# Lowrance hook-5 ice machine



## brownitsdown84 (Jan 19, 2009)

I was very close to ordering a vexilar, until I did a little research I started hearing guys talk about graphs and how much better they were.. before then I didn't even know what these were and they are very new to me. Still are. Keep in mind I don't fish very deep at all. Occasional walleye mostly panfishing 30ft or less.. when I started doing my own research I came across The Lawrence hook five ice machine and because graphs were so confusing this seemed like a good way to go because it's already set up and ready to go. I don't have to go by this or that and complete a project....
Someone explain this stuff to me PLEASE!! Good unit? Anything better out there for under $400? WHAT DO I GET???? Am I better off with this on the long run than I would be with one of those old fl-18s  
From the videos I watched this thing has the chart and a flasher option that seems like it blows the old flasher out of the water. Is it that simple?


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## Opey (Feb 15, 2013)

I bought a elite 5,but I believe it's the same system, the beginning of last year. I LOVE IT! I have it mounted on my quad to find my waypoints and then very easily take it off and put it in the hole. This is a learning period to get use to set up and use but it's pretty easy.

This is my cheat sheet I copied from another post.
Lowranc Elite 4 and 5 
Settings:
First make sure you put the unit in MANUAL MODE.
Second decide if you want to use the graph or the flasher mode. I prefer the graph mode. It is much more sensitive and gives you the history as it scrolls past the screen from right to left. From my experience you will not get as good of results in flasher mode. But, if you are determined to use the flasher mode turn it on now in the settings.
Now put it in ICE MODE in the settings.
Turn the ping speed up as high as it will go.
Start with your color line around 50 percent. (More on this later)
Start with your sensitivity at about 60 percent. (More on this later)
Turn the surface clarity to low for general use. If you are in shallow water, say less than 10 feet you may want to go to medium. In very shallow water, say less than 7, turn it to high.
Your noise rejection should be off unless you are getting interference from other flashers being used nearby. Interference will look like a series of random black dots drifting across the screen. Turn it up only high enough to get rid of the interference.
Select the 200khz transducer setting for general use. It is a narrow cone. If you are fishing next to a buddy in a shanty, and you both want to see your baits on the screen, drill a hole between you for the transducer and switch to the 83khz setting. This is a wider cone. Remember though that if the water is to shallow and the transducer is not directly above your bait you will NOT be able to see it on the screen. The wider cone (83khz) is also useful when fishing on the river. When the current is pulling your bait downstream, you may be able to pick it up with the wider cone where you would not be able to with the narrow cone.
Leave the unit in Auto Depth mode only to check the depth. Once you know the depth you are fishing at select the best manual depth setting. You will get a much better lock on the bottom when the unit is NOT in auto depth mode.
The transducer should be BELOW the ice and hanging straight. I have also found that if the hole is full of slush the readings are not as good.
To fine tune your color line and sensitivity you need to remember a few things. A horizontal jig will show up better than a vertical jig. You want the jig to be just visible as a blue line that tracks from right to left. Also remember that what is actually happening is on the right as the history tracks to the left. So first fine tune the color line so the bottom is a hard red, usually you will never need to go above 60%. Once you have that fine tune the sensitivity to your jig. You want it to be a fine blue line. A vertical jig may only show up when it’s being jigged. Because of its profile there is very little surface area for the sound waves to bounce off of. The deeper the water and the less profile of your jig, the more you will have to turn up your sensitivity. I generally find that 75% is about as high as I ever need to go even in 20 plus feet of water. When fish come in they will be a much thicker line that starts as blue, then green, then yellow, then red as they get closer to the center of the sonar cone. If your sensitivity is set correctly you will be able to tell when your bait is gone as the line from your jig will get thinner or only appear when you aggressively jig it.
I like to run it with the screen split with the whole water column on one side and the bottom zoomed in all the way on the other. Or I just leave it all the way zoomed in on the depth the fish seem to be at.
Remember you are setting the color line to the bottom, and the sensitivity to your jig. If you get those two things right the fish will show up perfectly.
Learn to trust your fish finder. Fish will move in and out of the sonar cone, and not bite. It doesn’t mean they’re not there, it just means you either need to change your bait or technique.


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## Jimbos (Nov 21, 2000)

Opey said:


> I bought a elite 5,but I believe it's the same system, the beginning of last year. I LOVE IT! I have it mounted on my quad to find my waypoints and then very easily take it off and put it in the hole. This is a learning period to get use to set up and use but it's pretty easy.
> 
> This is my cheat sheet I copied from another post.
> Lowranc Elite 4 and 5
> ...


I set mine late in the winter based upon these instructions I believe, but I'm going to do it again reading your post, thanks for bring it back up.


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## Jmac32 (Jan 9, 2014)

Great tutorial


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## msfcarp (Jun 6, 2006)

By all means, get a sonar, (graph) not a flasher. I was a die hard vex owner for many years, tried an elite 4 just for kicks, now my vex stays on the shelf. You get much more for your money with a graph than a vex. No need to spend big bucks either.


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## Outdoor2daCore (Nov 8, 2010)

I use a lowrance x67c ice machine and despite playing around with manual mode and all the jazz in the tutorial. I've found good success just running it in auto depth mode and auto sensitivity. Occasionally it act's up and gives me trouble where it needs adjustment, but usually it works great in auto, especially for hole hopping.


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## UBDSLO1 (Feb 23, 2004)

Awesome, thank you very much for posting this!!!



Opey said:


> I bought a elite 5,but I believe it's the same system, the beginning of last year. I LOVE IT! I have it mounted on my quad to find my waypoints and then very easily take it off and put it in the hole. This is a learning period to get use to set up and use but it's pretty easy.
> 
> This is my cheat sheet I copied from another post.
> Lowranc Elite 4 and 5
> ...


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## Jimbos (Nov 21, 2000)

UBDSLO1 said:


> Awesome, thank you very much for posting this!!!


I pulled out my Hook and fired it up to make sure that those settings were still in there and nothing, it would not turn on, so I got the charger out that came with it and it showed that it was charged, but I left it plugged in charging overnight and the unit turned on the next day. My point is the charger that came with it is junk and don't rely on it.


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## fish fanatic jr. (Feb 18, 2004)

For me personally it depends on what im fishing for. Bought the 4x chirp last winter and found myself using the flasher mode 80% of the time while i was panfishing. Going to be purchasing another marcum lx5 for when im hole hoping for gills and crappie.


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## brasky25 (Sep 21, 2013)

I have and Elite 5. The only complaint I have with it is. When you hole hop, it sometimes takes a while before you get a reading. Anyone else have trouble with this?


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## nick 74 (Dec 4, 2008)

Me 2. Its not often enough to bother me tho. Not sure what causes it? Slush on transducer?


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## bobberbill (Apr 5, 2011)

Turn it off before you move. Once set, turn it back on. I had the same issues with my old x-67. I think the software gets confused trying to interpret the move. SWF1960 would know the answer..


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## KCRuger (Oct 18, 2010)

bobberbill said:


> Turn it off before you move. Once set, turn it back on. I had the same issues with my old x-67. I think the software gets confused trying to interpret the move. SWF1960 would know the answer..


I have the elite 5 and do the above. It fixed my issues.


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## lreigler (Dec 23, 2009)

I have the hook four. I never used a graph before buying it. It has the flasher mode which gave confidence when buying, I've used that mode a total of about ten seconds. Most of my friends went graph after seeing mine.


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## msfcarp (Jun 6, 2006)

lreigler said:


> I have the hook four. I never used a graph before buying it. It has the flasher mode which gave confidence when buying, I've used that mode a total of about ten seconds. Most of my friends went graph after seeing mine.


Yup, no need for the flasher mode. I was a long time vex user, bought a used elite 4 just to try it out now my vexilar is my back up unit. More bang for your buck with a graph.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

bobberbill said:


> Turn it off before you move. Once set, turn it back on. I had the same issues with my old x-67. I think the software gets confused trying to interpret the move. SWF1960 would know the answer..



The reason is the computer has lost a return so it is trying several pulse lengths & ping speeds as an attempt to re-establish a bottom return.

No reason to turn off the machine at all - before you pull it out of the hole, bring up your power button menu and choose "standby". (or could be "Stop sonar"_)_

There _may be a "Stop sonar" option on the old X-67/M-68's_ but I haven't had a Lowrance unit for about 11 years.

I see the latest and greatest anyways, have played a little with the Linux Based Lowrance menu systems and they are no doubt decent units.


HTH!
RAS


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## bobberbill (Apr 5, 2011)

Don't have a 'stop sonar' on the 67. Sometimes it just jumps to POS mode. Works pretty good most of the time. OFF-ON fixes most of the buggies!


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## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

bobberbill said:


> Don't have a 'stop sonar' on the 67. Sometimes it just jumps to POS mode. Works pretty good most of the time. OFF-ON fixes most of the buggies!


Maybe you're just not familiar with advanced unit operation??

It's called "Stop Chart" on an X-67c- straight from the manual.










>>>PDF HERE<<<


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## bobberbill (Apr 5, 2011)

Always flew by that one on the way to features or zoom. Didn't ever use that one! Tks.. Waiting on an upgrade to the hook5. Can't justify it yet as the ol 67 still chugging away. Got a little quarter sized screen burn in the corner, but still works pretty good. I looked at your post about the hummers. Nice, but I don't need GPS. Now, if they had an X-model..


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## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

They make some _*sonar only*_ models in the 5 & 7's.

An "X" model in HB means an International unit.

I use the GPS quite often, quite nice to walk out - look at the map & never punch a hole until you're over the depth you want.


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