Lowrance hook2 4 vs. Garmin striker 4
 

My 4 year old son really wants a fish finder for Christmas to use while we ice fish and in the boat in the summer. I’ve been looking for portable units and the two main one I can find are the hook2 4 and garmin striker 4 that fit my price range.

Can anyone give me some opinions on which would be a better unit?
I’m leaning towards the hook2 as it comes with ice transducer but the striker has the flasher mode. Any advice would be appreciated as well as suggestions for other portable units.
Thanks

I don't know anything about the Lowrance but I purchased a Striker 4 when I was working in Ontario this summer. I was impressed with the detail and crisp view it put on screen. I was floating over sunken logs and you could see all the branches still on the log as well as panfish hiding there.
I also liked the GPS tracking feature and plan to use it here at home to find favourite spots summer and winter. It also comes with a mount for inside the hull of a kayak which I am thinking of getting.
Another bonus is that it will hook up to the universal transducer in the Terrova I put on my walleye boat. Can't wait to try that next summer.
I know it has the flasher feature but I usually never fish very deep and my Aquavu works to 50' anyway.

I've got the Lowrance, you can put it in flasher mode as well. Has worked awesome on my boat.

The Hook2 unit also has a flasher mode. The ice fishing transducer is key if you plan to use the unit in flasher mode. The standard transducer cone angles are too wide to provide useful info in anything but really shallow water when using flasher mode. The ice fishing transducer has a much narrower cone angle, and provides far greater detail on both the presence of fish, and the ability to see your bait.

Make sure you go with the full GPS unit, the small amount of additional money is well worth it to have mapping/chart capability, both summer and winter.

I think the Hook2 unit is a great choice for him. The whole idea behind the Hook2 is to make the sonar unit easy to use and to show fish. It's as simple as turning it on and making minor changes to sensitivity, and the wide cone angle of the Hook2 units shows a big picture of the bottom, and shows more fish. If you're fishing with kids, or my kids anyway, being able to see a fish on the screen is the biggest motivator there is to keep them fishing and focused, when that screen is blank, they lose interest pretty quick lol.

I don’t have experience with either unit so nothing to contribute there, but I did want to say that it sounds like you are raising your boy right! [emoji1]

I picked up the striker 4 portable kit at the beginning of last winter and really enjoy using it. Works great for ice fishing, it has flasher mode but I never use it I prefer the traditional mode with A scope on the side of the of the screen. I also mounted it on my inflatable pontoon boat quite easily for open water fishing.. I would recommend it

I haven't used the hook2, but i have used the striker4 in my kayak, zodiac and made a portable kit out of a small tool box for ice fishing. I usually run the traditional mode. Fantastic unit for dirt cheap.

The Striker 4 is sold at Costco. How much have you seen it for? I'm thinking about it as well.
https://www.costco.ca/Garmin-STRIKER...100285029.html

cant go wrong with it from costco! badass return policy

question about that garmin unit! Do you need to by an ice transducer??:thinking-006:

One of the reviews noted how easy the ice transducer hung from the float. So maybe. But it is not specifically mentioned. Is there a 'one for all' transducer maybe?

Thanks for all the replies, I decided to go with the hook2 4x all season as it comes with the ice transducer and the ease of use. Canadian tire has them on sale right now for $280 a well.