Navionics or Lakemaster Chip

[EyesnSchnapps]

I know this topic has been discused in the past, but I was hoping to gather some new insight, from everyone that uses either chip on LOW. What is everyones opinion on the two. I will be using the chip mainly on LOW, in a Lowrance LMS332c. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Paul Waldowski]

Eyes,

I'm going into Canada tomorrow and fishing LOW. I have both the Nav chart and the *NEW* Lakemaster Chip that has the Candian side on it. Not sure when you need the information by, but I will be comparing them side by side up there all week and I will post when I get back.

[Scoot]

I was up last weekend and I had the new Lakemaster chip. I saw it as a pros and cons issue. The one foot contours were great! However, I found several structures that weren't on the chip- including one named island. Take that for what it's worth...

[EyesnSchnapps]

Paul,

I am in no hury, my next trip up north is at the end of September, so I have plenty of time. I will wait to get the results of your comparisons. I generally fish the Minnesota side of LOW, but am interested in your results. Thanks.

[Hemlock]

Scoot, what island was missing? So is this a case where they "re-surveyed" the lake, or did they use the data from existing charts? What's the scoop?

[fireball]

So is the new lakemaster chip out from last year that has upper red lake on it? I got tired of waiting for it so I bought the old chip. I hope they will sell the new lakes from last year on a updated chip for those of us who allready bought the old chip.

[Scoot]

Hemlock,

I noticed three things missing- 1) Tent Island- it's an extremely small island near Dawson Island. It's very small, but it has a name (for cryin' out loud). 2) A small shallow reef near Naongashing. It shows up on the Navionics chip, but I can't find anything nearly as shallow as the Navionics chip shows. However, there's at the very least a bump there.

The Lakemaster chip shows nothing.

Another small reef near North Island- Lakemaster chip shows nothing.

I discovered these three inconsistencies in one day's use. Makes me nervous very quickly stumbling into these three misses with very little time under my belt.

BTW, I don't report this info in any sort of effort to bad mouth Lakemaster- I've been really happy with their products in general. I'm just telling you what I found with my one day's use with the new chip.

[Paul Waldowski]

Eyes,

Here are the results of running the chips side by side. If you are only going to fish the American side it is a toss up between the two. The Lakemaster chip has more detail and can zoom in further, but the Navionics chip is also spot on although not in the 1 foot increments. If you are even thinking of venturing over the border, it would be Navionics hands down. The charts that came with the houseboat we had were dead on with the chip. The chip also shows primary and secondary travel routes which made navigating the houseboat a breeze. The Lakemaster chip only shows outlines of islands and buoy locations for the Candian side. After one day it was retired and we ran the Navionics chip the rest of the trip.

I have had the Navionics chip for almost 6 months. I have fished Winnebago in Wisconsin, Lake Michigan out of Sheboygan, Rush Lake - north of the Twin Cities, and now LOW in the US and Canada. All of these lakes were accurate and all on the same chip. GOTTA love that!!

[fox8moose]

We were fishing the Canadian side of LOW with the Navionics.

Looking for the reefs and underwater islands indicated by the paper maps,we used the chip to locate the reefs and underwater islands.The GPS indicated which direction and the distance to travel to go to get there with a pointer showing the way. We found no errors and really got excited with finding the reefs and underwater islands with such ease and accuracy. The depths matched the readings on the trolling motor sonar as we moved across the reefs etc.It cut down on search time and allowed more time to fish. It is amazing to find and see the lattitude and longitude and distance to every location pinpointed. Just scanning a path to a selected location showed if there were any shallow areas or objects to cause problems for the boat and engine. Finding our way back was a snap with the unit operating and the boat traveling at a higher speed.This is the most worthwhile fishing tool I've purchased that adds to the fun and relaxation on the water. We fished out of Sioux Narrows and went a lot of miles for the week. The Electronics were phenomenal. I used a LSX 20-c and the other boat used a lms-332c like yours. The chips worked the same on both units.

[EyesnSchnapps]

Paul,

Thanks much, for the up to date report. Hope your trip was an enjoyable one. From the input and feedback I have received, I guess I will be ordering the Navionics chip. I greatly appreciate your input.

[EyesnSchnapps]

fox,

Thanks for the input.

[EyesnSchnapps]

I guess my next question would be, which chip should I order from Navionics. Is one better than the other, or more up to date?

[Paul Waldowski]

Eyes,

Yes, some are better than others. I was using the Hotmaps Premium North. The numbers on the chip is SD/Prem-N2 April of 2006. I think you will be very happy with it.

[Kingfisher]

Paul, Did you fish any lake trout while up there?

[Paul Waldowski]

Brent,

We fished for Trout down in Whitefish Bay for about 1/2 day. J-plugs, Fly's and Spoons pulled behind downriggers and Dipsey Divers. Nada!!!! Marked a ton of fish but couldn't get anything to go

We didn't spend a ton of time down there as the kids lost interest quickly and wanted to get back to the HOT Walleye bite

[lakowoods]

Hi guys just letting you know Navionics crew has been in my store every day here and they are doing the whole lake in 1 foot increments and finding alot of spots that the other guys missed, it will be an incredible map when their done. I have been told it will be ready next spring, if you can wait, it will be all updated also, and they have gone all the way to Birchdale on the Rainy River. Today the Bite was very good on the Lake. Steve @ log cabin bait

[Hemlock]

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they are doing the whole

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The whole lake?

[Scoot]

Yep, I was told the same thing Steve was. Talked with some Navionics fellas one day up there. One dude did say that they'd be done next Spring. When he said this, another Navionics fella laughed out loud and said, "It'll be done in the Spring, but you're one year off."

Take that for what it's worth...

[warrior]

I really wish I knew which chip to buy, I want the best chip for the $$$ and I dont have to have anything but LOW because my boat is not going anywhere else. Can you buy just LOW?? I also would like to know if that chip works in a lowrance X-15MT

[LOW Lover]

I was up on the Woods the last few days and saw the Navionics boat surveying around the Tug Channel and Deep Water Bay. It will be great when they complete the chip.

LOW

[icemiester71]

Just get the LOW Lakemaster (unless u wanna hold out until like next year). You will be impressed. If there is a place for a SD card on your unit it should work. If not u should get the Lakemaster flat map (or use both). Pretty darn good map. It has all the waypoints marked on the map and also in a list. It has great detail with some portions highlighted off to the side like Garden, Arnesens, Gap, NW Angle, 16M, ect zoomed in. However, you can zoom in way way more w/ the GPS than what the map shows.

[Paul Waldowski]

Warrior,

If you just fish the Mn side, either chip will be fine. If you are planning on spending any amount of time in Canada - go with Navionics.

[EyesnSchnapps]

Not sure how true this is...but I was at the Gander Mountain store down here in Illinois, inquiring about the Navionics chip. I was informed by the sales manager that Navionics was in the process of mapping the whole lake for a new chip. They ran into some problems on the Canadian side when they neglected to obtain some permits that they supposedly are required to possess. Supposedly this has put them far behind. Again, I have no other information other than what the sales manager relayed to me. Maybe Hemlock has some scoop on this one?

[Hemlock]

I haven't heard of anything, other than our conversation on this thread and others in the LOW forum. I'll keep an eye out for their boats coming by my store to buy fuel or anywhere on the lake around here for that matter.

I was surprised to hear LOW Lover say that they were already in the Tug and Deepwater. I just look at the map of the entire lake that I have framed on my wall and shake my head. The amount of "ground" that needs to be covered on the Canadian side is big. From the angle to Kenora to Yellowgirl Bay to Sioux Narrows, to Long Bay to Sabaskong, to Miles......I know I'm repeating myself, but I'd like to learn more about how they are going to accomplish this by next spring, or even the spring of '08.

I think Navionics has done a great job of transposing the data that has already been collectd (circa 1954) and putting it onto a chip. It's got about a 95% accuracy on the structure, and 100% accuracy along the navigational routes.

[2 pounder]

Lakemaster!!! It has only LOW on it~ newer one has Canadian side on it. US side is $79.00 atReeds, the one with Canada on it is around $125.00

[Paul Waldowski]

2 pounder,

The newer one has the Canadien side on it, but not depths, Just Islands and buoys

[computerboy]

If you only fish the Minnesota side, it's a no-brainer....the LakeMaster LOW chip is definitely the one for you. According to LakeMaster's compatibility list, it will work with your LCX-15.

However, if you fish the Canadian side then it's a little more tricky. You'll have to buy a Navionces chip that has a HotMaps Classic version of LOW instead of a HotMaps Premium version. I actually picked up a Navionics chip from Reeds a few months back for $89. It has the U.S. and Canadian sides of LOW and Rainy, plus a few other big name lakes (Mille Lacs, Leech, etc). It's a HotMaps Classic version so it's compatible with "older" units like your LCX-15.

Hope that helps.

[warrior]

WOW Thank You all for the great feedback I think I'll be stoping and picking up the lakemaster US only LOW chip. I dont fish the canadian side, so its a no brainer. Hey everyone who replied THANK YOU!!

[PierBridge]

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I also would like to know if that chip works in a lowrance X-15MT

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Nope......sorry......

[Northlander]

No the chip wont work in your 15. I found this out after I bought mine. It wasnt a big deal because I needed it for my H2OC. Bummer because now Im looking at buying a new color graph that will hold the Chip.