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Posts: 3475
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hi Everyone,
With the upcoming delivery of a hummingbird 899, I believe I will be in need of a couple map chips for it. I usually don't get out of the state of Minnesota for fishing muskies, save a trip to lake of the woods, so I am wondering what map chip or chips will suit my needs with the best graphics.
I'm assuming lakemaster, but will navionics work as well? If so, which navionics chip? Is there much difference between the two? Can anyone put up a visual of a portion of some lake to show the difference?
Thanks!! |
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Posts: 1677
Location: Mt. Zion, IL | https://www.navionics.com/usa/charts?charts=HotMapsPlatinum&fn1/
if you zoom in on the lake(s) you're interested in, you can view navionics charts here. I run Lowrance, but have been very impressed with these charts and the 1 ft contour details. I have the hotmaps platinum chip here for IL.
if you're running ipilot link, i would go lakemaster.
Edited by RyanJoz 2/2/2018 8:37 AM
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Posts: 3475
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | That is the one thing I don't have.... at least yet. I think I can upgrade to the link with the terrova, so I might have to jump into somebody's boat and see how that actually works. Seems there are some really nice features with that...
Steve |
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Posts: 291
Location: Madison, WI | I have run the Navionics for many years and its pretty good to get you around the lake. Did go up with a buddy that had all Birds and he had the Lakemaster map. One thing I did like on the Lakemaster was the reefs were much more detailed as well as the rocks. I hate the christmas colors on the map to show shading for shallow, etc. but it seemed way more accurate for reefs.
With that said, still have a Lowrance and Navionics chip at the console to drive around however I now have a helix up front that will have a Lakemaster lotw/rainy chip in it when we get up in August.
Right out of the "box" my Navionics chip did not have 1 foot contours for our section of LOTW (near Tamarack) however once I went through the 5 hours process online of downloading all of the updated chart data from users, I was able to get the 1 foot contours. With that said I haven't set up the Lakemaster chip as I have no gotten it yet however I dont remember my buddy mentioned you had to download any updates to get the 1' contours. |
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Posts: 546
Location: MN | A cool thing about the LakeMaster charts is the ability to manipulate the chart data to your viewing preference and current conditions.
Shallow Water Highlight (set a depth and everything less will show in red. Say you pick 5', everything from shore to the 5' contour line will be in red. Great for safe running and also highlights sharp breadlines from shallow water.
Depth Highlight allows you to pick a depth and a highlight interval to be shown in green on the map. (Say you are catching fish in 10'-14' FOW. Set the highlight for 12' +/- 2' and that range will be in green. Once you get depth dialed in, try picking up on the type of structure you're seeing them on too- then look for areas in green (your target depth) that also have similar structure that has been productive. This is also a great feature to use when trolling. Set the highlight depth and keep the boat in the green, making it very easy to know if you're keeping the boat on track.
Water Level Offset: If you fish waters with fluctuating water levels, you can adjust the contour depths to match that of your depth reading, dialing in the correct depth for every contour line.
The second (Standard LM chart) and third photo (LM PLUS Chart) show the difference between a standard LM card and a LM Plus chart. They both contain the same detail for contour lines, but the PLUS version provides the option to overlay satellite imagery on the HD lakes (those with 1' contours).
Edited by mtcook16 2/2/2018 10:30 AM
Attachments
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 LM Features.jpg (181KB - 543 downloads)
LM.jpg (154KB - 768 downloads)
LM PLUS.jpg (180KB - 611 downloads)
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Posts: 626
Location: Madison, WI | My buddies fish around Tamarack on LOTW every year and half run Lakemaster and half Navionics. The Lakemaster chip in the Humminbird units show the reefs in far better detail then the Navionics as mentioned. I had a buddy last year run the two side by side and confirmed the detail on the Lakemaster was much nicer. I am not sure if the Navionics chip had gotten that online update as mentioned above or not though. I personally haven’t used the Navionics on LOTW but my woods/rainy Lakemaster worked very well the last time I was there and I was running 859 units. Hope this helps |
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Posts: 135
| I've got and use both the Lakemaster and Navionics up there in my Humminbirds.
If you're getting just one, get Lakemaster Rainy River / Lake of the Woods for fishing in Sabaskong Bay, the Northwest Angle, and Big Narrows. For anything north of roughly Skeet Island, you'd do just fine with the Navionics as the Lakemaster doesn't have the good level of detail up there yet.
(For a Lowrance unit, the Insight map is the same data and detail as the Lakemaster.)
Edited by Glaucus_ 2/2/2018 12:06 PM
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Posts: 546
Location: MN | I pulled this right off the web page for the Woods N Rainy chart so you can see the coverage for your area.
(Woods N Rainy Map_ Version 4.JPG)
Attachments
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Woods N Rainy Map_ Version 4.JPG (124KB - 470 downloads)
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Posts: 815
Location: Waukee, IA | I have both navionics and lakemaster. 100% go with the lakemaster woods/rainy chip, more detail and more complete. |
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Posts: 3475
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | What year did lakemaster and hummingbird offer the color highlighting of a desired depth?
I think you all have convinced me to go lakemaster, and now (all your fault guys..) am thinking of changing my thoughts on the bow and getting a bird for up there as well. I don't have the Ipilot link, but having that depth highlight would be great to have, and knowing the main lakes I fish are now all HD depth contours, it has me intrigued. Anyone want to grant me another $1500 to get a bird and upgrade to link? 
I don't necessarily need brand new chips for the bird, so if you have a year old minnesota and/or LOTW-rainy chip, I might be swayed to take it off your hands..
Steve |
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Posts: 217
| Are you sure the Lakemaster chip covers the entire LOTW? I thought it stopped at Big Narrows and the rest of the lake up to Kenora was not surveyed. I believe the Lakemaster site states this.
Edited by Abu7000 2/6/2018 11:14 AM
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Posts: 95
| I'm not sure if lake master might have fixed this problem but I found one spot where it is way off on lotw. On the south end of the naongoshing chanel it shows you driving on land where you need to be between the green buoy and the small island. If you trust that Chip in the dark there you would get killed. |
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Posts: 217
| In the image posted by mtcook16, it states the areas shown in blue have not been surveyed and do not show any contours.
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Posts: 44
| The detail on lakemaster is so much better. But my mapping runs out at Big Narrows.
I switch cards depending on where Im at.
Ryan |
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Posts: 833
| anyone know about backwards compatibility with older bird units? I have an old 998 SI that will be needing a chip for an upcoming trip. |
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Posts: 1088
Location: Hayward, WI | Brad, I think the new LakeMaster chip will work, but you will need to make sure that the software in your unit is up to date.
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Posts: 261
| Abu7000 - 2/5/2018 2:09 PM
Are you sure the Lakemaster chip covers the entire LOTW? I thought it stopped at Big Narrows and the rest of the lake up to Kenora was not surveyed. I believe the Lakemaster site states this.
Howdy,
I fish out of Witch Bay Camp near Andrews Bay and the Lakemaster chip does NOT have coverage for that part of the lake. Navionics is the only game in town to the best of my knowledge.
Take care,
Ruddiger |
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Posts: 546
Location: MN | kjgmh - 2/8/2018 8:05 AM
Brad, I think the new LakeMaster chip will work, but you will need to make sure that the software in your unit is up to date.
Yep! |
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Posts: 546
Location: MN | Ruddiger - 2/9/2018 8:03 AM
Abu7000 - 2/5/2018 2:09 PM
Are you sure the Lakemaster chip covers the entire LOTW? I thought it stopped at Big Narrows and the rest of the lake up to Kenora was not surveyed. I believe the Lakemaster site states this.
Howdy,
I fish out of Witch Bay Camp near Andrews Bay and the Lakemaster chip does NOT have coverage for that part of the lake. Navionics is the only game in town to the best of my knowledge.
Take care,
Ruddiger
Correct, the cut off is just south of the Narrows, from Andrew Bay. Somewhere near the E/W line from East Allie Island to Queen Island |
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Posts: 135
| Correct, the cut off is just south of the Narrows, from Andrew Bay. Somewhere near the E/W line from East Allie Island to Queen Island
Any hope that Lakemaster will be completing the rest of the lake?
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Posts: 546
Location: MN | There are a lot of people who would appreciate seeing the map coverage expanded to the north. I don't believe that this point is lost on the folks in the LakeMaster division. They are very in tune to the opportunities for mapping waters around the country and boundary waters. That said, I do not know when we might see an update to the LOW area north of the current boundary line.
Edited by mtcook16 2/12/2018 12:50 PM
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