Ice fishing can be cold and downright hot at times. The key to getting in on a hot bite is finding the fish. Sonar has become the modern go-to tool, for locating and testing schools of hungry fish.

When I started fishing as a child, sonar was just beginning to take over the fishing world. That was over 30 years ago and since then, fish-finding units have come a long way.

I had fished without electronics for most of my life and wondered how much it would help. I was reluctant to spend more on a fish finder than I had spent on the john boat that I would be fishing out of. After a few trips out with fishermen that had sonar. I was sold!

This was on open water before I started ice fishing. When I got into ice fishing, it was the same song. I was being outfished by guys looking at a box with colored lines on it. It wasn't the typical sonar that I was used to seeing, but it was helping them catch fish. I was intrigued enough to start looking into affordable units. Modern electronics can tell you where, when, why and how. All you have to do is buy one, or two, and maybe another.

There are many companies making sonar units today. The truth is you get what you pay for. I started off buying the cheapest model that I could find. It was junk, and I was never able to get it to work. After talking to other fishermen, I found out that they had done the same thing.

Their stories were like echos and reverberated the same experience that I had been through. All of them were using high quality flasher units through the ice. I had decided to get some advice before breaking the bank, so I approached people who were using them. They showed me how you can see the fish and your lure in real time. I was surprised at how different their fish finders were than the others I had seen.

All they were looking at was a circular viewing screen with different colored lines in it. I was told the darker red lines were fish, and his jig was yellow. This allowed him to see when a fish was approaching his bait. I was used to seeing finders that resembled a small television screen. I became intrigued as to the difference between the units.

The following spring, I decided to purchase one of the TV screen models, and it was a whole new world. I could now see the bottom contour and identify fish and structure. This changed the way I fished forever.