Which map card?!

So the 898 is on its way and now a map chip needs to be coming right behind it. What map chip would you guys recommend for IA and SD? I see Lakemaster is more suited for the Bird, but I don’t see a chip that has both states…strategic by Lakemaster! So what are you guys running that fish both of these states?

Thanks

I bought both Lakemaster chips, version 4.

For MN lakes, I choose LakeMaster because it offers much better detail for the waters I fish. However, I’ve heard that Navionics may have an edge on LM in states outside of MN. Take a look at both of their websites, scroll through the lake lists, and determine if it is a better idea to purchase one Navionics chip, or purchase two Lakemaster chips based on detail.

I’m a huge Navionics fan. I believe their technology is better and less buggy. They put out a lot more stuff and I feel like they strive to put out better products more than LakeMaster.

I use both. I’m newer to the Lakemaster chips, but am getting better with them every trip. There is a completely different menu available on your bird when you plug in a Lakemaster . I like the single shaded depth of the Navionics for navigation, but like Lakemasters multiple colors for fishing..

The South Dakota Lakemasters are incredibly accurate.

Navionics north chip will cover both states, but depending on the water you ish, I’d check their hd lakes and see how applicable they are for you.

Navionics has an upgrade plan now also, where you can upload the newest information onto your chip. It comes with a cost,but may be an option.

Reddog,

So on the Navionics you can highlight a certain depth range? Say from 14-18 ft? We fish the Missouri, NE SD lakes, Spirit, East & West Okoboji, and some other smaller lakes around NW IA. I see you are from Spirit Lake, would you ever consider teaching someone how to use their new unit?

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Reddog,

So on the Navionics you can highlight a certain depth range? Say from 14-18 ft? We fish the Missouri, NE SD lakes, Spirit, East & West Okoboji, and some other smaller lakes around NW IA. I see you are from Spirit Lake, would you ever consider teaching someone how to use their new unit?

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With the Navionics North Premium, you can set the highlight to a specific depth, lets say, 15ft (default setting on Birds) everything inside of 15 feet will be one color (blue) and everything deeper will be white… For new water, this is a very important feature..

With the Lakemasters, you can highlight a depth, and a range of depth from that specific depth and you get the choice of different colors.. It takes some getting used to..

Send me a PM, Id be glad to set you up.. if I have my chips home, Ill have both for you to experiment with before you buy.. Talk to me before you install the 898 also..

Navionics will have more HD lakes, but lakes that are on one may not be the other. Go to each manufactures website and check out the lists. Navionics does have the web app that lets you preview the lake or lakes. Navionics will have more states per chip, Navionics chips are up dateable for free for the first year you plug your chip into a putor and updates are downloaded to your chip, you can also do sonar logs where you log a piece of water upload it to Navionics and they update the cartography and you then download that to your chip

I chatted with a Navionics rep 4 years ago about “user created data” and he invited me to collect data on all of my favorite spots, and email it to them.. He even said I could name them whatever I wanted to, and it would show up on the card. Initially, I though, wow, thats cool. but the more I got to thinking about it. I knew that my data would go into their database once I pushed send.. Umm, nope, I dont think Im gonna do this.. Bought DR depth instead..

Realistically, Kirt how much new information could there possibly be on a lake that was already HD, or even water that you chose to fish on if it isnt HD. Essentially, youre giving away your favorite spot to the general public, should you decide to send them data. No one is going to spend time collecting data on spots that they dont angle on regularly, are they? If you were driving across Lake Wannab, and it wasnt high def, and you came agross a large area that was HD, dont you think you would investigate that, or think, wow, this is some dummies hotspot..

While it may be a nice program in concept, I just dont see it taking , at least the user created data.

After the first year, what does the program cost to update your chip to the most current information. And what about when your card is full, what happens then.

I’m not trying to be argumentative, these are legitimate questions.

I use both brands. Actually, I own more Nav chips than LM chips, at this time. and yes, I am a Humminbird user, if that makes any difference.. Ive answered the OPs question as honestly as I can regarding both chips, and I think at this time, hes going with the Nav chip, but I havent tried to pursuade him one way or the other..

Again, an honest question.

How does the sonar log work with a Humminbird?

Ive always used my 520 to do this for Dr Depth..

Crickets chirping….?

I got lakemaster for my units. I will be able to give a report when spring comes….so that will be in a month to two