LOWRANCE LMS-334C SUMMER/WINTER KIT

[mrjigger]

I am thinking of selling my current GPS and Vex FL-8 flasher and buying a LMS-334C summer/winter kit. I know the LMS-334C has a flasher mode as well. What I am wondering is how well the flasher mode on the unit works. Will I be disappointed going from the Vexilar to the LMS flasher? thanks

[Ralph Wiggum]

Most guys I know (me included) ditch the idea of the flasher on the Lowrance units and use it in split-screen graph mode. It's great! It will take a bit of getting used to if you are used to a Vex, but it's worth it.

[EJ]

I agree with Ralph. The flasher will not give you near the information the graph will.

EJ

[Matt Johnson]

The flasher mode will work just fine but it will still have a slight delay. Nothing huge, but not as instant as a Vexilar or MarCum. However, you will be gaining a built-in GPS and an outstanding unit that can be transfered over to your boat. The 334 is a nice unit, I ran one all last open water season...

I still prefer the 3-color flasher of either a MarCum or a Vexilar on the ice. Call it personal preference, but that's just my opinion. It allows me to be more effective while ice fishing...

[Ralph Wiggum]

Matt, I don't see the "delay" that you and others knock the Lowrance units for. Maybe it's because I don't use it in flasher mode, but I would say the response of my X67c is instantaneous.

I don't want to discount your opinion, but I want people to realize that when you say "delay", you're not talking about a 1 second delay--it's barely perceptible if there is even a delay.

[mrjigger]

thanks for all the replies. As with Matt, I do love my flasher for winter fishing. I guess the LMS still gives me the flasher capability, but from what I am hearing the readings are not as real time accurate.

How does the cold temps affect the LMS?

I wanted to buy another graph for the boat, and just thought I could buy the LMS ice pack and use it all year long. Then sell my current gps and Vex to get a little cash to help pay for the LMS. kind of consolidate into one unit.

[Central Bassman]

I have seen on the 67cs the color shift when they get really cold... I dont know how it happen but the guy said he has been fishing alot outside and then the next time he used it the top right corner didnt have color...

I know in the cold the screen will get really slow just like your cell phone does in the cold.. If you fishing on the ice alot i wouldnt get one... My .02

[10,000 Casts]

I fished with my 334 all winter.

The unit is as fast as a vexilar/marcum. For the people that don't think so, turn up your ping speed and adjust your sensitivity.

As for how it works in the cold, it is not lcd, it is tft (I had the same question before I bought mine) If you leave it out in the cold for a very long period of time say, overnight in the truck, it will be a little slow until it warms up. If you are going to be outside on the ice for 12+ hours in those conditions then you are tuffer than I am.

The flasher is like an fl 8. They say that it has better target seperation but I didn't see that. It was awsome in shallow water say 18 feet or less but when I was in 30 feet I probably lost a foot of the bottom. I really missed my zoom feature for walleyes.

Also remember that the unit doesn't have the interferance rejection that the new flashers have, I got over powered alot when I was in the same house as my Vexilar buddies, If our cone angles didn't touch then it was fine.

The color screen and digital depth is great for finding spots.

The best thing that I wouldn't trade for anything was the internal gps and my map chip. It made me a better fisherman and I found myself saying "that makes sense" It was great for scouting new lakes. I was able to hit some spots that I wouldn't other wise and it paid off.

Hope this helps

John

[mrjigger]

will it shoot through the ice to check depth without drilling a hole?

[Ralph Wiggum]

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will it shoot through the ice to check depth without drilling a hole?

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Yes.

[Ralph Wiggum]

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I know in the cold the screen will get really slow just like your cell phone does in the cold.. If you fishing on the ice alot i wouldnt get one... My .02

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I have to completely disagree with you there. I've fished outside in negative temps with mine and it doesn't miss a beat.

[Ralph Wiggum]

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The flasher is like an fl 8. They say that it has better target seperation but I didn't see that. It was awsome in shallow water say 18 feet or less but when I was in 30 feet I probably lost a foot of the bottom. I really missed my zoom feature for walleyes.

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You can set the flasher to have a split-screen zoom just like the higher-end Vexilars and Marcums. I'd have to play with mine a bit, but you can definitely do it if you want. I just use the zoom in graph mode, though.

[PierBridge]

How long does your battery last with the 334c?

[crappace]

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How long does your battery last with the 334c?

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You can dim the light to conserve battery. I learned this the hard way on winnie. When you have the background light fully lit up it goes through the juice really fast.

[federline]

There's still confusion out there about Lowrance graphs on ice, despite wide acceptance on open water. I'm sure most of us have used graphs in an anchored boat and don't think twice about it - not much difference in situation when ice fishing, its just cold now and the water is still and the "boat" is still. It's actually better conditions, and you've never seen what a graph can really do if you've not used one on ice!

1) Don't use flasher mode, use graph mode, turn up ping speed, turn up scroll speed. Raise your jig, watch the line move RIGHT NOW. Don't crank the settings up, and you will have a delay, just like watching your DVD in stop frame motion. There's a field-proven batch of settings to configure for running a Lowrance unit on ice that I've developed through trial and error, speaking with Lowrance tech support in Tulsa, and giving them to other users and getting positive reports back, see below.

2) The screen DOES NOT slow down in zero degree weather. It won't freeze in subzero temps if you have it on, I have used mine in -15 F, there is NO PROBLEM. It WILL FREEZE if you STORE it in subzero temps, and that WILL void your warranty if the liquid in the screen freezes. The Aqua-Vu VPG display needs the built-in heater to stay fast because it is LCD, and LCD's do indeed slow down in cold. Lowrance color usints are not LCD.

3) The human eye and brain CANNOT tell the difference between the speed of a Vex, Marcum or Lowrance screen. God made it that way, and science has proven it. Our eyes and brain simply cannot correlate motor function and visual input faster than a Lowrance screen, software, and CPU.

I've left a bread crumb trail of postings on these topics here on FM. If you want to tout a Vex or Marcum over a Lowrance graph, you can't point to the technology as the reason.

There are valid reasons to not choose a graph, but tech isn't one of them. If you absolutely have to store it in subzero temps, if you like to bang around equipment that costs $100's of dollars, if you still love circular displays and the humming noise, if you don't trust computers.... get a flasher. You'll be happier.

The on-ice settings:

- split graph mode with 4x adjustable zoom in left panel

- I don't use the "Ice View" color scheme, use 256 color display found in "White Background" uder Sonar Options, I can see the wiggle-waggle of a minnow tail as he swims in circles on a setline with this and 4x zoom.

- ping speed = high

- scroll speed = high

- noise rejection = high

- surface clarity = high

- auto-sensitivity = off

- auto-depth = off

- sensitivity = 90% to begin with

- depth set to no more than the setting required to see the whole column un-zoomed, echos tend to form otherwise when in manual depth mode.

- change on screen data to display voltage and depth, remove water temp, it will always be 32 or 33 degrees at the surface in winter unless you have current under you. I make depth in HUGE letters, and voltage is small letters.

- backlighting = 50% (plenty, save your battery)

I get 24-30 hours of runtime on one battery charge for an x67c. The LMS 334C has 3X more sonar power, and GPS, so I would not expect to get as much runtime.

The unit is more useful if you ignore the Flasher and IceView primary color scheme. That is there to help flasher people transition to using the graph - everyone I've talked to quits using it after they try graph mode.

[EJ]

Bravo Federline,

Some still think the world is flat.

EJ

[Scupper]

I have owned and used a Vexilar LC8 Graph for about 15 years. I new way back when that I prefered a graph over a flasher.

When I purchased my Lowrance 332C a few years back I could hardly wait to use it on the ice. I could not be happier with it and the way it preforms. I have used it in the flasher mode but like I said earlier, I'm a graph guy.

There is a small noticeable differance in the real time viewing with the LC8 whereas the 332C if indeed a viewing issue does exsist it is not noticeable to me.

I have also acquired and use on occasion a vex fl 18 and marcum lx3tc. Both very good units but if I had to liquidate I would leave the flashers behind.

These are just my opinions and preference and fit my style of fishing.

I think you would be pleased with with versatility of the dual use, summer/winter and the preformance.

Good Luck...

[smallieobsession]

Right on Federline. I am on year three with my x67c on the ice and it works just as you say. I much prefer it over the Vex/Marcums. The graph just seems so much easier to use and I feel I have a better picture of what's going down there so to speak.

One issue I have had this year and am curious if others have experienced it - the transducer cable is kinked up a bit and it seems like my tranducer just won't hang quite straight or level so sometimes it seems like I'm not getting the signal return I should be - can't see my jig very well....like its on the outside or edge of the cone. I have to play around with it and get it to hang just right. I've used a float and that deosnt make it any better. One of the kinks is like right at the transducer and once that cable is a little cold, it is a problem. Anybody else seen this? I'm thinking I'll just get a new ice transducer and see if that is the answer.

[Scupper]

smallieobsession,

I have also experianced this kink in my tranducer cable thus leaving an angle while hanging in the water.

I believe this problem is occuring due to the way I wrap the cable at the conclusion of an outing.

When I return form an outing and hook up the battery charger I also unwind the transducer cable and massage it and than just let it hang. I also now coil my transducer cable in a loose fashion rather than around a fixed object.

This has straightened things out for me and it has been a very simple solution.

Good Luck...

[Ralph Wiggum]

Yeah, I have also had that problem. The cable is too darn stiff!