Is Humminbird going to be able to keep up with Garmin Livescope and Lowrance?

Does anyone know if or when Humminbird is going to come up with something that rivals Garmins Livescope or Lowrances HDS Live? I love my Helix mega units but am tempted to buy a Garmin setup with livescope. If I knew Humminbird was coming out with something to compete with this I would wait and spend my money on their product.

I’m sure they will but I see nothing in this years line up.

But the G3 is such a huge improvement over the G2…

All joking aside, I love my HB units. But I agree, they have some catching up to do. I can’t imagine Johnson Outdoors will be sitting on their hands for much longer.

I run Humminbird units and cannot complain. My G2 units have been reliable and do what I ask of them (and then some). However, there’s no way I’d spend money to jump from the G2 to the G3. The next generation will be the big upgrade. I wouldn’t be shocked if the G3 models vastly under-perform in sales. Anglers know what is on the table from other brands, and would be foolish not to save up their money and wait for the true technological upgrade that has to be in store.

Maybe Humminbird should just steal it like Garmin did to Lowrance…LOL

It’ll come and hopefully a bite better to keep them on their toes.

Is lowrance live anything like garmin’s live scope ?

Bearcat89 wrote:

Is lowrance live anything like garmin’s live scope ?

from the extremely limited clips they’ve shown, it looks identical if not sharper…releases in April

ClownColor wrote:

Maybe Humminbird should just steal it like Garmin did to Lowrance…LOL

It’ll come and hopefully a bite better to keep them on their toes.

Back before all this like Lowrance did it it from Humminbird?
Ha!

Hummingbirds side scan is much better than lowrance and Garmin. I honestly don’t think live scope is going to be very useful in the boat. Ice on the other hand is a different story.

Since spot-lock and i-link have been cleaned up, Humminbird’s partnership with MinnKota is an advantage. I doubt that they’ll be sitting on their hands, nor will Lowrance and Garmin. The competition will be good for fishermen, but personally, I can’t afford to re-rig my boat every time a new bell or whistle comes on the market.

I agree Ron, most of us simply can’t afford to upgrade every time a newer technology is released.

Ron wrote:

Since spot-lock and i-link have been cleaned up, Humminbird’s partnership with MinnKota is an advantage. I doubt that they’ll be sitting on their hands, nor will Lowrance and Garmin. The competition will be good for fishermen, but personally, I can’t afford to re-rig my boat every time a new bell or whistle comes on the market.

I agree the minnkota trolling motor and talon link still keep them in the game for now. The Garmin panoptics is still to expensive to take over. On March 15th lowrance is supposed to make an announcement on their new trolling motor. The details that have leaked so far sound good, if they are true.

Angler II wrote:

Hummingbirds side scan is much better than lowrance and Garmin. I honestly don’t think live scope is going to be very useful in the boat. Ice on the other hand is a different story.

I too wouldn’t sacrifice mega imaging for livescope as a mostly lake walleye / muskie angler.

I could see times where if you’re anchored or not moving while pitching jigs livescope could be an advantage. As far as locating schools of fish, side imaging is a better tool and I think MEGA imaging is MUCH better than the competition.

Pat McSharry wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Angler II wrote:</div>
Hummingbirds side scan is much better than lowrance and Garmin. I honestly don’t think live scope is going to be very useful in the boat. Ice on the other hand is a different story.

I too wouldn’t sacrifice mega imaging for livescope as a mostly lake walleye / muskie angler.

I could see times where if you’re anchored or not moving while pitching jigs livescope could be an advantage. As far as locating schools of fish, side imaging is a better tool and I think MEGA imaging is MUCH better than the competition.

I am along with you me personally see no need for LiveScope as a fun to watch and curiosity. The only time I could see LiveScope being really use full is fish on weed edges where it`s hard to pick them out with SI.

I don’t understand why some are saying that Livescope won’t be useful when fishing for walleye. Why would that be? It’ll show actual fish moving while fishing in real time. That seems incredibly useful. What am I missing?

Also, I’ve never seen an side-imaging picture online that shows fish. It looks great for seeing structure, but I’m worried that I won’t be able to see if fish are in the area.

I wouldnt trade my Humminbirds (H12 Gen 1 on my Terrova and a S12 on the console) for Garmin Livescope if they offered me a free exchange. I believe in a perfect world, where money was no object, that in order to be truly effective, it would take both technologies.. SI for finding the fish. Livescope for fishing the fish. At this time, Im pretty happy with how effective I am using my SI only. At the risk of hijacking the thread,(Mike Schmidt) I could send you an online album that shows plenty of SI pictures of fish. Send me a Pm I also dont need mega to know what Im seeing with SI. I have it, but rarely if ever use it. If I do, its after the fish are in the livewell already and Im playing around..

Try this with your Livescope, or your mega.. 400 feet of walleyes.. Which way you going to cast?

Livescope can’t currently provide the big picture drive-by coverage necessary to see that sort of stuff. But, I tell ya, pitching jigs into that sort of mess with Livescope would give you all sorts of feedback on lure preference, fish movements and stuff megaSI can’t touch on. Panoptix is exciting to use, allows you to play a fish and entice more and better bites IMO.

Wouldn’t the Garmin side-imaging be adequate enough to also allow you to scan the area before / while using the Panoptix?

Thanks for posting the picture reddog, that’s helpful. My problem (probably a user issue) is that if there aren’t a ton of fish like that I have a tough time telling with side imaging what really is a fish and what isn’t. With Panoptix since the image is more like video I can tell what’s moving.

It seems like with the Garmin I should be able to come into an area with side-imaging turned on to get some initial information, then switch to panoptix and scan for a while to try to find fish moving. If nothing on either just move along. What’s wrong with that strategy?

I’m trying to decide between a Helix and a Garmin Echomap/Panoptix.

Seeing fish is cool but not not $3000 cool. I would however pay 3k to see whats 100 yards in front of me at 25mph.I would rather have that technology to save my lower unit or hull than to find flipper. I guess the hb 360 is not that cool?

For me it’s not about cool, it’s about knowing fish are actually in the area. With Garmin you an use side-imaging to get the big picture, then switch to Livescope to gain confidence that there are really fish there.

I’m trying to understand what’s wrong with that idea because I’d like to decide by this weekend. Other than cost, what’s not to like about Garmin’s side imaging / Livescope combination?

I have no experience with Garmin (or Lowrances) Side imaging, so I cannot tell you anything about that, other than, Humminbird has the best SI available on the market today, bar none. Even without mega, its been better than anything out there. What Garmin does do that I truly like, is they give you a 260 khz option for SI, which would increase your range over Humminbirds or Lowrances 455 I wish Humminbird would offer a 260 option. Im positive I would utilize this more that 800 or mega. I will be the first to tell you, Im underwhelmed with mega. I like 455.. for me, Ill take range over clarity day in day out.

Mike, watch Pat’s spot on the spot at the 12:30 point of this video.

This is a picture of my helix 10 g2n mega si on Green Bay a few weeks ago. You can count fish and see big fish and little fish. Likely Walleye and Perch.

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HB has something that Garmin and Lowrance are yet to offer – 360 imaging. The 360 is a great tool for fishermen in its current form, though needs a big 2nd gen improvement to help slow the mass exodus over to Garmin that is happening as a result of Livescope.

Like others, I’m interested in Livescope though not sure how best to use it with the run-n-gun style of fishing I tend to prefer. On hardwater, it’s a no-brainer, but on a boat which is moving quickly on open water, while we’re slinging musky baits or bass baits at warp speed how does Livescope get used effectively in a hands-free way??

Put the LS transducer on the trolling motor and you’ll be losing your target quickly with each course adjustment. Put it on a separate stick and lose the desired target less quickly, but you’ll have the need to use your hands to adjust the beam pretty regularly. Neither of those options work well for how I tend to fish, but the 360 imaging does.

That’s the dilemma right now: see everything around you not-so-clearly with a few second delay in a hand-free way (360) or see a sliver of water in real-time much more clearly, but requiring constant manual attention to directing the beam at your target (Livescope). Until the technology develops even further (e.g. – 360 Livescope with auto lock feature on your desired target), that’s the trade-off.

I planned on upgrading locators in March of 2018. I looked at Garmin and Humminbird at the NW Sports show and talked to the Reps at the show. I bought a Humminbird 1198 in 2012. Very seldom could I see fish on the SI. In other posts the images that Reddog and FBRM posted with that generation I can see fish. In hindsight I should have learned more about how to adjust the settings to get a better image. I decided to purchase Humminbird Helix 10 G2N Mega SI. It is very impressive. Structure, fish (big and little). At times you can see the shadow from the tail fin on the SI. I can now easily find fish. After using it last summer the piece of the puzzle that is missing is knowing where the fish are when you get the boat spot locked where you seen the fish on the SI. There was quite a few times where the fish had moved on already. Like Brian was saying the 360 would help fill that gap.

These are the things that made me go Humminbird instead of Garmin. The SI that comes with the unit is similar to the 2012 generation stuff from Humminbird. You can buy the Ultra SI transducer for extra money. The Rep I talked to about it said the Ultra is similar to the new Mega from Humminbird. Livescope looks the best thing available in some situations. It really depends how you are going to utilize it. One draw back I see for casting situations with the Livescope is to aim the transducer to where you are casting. I have seen some mounted to the trolling motor shaft. But that limits how you can use the trolling motor to keep boat position and the transducer aimed where you want it.

There are many options out there, they all have positives and negatives. It really comes down to what best fits how you plan to utilize them. It is neat seeing all the Manufactures continue to raise the bar. We all benefit from them competing.

Thank you guys for the photos and the video. That really helps. It’s good to know that the MEGA side-imaging can show fish.

One factor for me is that I can get a 40% discount on Garmin products via a friend. So I think I’m going to get the EchoMap Ultra 10″ (hi-def) and the panoptix livescope. That’ll run me about $2100 if I’m doing the math right.

My main concern is that the EchoMap hi-def isn’t as good as the Hummingbird. But seems worth the risk.

I have no problem seeing fish on my Garmin 73sv. SI is very good.

Arctic’s sonar snapshot is nice but it’s only out 75′ and not much clearer.

Deuces wrote:

I have no problem seeing fish on my Garmin 73sv. SI is very good.

Arctic’s sonar snapshot is nice but it’s only out 75′ and not much clearer.

That is a radius dimension keep in mind.

I just went full garmin on the new boat. I wasn’t convinced the hbird side imaging was that much better than garmin and having livescope on the river seemed like a great option. I get the boat in a week or so. It’ll be interesting to see how livescope looks. I’ll post what I see and we can continue the debate!