keypad, shuttle mount and more.
Pros
- Three color fiber-optic flasher display
- The display is readable under sunlight
- 800 watts peak to peak power, plus dual beam transducer
- 4 depth scales
- 10-step interference rejection
- Backlit keypad
- 200 feet depth capability
- 7 amp-hour battery
- Built-in battery status indicator
- Four control buttons for zoom, gain, noise, and beam
Cons
- two cords in the water may make it tough if you dig small holes on the ice
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Marcum LX-7 Ice Fishing Sonar System
Highly admired for the excellence of construction and design of their ice flashers, Marcum comfortably holds prominence in the ice fishing community as one of the most excellent manufacturers around today. This amazing ice flasher, Marcum LX-7 is my most favorite flasher in this list. I love electronic devices with a big screen, and the 8-inches long LCD of Marcum is just perfect. The display has a resolution of 800×600, which is quite uncommon in ice flashers.
There are four user-selectable color palettes available in this device, which makes life much easier to understand the readings. However, there are tons of other useful information that are shown on display, and some of them are digital depth, range, gain, battery voltage, interference rejection (IR), target adjust, and other combinations.
Marcum LX-7 shows a multifaceted sonar display in the LCD windows with water column vertical, vertical zoom, typical widescreen graph display, and then everybody’s favorite flasher-dial. These are the necessary information you will need to catch a lot of fishes.
Marcum LX-7 is equipped with a top-notch sonar footprint technology which shows the area of the bottom at almost any depth. It has 8 0r 20-degree transducer cone angles with ½” target separation.
If you ask me, I will buy the Marcum LX-7 without blinking an eye. This beast is extremely powerful, has a gigantic display, uses industry-exclusive sonar technology, and comes at a reasonable price. If budget is not an issue, this is the best ice fishing flasher on the market.
Pros
- 800×600 resolution
- Four selectable color display
- Water column vertical
- Vertical Zoom
- Flasher-dial
- The traditional widescreen graph display
- Sonar footprint technology
- On-screen display which shows: digital depth, battery voltage, range, gain, target adjust, or combination
- easy to use
Cons
- Expensive
- The case could be better
Humminbird ICE 55
Inspired by the Humminbird ICE 35 classic, this ice flasher is upgraded with improved features, including a six-color fiber optic display and seven auto depth scales. Humminbird Ice 55 is the most powerful ice flasher ever made by the Humminbird. As mentioned, ICE 55 features a six-color optic flasher display, and it is readable in direct sunlight without any problem. The patent-pending backlit LCD with the keypad will make you droll over its performance. Coupled with the 2400 watts peak-to-peak power, the dual beam transducer offers maximum shallow and deep performance.
There are four manual depth scales available in this ice flasher: 20’, 40’, 80’, 200′. Interestingly, this also has seven auto depth scales (20’, 40’, 60’, 80’, 120’, 200’). It also saw a battery upgrade over the classic ICE 35, a whopping 12V 9Ah battery with charger included. The shuttle mounts with the gimbal bracket will make it easy for the user to mount if needed. Also, a soft-sided carrying bag is also provided with this ice flasher. Considering all of these features, I firmly believe that the ICE 55 is one of the best ice flashers of the world.
Pros
- Six color fiber optic flasher display
- Display can be readable under direct sunlight
- Four maunal depth scales (20′, 40′, 80′, 200′)
- Seven auto depth scales (20′, 40′, 60′, 80′, 100′, 120′, 200′)
- 2400 watts peak-to-peak power combined with dual beam
- Frequency 455kHz
- Soft-sided carrying bag provided
- 12V 9Ah battery
- 10-step interference rejection
Cons
- Expensive
Garmin Striker 4 (With portable kit)
Established in 1989, Garmin Ltd, an American company, has offered excellent gears to the outdoor lovers for a very long time. The Garmin Striker 4 was made with the needs of fisherman in mind since it is constructed with all the necessary features an angler could ask for. Besides being used as a fish finder, this amazing ice flasher can be used for ice fishing/vertical jigging. Garmin Striker 4 comes with an easy to use dedicated buttons. This device is available in 3.5, 5, and 7-inch display sizes.
Garmin Striker 4 is primarily a fish finder, but it comes with a built-in flasher. Its classic flasher format allows you to do ice fishing and vertical jigging. If you are a big fan of fishing anywhere you can, this should be in your wish list. Also, Garmin Striker 4 package includes a portable kit to protect and carry the device.
Pros
- Dedicated buttons
- A portable kit for protection and carrying
- Built-in flasher
- Ice fishing and vertical jigging
- GPS
- Waypoint map
- Rechargeable battery
Cons
- Not recommended for professional ice fishermen
- ice flasher works good, but you have to pay extra if you want the ice transducer
Garmin Echomap Plus 73cv
Another great device from Garmin for ice fishing: Echomap Plus 73cv. The Echomap Plus 73cv combo comes with GT10HN ice fishing transducer. It is also equipped with the CHIRP traditional sonar with a selectable narrow beam from eight to sixteen degrees. Echomap Plus 73CV comes with a built-in flasher which offers precise jig and fish detection.
Garmin Echomap Plus 73CV also includes LakeVu HD maps of over 17000 lakes. This amazing device also supports ClearVu scanning sonar and Panoptix all-seeing sonar, but you will have to buy the transducer separately. A rugged and glove-friendly carrying case is provided which hold the Echomap Plus 73CV. A 7AH battery is used in the device, and a power cable is also provided with the package.
Pros
- Built-in flasher for ice fishing and vertical jigging
- Preloaded with LakeVu HD maps of 17000 lakes
- Garmin CHIRP traditional sonar (selectable narrow beam from 8 to 16 degrees)
- Rugged and glove-friendly portable carrying case
- All-rounder performance on boat and ice
Cons
- expensive
How to choose the best ice flasher?
Ice fishing is fun if you have a nice ice flasher with you. There are not many great ice flashers around the market and this is why you need to know what to look for when buying the best ice flasher.
Transducer
Without being said, the Transducer is single-handedly the most important component of an ice fishing flasher. A transducer is used to generate and collect signals like sonar waves. It will emit the sonar wave through the water and will be bounce off objects like the jigg and fish. Once it is bounced back to the transducer, it will start reading the data. Later, it will be shown on the display to help you catch the fishes. Try to choose an ice flasher with a good transducer to make life easier for you. If your ice fishing sonar is not equipped with a good quality transducer, you will have a hard time seeing beneath the ice. A good ice flasher with top-quality transducer will be able to transmit and receive clear and clean signals showing the objects more accurately.
Display
A lot of ice fishermen complains about not being able to see their display under direct sunlight. You have to choose an ice flasher which has a display that can be readable under sunlight. Most of the mentioned ice flasher in this post has such kinds of display.
Portability
Obviously, you have to choose an ice flasher with a high level of portability. Try to choose one which doesn’t weigh a lot, and has a compact battery. Most of the manufacturers try to provide a case or bag which can protect the device while making it easier to carry to the ice fishing spots.
Power
For ice flashers, power is a serious thing. The higher the power an ice flasher has, the better performance it will provide. Try choosing the ice flasher from Humminbird.
Ease of use:
New users of then struggle to understand the data of the device. Most of the ice flasher around the market has two ways of representing the data: graphical or textual. Both of them got their advantages and disadvantages, but the old school system is the visual, and it is still the best way of determining what’s underneath the ice. This is why you need to buy an ice flasher which is proven to have success like the ICE 35 or LX-9 by Marcum.
Final Verdict
Most of the people going ice fishing are doing it for fun. Standing or sitting in the middle of the field while holding a rod is very interesting for us. The purpose of the whole thing is to catch some fishes, and therefore I suggest you invest some good amount of time and money when buying an ice flasher. If you are not willing to do a lot of research, you can choose the top brands like Huminbird or Marcum, and start ice fishing from this season.
(6 votes, average: 4.83 out of 5)
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Afsar is an avid kayak blogger born near the coast. He has a passion for kayaking and started as a child. He has paddled in various conditions and locations and promotes responsible kayaking. Afsar’s blog is widely read, and they are a respected voice in the kayaking community, offering valuable content on kayaking trips, gear, tips, and tricks. Afsar collaborates with other bloggers and brands and continues to inspire others through their writing and social media.