lowrance ice machines LM334c iGPS ?

[bea3bri]

just wondering if anyone out there has used this electronic locator, i seen them at the ice fishing show a couple years ago and am looking for some feedback on how the performace of it is. POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE Thanks

[Fish For Fun]

the LMS 334 is not an ice fishing finder. I would look at the X67 or M68 if you wanted to go with Lowrance. I would look at the Marcum line for best bang for the buck.

[blueroof]

I've run a 334 quite a bit on the ice. Works pretty well in split zoom graph mode. Don't care much for the flasher mode. I primarily use it as a GPS. A Vex/Marcum is a far better hole hoping tool. Setup is pretty slow on a graph compared to a flasher. The 334 is a battery pig too. Noise rejection is problematic in some situations compared to flashers in my experience.

LB

[gpsvexer]

yeah with the internal gps it is a battery pig for sure. I was thinking of taking mine out of the boat and buying a kit for it just for GPS use, but now I'm thinking what the heck I'll just get an Ifinder and pop my chip in and continue to use the Vex I know and love.

[Mark1]

I have used my unit on crow when we stayed at Muskie bay in the winter for trout and it didn't work at all, I guess its the sharp breaks on the shoreline. If I was fishing 70 FOW the bottom 1/2 of the screen would be all discolored, I guess due to the signal bouncing off the rocks. I am going to give it one more chance this winter up at camp manitou on lower manitou lake in jan., but my gut tells me it is going to do the same thing.
On the other hand it works great in the summer.

Good Luck

[bea3bri]

thanks for all the info, i will save the cash and buy another marcum. thanks again

[Roddy]

bea3bri,
It does take a little while to figure out what the 334 can do on the ice. You have a lot of fine tuning you can do with the unit , but I believe this helps you be a better fisherman with the unit in the summer also. I have a 332 and love it in the winter. The first couple times I used it, there was a learning curve. I also have a Marcum LX3. When I take my son out ice fishing, we fight over who gets to use the Lowrance. I fished a couple of the FLW events this pastcouple years as a co. The pro's I fished with who have used the 332 on ice say they will never go back to a flasher.
The downside is that it is a little bulkier than the marcum and will go through a battery about every 6-7 hours

[Hawgeye]

I use my LMS332C in the winter and have it setup with a 7AH gel cell battery and get a full day out of it. Don't believe everything you hear about the Marcum and the Vexilar being so much more superior as I have used mine next to a Vexilar FL-8 and found that it was actually more effective. It has a flasher screen if you like that but I prefer the history on the standard screen. You can also see "immediate" activity with today's processors compared to years ago with the lcd's had a slight delay. I just finished setting this up (for this winter) and I also get the benefit of having the GPS on the 4-wheeler to find depth contours and previous "hot" spots.


I think the Marcum's and Vexilar's are great units, I just don't see an advantage to paying another $400 for a unit that with the one I have I can do it just as well.

Hawgeye