Panoptix

[Vollmer]

Has anyone played with one of these units? It looks like something I'd like to try. It would bring ice fishing a little closer to boat fishing imo, with an ability to cover water.

 

[lunkerslayer]

Hows this different that hummingbird 360

 

[pluckem]

Hows this different that hummingbird 360

With the use of the correct transducer the easiest way to describe it is a hybrid between a Lowrance spotlight and a flasher unit.

They have many options and transducers so it can do more than just one function (side scan, down scan, forward scan, 3d scan, etc.) I couldn't get the videos to play but based off the initial screen shots it looks like they are utilizing the function that's like a directional flasher.

In a boat you can point the unit in the direction you want. You find a fish (red blob) you can see how far from the boat he is and also where in the water column he is located. Then you cast your lure to that location and the lure should be picked up real time just like you would see on a flasher. You can then watch the fish react to your lure.

In the ice fishing world since you cant cast you would use it more for locating and finding fish and then drilling on top of them. So in that regard it would be similar to an H-bird 360. I haven't used either so can't comment on which one works better for finding and staying on the school of fish.

 

[Sub_Elect]

I have a lowrance spotlight scan I would sell cheap for someone to try and play.

 

[shorthairsrus]

I like it.

 

[Tikka280ai]

I don't like what it would cost me.

otherwise it looks like a sweet system

 

[Mgx2400]

Anyone got one and would you recommend?

 

[RNinND]

I have one and have only had it out once so far. When scanning to the sides the fish have to be off the bottom to see them easily. Coming from a Vexilar I love the downview. While there is a slight delay, I'm able to see a larger area below me and actually can watch multiple fish at once even when they are many feet off to the sides. Can't wait to get it on a perch or crappie lake. Negatives are size and weight and almost need a separate hole for it.

 

[Captain Ahab]

It is legit. I was watching 4 lines with mine and telling the other guy when a fish was coming to his bait before he marked it on his Vex. This was about 26 FOW in down view. If you are searching for depth/structure change or suspended fish you will drastically reduce time and holes drilled.

 

[WormWiggler]

Remarkable... how long before you can "fly" an underwater drone over and troll those fish?

 

[AaronJ]

I am ordering the Livescope on my next boat build...I hope the guy I sell the boat to allows me to keep it.

 

[RustyTackleBox]

i ordered a livescope setup on blackfriday... thegpsstore.com had a deal on the 93sv graphs... livescope ducer was still painful but i am setting it up for ice fishing then going to figure out a way to run it in the boat in the summer as well and get dual usage out of it

 

[AaronJ]

i ordered a livescope setup on blackfriday... thegpsstore.com had a deal on the 93sv graphs... livescope ducer was still painful but i am setting it up for ice fishing then going to figure out a way to run it in the boat in the summer as well and get dual usage out of it

I almost pulled the trigger on the 93sv plus @ $599 from the GPS store.... I will likely regret not doing it. I don't forsee any price cuts on the Livescope anytime soon; but have seen some good deals on the 1st gen Panoptics (non Live).

 

[FishSticks]

I bought a used Panoptix unit off a guy online for a pretty solid discount. It turns out he sliced the cable so I needed to fix that (no big deal, coworker did it in 10 mins). The ducer on mine is the PS31, which offers a further shot for FrontVu and gives you FrontVu Live but no Down Vu. The ducer is also pretty large so it needs a minimum of a 8" hole. I use mine for locating fish; unreal for crappies and finding weed lines, takes a little work with eyes/perch on the bottom. Only negatives are that it is clunky and heavy, two things I can live with. I would like to upgrade to a lithium battery for extended life and lessen the weight.

Ideally I would like to rig it on a small boat and use it in sloughs and map them out with the Garmin but time is limited in the summer.

 

[Kentucky Windage]

I called Garmin and asked about a livescope ice package. They were being too secretive about it. They did tell me to watch the larger boat shows this winter. I want livescope.

 

[guywhofishes]

I work around "high tech" every day so I get "teched-out" pretty easy

I'm getting to the point in life where I don't want to take night courses to figure out what to install, troll forums to figure out how to build/rig batteries/boxes, etc. - but that seems like where we're headed with fish detection

ugh - woulda been super fun maybe 10 years ago, but this 6 months and your new purchase is old tech crap is getting old

 

[remm]

I work around "high tech" every day so I get "teched-out" pretty easy

I'm getting to the point in life where I don't want to take night courses to figure out what to install, troll forums to figure out how to build/rig batteries/boxes, etc. - but that seems like where we're headed with fish detection

ugh - woulda been super fun maybe 10 years ago, but this 6 months and your new purchase is old tech crap is getting old

I agree, have had the panoptix ice bundle in the online cart a couple times and ready to pull the trigger but have yet to because everytime I'm ready to buy, I always see some video or ad on the next best thing. Pisses me off to drop $2k on something today only to have something way better in a couple months. Blessing and a curse I guess. I'm usually really good at buying something right before it goes on sale so I'll let you know when I do decide to get something, be a good indicator that within a few weeks it'll be half price.

 

[Kentucky Windage]

I work around "high tech" every day so I get "teched-out" pretty easy

I'm getting to the point in life where I don't want to take night courses to figure out what to install, troll forums to figure out how to build/rig batteries/boxes, etc. - but that seems like where we're headed with fish detection

ugh - woulda been super fun maybe 10 years ago, but this 6 months and your new purchase is old tech crap is getting old

Just be patient and let a different “guywhoistechy” figure it out for you.

 

[Captain Ahab]

I have watched many vids on Livescope vs Reg. Panoptix. I'm not convinced it is a significant benefit in deeper water chasing average fish. There does seem to be a benefit in shallower water and large fish for ID purposes(like telling the shape of a pike vs walleye, etc) There will probably be Livescope HD that will be the next thing to blow your hair back.

 

[walleyeman_1875]

I’m waiting for a GPS to tell me exactly where to fish for the species and size of fish that I put into the unit. Then, I need the lure to swim down inside the fishes mouth and send a signal so My auto hook setting rig will secure the fish. Then the new shimano reel with precision auto adjusting drag will Fight the fish.

Until then, I’ll stick with my FL-18 and my propane auger.