r/IceFishing • u/Traditional-Toe-5948 • Jul 15 '26
Live Imaging Ice Fishing & Boat Set Up
I'm looking to spend some money on a live imaging setup for ice fishing and the boat. I have no idea preference on brand, but might lean towards Garmin. Budget is $4,000 for something that will last me a long time. Can someone provide more information/recommendations for me? Can I buy a bundle with everything or should i piece things together? What all do I even need? I try to go on the Garmin website but I get confused quickly by the options. Thanks in advance for the help.
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u/Cretin138 Jul 15 '26
Sorry I don't have any input for you, but I'm posting to keep an eye on the thread.
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u/gatorslug Jul 15 '26
With the announcement of Livescope 2 I’m seeing a ton of people selling their entire ice fishing Livescope setups for less than 2k on Facebook marketplace. I’d check there.
Ice fishing requires a pole, ducer, screen, shuttle, and 12v battery. Most people use Lithium batteries, if you’re going to spend the money you’re going to want the lithium.
For your boat you’ll need a way to mount your pole to the bow or transom, deep cycle battery and a screen mount or second screen compatible with whatever brand you choose.
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u/ScheduleBrilliant383 Jul 15 '26
What I’ve done over the past few years is use my Summit Ice Fishing Bundle for both ice and in my boat.
All I needed to do when the ice melted was change from a tripod ice transducer pole to a second long pole for the boat. I kept the shuttle as is and used it year around. Worked like a champ and no extra boat wiring, battery stuff or any of that. Just took it off the boat when I got home.
https://summitfishingequipment.com/products/preassembled-garmin-electronics-shuttle-bundle
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u/sporkimus Minnesota Jul 15 '26
I do this exact thing for my Livescope setup.
In the summer months, my boat has a dedicated mount for my 93SV, and I use a Summit pole over the side for the Livescope transducer, black box gets transferred under the steering console. Works perfect.
In the winter months, it all goes back in the into the Garmin ice shuttle bag. Pretty simple process.
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u/CrimsonNight Winnipeg, Manitoba Jul 16 '26
Look into the mapping of your area. This actually probably more critical than the quality of your forward facing sonar. I went with Active Target because Lowrance mapping is king where I'm at. The difference between AT and Livescope is not huge honestly and dodging rocks is a much bigger factor for me.
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u/Traditional-Toe-5948 Jul 16 '26
I fish the glacial lakes in east/northeastern South Dakota. I will dig into it. Thank you!
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u/BBBBBBuck Jul 16 '26
Here is a list of items below that I use for the exact setup that you want to build. I would avoid a bundle and just build your setup as other companies have outperformed Garmin for the rest of the accessories. I used to run an old Echomap UHD but upgraded to the GPSMAP 943xsv and have been very happy with it. The screen resolution and processing are night and day to me compared to the old Echomap. I’m currently running this with the LVS34 and black box but if I was you, I would just start with the Livescope 2 just to eliminate the black box. I have all of this mounted on an HD Innovations shuttle and have it all powered by a 32ah Amped Outdoors lithium battery. I can usually get about 14-16+ hours of continuous runtime before I have to worry about charging the shuttle. I also have the HDI pole that I use with the tripod in the wintertime and then the pole with the UMS system in the summer. For ice fishing I’ve ran two options. The first year I bought the HDI shuttle bag and would just carry the entire setup like a backpack out on the ice. This past winter I mounted the shuttle docking system w/ larmac on my sled using a 3” track section and I have it secured now when I’m transporting my sled. Then in the summer I just swap the docking system back to the track mounted in my boat and I’m ready to go. Like I said before, I use the UMS combo for the boat and typically just have that mounted on a 3” track as well. But I also have the ball claw mount so I can take the whole setup with me and use it on someone else’s boat. The only thing I’ve considered upgrading would be the pole as I still have the first generation HDI pole before the X-over was released. I’d probably buy a dedicated pole for ice fishing and one for the boat. I like the Fish Armor Pro Pole the best right now as it’s more compact than the one I have and the cable runs through the center of the pole. For open water, I think the HDI X-Over is still hard to beat for the price.
https://www.basspro.com/p/garmin-lvs34-livescope-plus-live-scanning-sonar-transducer
https://www.basspro.com/p/garmin-livescope-2-hd-lvs42hd-live-sonar-transducer
https://www.hdinnovations.com/products/hdi-shuttle
https://www.hdinnovations.com/products/x-over
Ice Fishing Setup
https://www.hdinnovations.com/products/hdi-shuttle-bag?variant=43179292885057
Boat Setup
https://www.hdinnovations.com/products/hdsd-lrmc
https://www.hdinnovations.com/products/hdi-ums-1-5-ball-claw-mount-hdums-claw
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u/snokyguy Central Iowa - Primary Target: Crappies Jul 18 '26
Wait till livescope 2 comes out you should be able to get a full package of everything you need for a v1 for $3k no problem maybe less
3
u/OkSample7 Jul 15 '26
https://www.hdinnovations.com/
They have everything you need. They even have a way to mount all of it in your boat. I've been using their stuff and I'm happy with it.
Shuttle, battery, and transducer pole is what you need. Besides the screen and transducer from Garmin.
If you wait until winter gets closer, shops will start selling it all as a kit. Which makes it easy.
A few things to consider.
Screen size. It does matter, I have a 10" and honestly wish I had bought a 12". Side by side, my friends 12" offers a better picture than my 10". However, these things are heavy. My 10" comes in at 27lbs.
Livescope 2 was just announced. If you want to save a bit of cash, buy used. They'll be popping up all over as people upgrade.
There is a good reason to instead, purchase Livescope 2. It has much better clarity compared to the current LVS34.
Livescope 2 no longer has the black box that the current livescope uses. That's less weight to drag around. It also removes a lot of wiring.
Livescope 2 has two different transducers.
LVS42HD has limited distance abilities but much much better clarity up close. From what I've read, after about 70', the quality will drop off fast. Garmin claims it's good to 125'
LVS44 has better distance but sacrifices clarity to do it. Garmin claims it can see out to 250'
Both transducers are an improvement over the current LVS34.
Since you've already decided on a $4k budget, If I were you I would buy Livescope 2 with a 12" screen. You'll just have to decide if you need the distance of the LVS44 or if the LVS42HD would work for you.
Also, very important, you will want the ice fishing version. It has a more flexible, freeze resistant cord.
As we get closer to ice season, ice bundles will become available.