LOZ Mapping

[NickIL]

Planning to upgrade my electronics and was wondering the current status of Lakemaster maps, as compared to Navionics.  

[conorsixtakc]

On 10/22/2017 at 10:26 AM, NickIL said:

Planning to upgrade my electronics and was wondering the current status of Lakemaster maps, as compared to Navionics.  

You mean compared to Garmin? http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171027005039/en/Garmin®-acquires-Navionics®

[moguy1973]

32 minutes ago, conorsixtakc said:

You mean compared to Garmin? http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171027005039/en/Garmin®-acquires-Navionics®

Wow.  That’s big news. Guess Lowrance won’t be using Navionics anymore. Lol. 

[Seth]

Been using Lakemaster 5.0 with the HD map for LoZ the past few years and it's great.

[shrapnel]

Been using the free version of Navionics on my phone and pretty happy with it.  I do NOT use it to navigate channels.

[fishinwrench]

36 minutes ago, shrapnel said:

Been using the free version of Navionics on my phone and pretty happy with it.  I do NOT use it to navigate channels.

This is what I do also, and it seems just as good as any of them.  I did opt for the 10.00/yr version so I could save waypoints and eliminate the ads.

Just be sure to blow it up as big as it gets before marking spots....or they'll be 100 ft. off.

[conorsixtakc]

49 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

This is what I do also, and it seems just as good as any of them.  I did opt for the 10.00/yr version so I could save waypoints and eliminate the ads.

Just be sure to blow it up as big as it gets before marking spots....or they'll be 100 ft. off.

I've seen the free Navionics app in action on LOZ and wasn't impressed, but like anything, you get what you pay for. They're using pre-impoundment cartography, so the chances of those contour lines accurately depicting the bottom aren't going to be good in many places. But for the low cost that's good enough for some. Garmin's lakevu hd ultra maps give you 6" contour lines generated by their survey boats within the last few years using scanning sonar, and the ability to color shade different depth ranges is pretty killer... you just gotta pay to play.

[shrapnel]

8 minutes ago, conorsixtakc said:

I've seen the free Navionics app in action on LOZ and wasn't impressed, but like anything, you get what you pay for. They're using pre-impoundment cartography, so the chances of those contour lines accurately depicting the bottom aren't going to be good in many places. But for the low cost that's good enough for some. Garmin's lakevu hd ultra maps give you 6" contour lines generated by their survey boats within the last few years using scanning sonar, and the ability to color shade different depth ranges is pretty killer... you just gotta pay to play.

I'm color shading depth areas for free in Navionics, and getting 1' depth increments as well as dropping pins with notes.   Pre impoundment is fine, the only real changes are the bottoms of channels that have silted mostly in the backs and I'm not interested in fishing those, I'm looking for edges, drop offs and flats and it works good enough for those.

I'm getting better at finding new water by scanning the mapping from the couch, dropping pins on areas of interest and then hitting them with sonar and side imaging.  It was pretty cool to pick some spots with my son, went out and hit some docks on a flat near a channel swing...idled past them with side imaging and saw fish so spun around and fished them and caught fish on the first 2 casts Wednesday.

[fishinwrench]

23 minutes ago, conorsixtakc said:

I've seen the free Navionics app in action on LOZ and wasn't impressed, but like anything, you get what you pay for. They're using pre-impoundment cartography, so the chances of those contour lines accurately depicting the bottom aren't going to be good in many places. But for the low cost that's good enough for some. Garmin's lakevu hd ultra maps give you 6" contour lines generated by their survey boats within the last few years using scanning sonar, and the ability to color shade different depth ranges is pretty killer... you just gotta pay to play.

There are some settings that need to be tweeked on the Nav app, and I'm not sure you can do that on the free version.  The way I have mine set now is definitely "good enough" for me.     

I do almost all of my fishing in less than 15' so really none of the mapping programs are truly accurate in that zone.

I couldn't care less what the contours are in 40-70 FOW, but that's where the maps are allegedly most accurate.

I guarantee I can point out at least a dozen important contours right away (within a 2 mile stretch of the Gravois) that are not indicated, or even close, on ANY mapping software.

[conorsixtakc]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

There are some settings that need to be tweeked on the Nav app, and I'm not sure you can do that on the free version.  The way I have mine set now is definitely "good enough" for me.     

I do almost all of my fishing in less than 15' so really none of the mapping programs are truly accurate in that zone.

I couldn't care less what the contours are in 40-70 FOW, but that's where the maps are allegedly most accurate.

I guarantee I can point out at least a dozen important contours right away (within a 2 mile stretch of the Gravois) that are not indicated, or even close, on ANY mapping software.

Hey you know by good enough I wasn’t implying some people settle for less, some people think they need more than they really do. You know the Gravois like the back of your hand, so you don’t need expensive mapping to put a sack together. An out of towner with money to burn to make him feel like he’s got a competitive edge may think he “needs” it.