Sonar wont detect my crappie jig

So I fish a lake thats 30 feet deep for crappie and I am using a Lowrance Elite 4x for ice fishing, has a LCD screen and does a good job of detecting even small fish down to 30 feet bottom. But it wont detect my crappie jig any lower than 10 feet and its hard to tell at what depth my jig is sitting at and I waste a lot of time trying to get my jig at the right depth in the water column.  Is a Vexlar or Marcum sensitive enough to solve this issue? 

My guess would be your transducer is bad, the crystals could be cracked or not performing correctly. The low end transducers are very poor quality and easily damaged or age out quickly.

Many years ago when the winter sonar craze started I had a Lowrance X-67. Ice ducer needed to get replaced every other season.

Calling lowrance is a waste of your time... They will jerk you around and give you nothing but B.S.... tried for 6 weeks dealing with them jerk offs.. Transducer power supply cords... Their final answer was sent unit back and replace it for Cash and only a six months of warranty... If you have the money buy something else... I have switched to all Garmin products and 2 ice 35 hummingbird that are 10 years old no problem marking slender spoons at 25 feet.. good luck with your unit..

I didn't read everyone's replies, but it may not hurt to try a factory reset as well...it is free and if there is a setting in the menu that inadvertently got changed, you may never find and fix the issue. If not, as others have said, I would try a new battery and transducer. Good luck!

Something is definitely not right then.  With sens at 100 usually your screen would be an unreadable garble of interference and every little thing floating in the water.  I would try a different battery and if that doesn't do the trick time for a new transducer.

that was one of my thoughts. Or the line from the transducer to the unit. 

I should call the company and hear their thoughts

Transducer going bad?

Thanks for all the continuing comments.  I finally got back on the ice today very windy here and the snow kept blowing my holes shut. Fished long enough and took the time to set up the Elite 4x as you guys recommended.  Turns out I had sensitivity already at 100%. I played around with colorline and a few other matters and all seemed properly set.  Just cant see the jig below 10 feet even with a horizontal jig 1/2 inch long and I am marking plenty of pan fish.

I bought this unit 7 years ago and sensitivity was good then and could detect the tiny jigs in deeper water.  if I recall right this changed when the original battery no longer kept a charge and I bought a new battery. So i dont know why that would matter. This current battery keeps a charge really well and I cant remember if I am on my second or third battery. 

I run the Elite 4 Chirp. Never had an issue with marking my jig, even in very deep water on Big Green and Green bay. As others mentioned, a vertical hang of the jig might make it more difficult to pick up than a horizontal presentation. You can adjust you Sensitivity under the 'Menu'.

Northernexposure - tie a bobberstop onto your line, then when you set depth slide the stopper to the water surface.

Then you can reel in your fish, rebait, open the bail and let line out until you get to your bobberstop.

Plus, you have a visual for how many inches off bottom your bait is riding.

I have a Marcum LX5 that is 15 or 16 years old. It does a great job at showing small jigs in deep water. I have fished whitefish on Green Bay in 20-30’ of water with a Genz worm jig on the end of the line with a small hook tied in 16” above that. I tip each with two wax worms and can tell if the bait is missing. I’ve perch fished Winnabogoshish in 20-30’ of water using Buckshot Rattle Spoons, Swedish Pimples and other spoons of that size which are easy to mark, on occasion when fishing would slow you would need to switch to small ice jigs to get bit. With work on the sensitivity you could still mark them.  I fished perch on Metonga in 30-40’ of water and could see a small ice jig just off bottom a few inches. I have fished bluegill in 10’ of water with weeds up 7’ and could fine tune the sensitivity to show the weeds, jig and fish. To push the limits of all that it takes patience to play with the sensitivity to get it just right but once you do it’s a game changer. One key to getting a good return signal is making sure your transducer is at or just below the ice. 

Agreed on horizontal jigs.  Also, make sure to slide knot up to front of hook eye so it sits horizontal and doesn't hang down in a more vertical presentation.  Not only can you pick it up better, fish prefer it with that style jig.  I've missed fish where the grab bait and slide knot back on hookset.  Especially when I feel the fish when I miss.  I keep it down and many times you can tell they don't like it anymore.  Every time I bring jig up I make sure to have knot slid up and check it in my hole.  For both sonar sensitivity as well as proper action for fish.  

River-Chaser, I have a Vex FL8 and have no problem. May have to turn up the gain. I can see a Marmuseka jig (spelling?) at thirty. Good Luck

I've always used my boat fish finder on the ice. Fishing on Green Bay the perch are sometimes very deep and rarely is there no current. Drilling a hole down current has already been mentioned but aiming the transducer might be an answer. Tweeking sensitivity has been covered here already. I move my transducer around with a higher sensitivity level to find my rig then tune it down so the jig barely shows up. The pic shows what I came up with. Sometimes I move the arm parallel to the angle my line is drifting and it shows up right away. It's definitely more fun seeing the fish follow your bait up and being ready for a strike.

If you're using vertical jigs they have less surface area to pick up. With my Vex I increase the gain until I can see the jig. Sonar picks up wide horizontal jigs really well. Recently started using Northland Gill Getters 1/16 oz, they show up really well.

Good tip lake shiner! I have had the same issues before and never thought of that lol