Lakemaster Vs Navionics

[Jimmy from Cottage Grove]

I currently have the lowrance h2o with the 06 lakemaster chip. Someone told me that the navionics chips are alot better. That they show way more structure.And they have more lakes is this true?

[Badger_55]

good question, I am wondering the same haven't decided on which one to buy yet for the same unit. I looked at the list of lakes for both systems and navionics had a lot more of my local smaller lakes on it.

[Northlander]

The Northern Lakes in my area are better covered on Navionics. A lot of my local lakes arent on Lakemaster. I do have the new lakemaster chip and it zooms in better in more poular bigger lakes and has roads wich is nice.

For me in the Duluth/Superior area Navionics covers a lot more though.

[PerchJerker]

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That they show way more structure.And they have more lakes is this true?

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You're mixing a couple different things together.

High Definition maps (1 foot or 3 foot contours) are the most accurate and show the most detail. Both Nav and LM have a lot of high def maps and they tell you which lakes are high def. For many of the high def lakes, Nav and LM have the exact same map. So do they show you more structure? No. But LM zooms in closer, so it does a better job of showing you the structure.

Nav has many more maps, but most of them are not high def maps. They are essentially DNR lake survey maps so maybe kind of accurate, maybe not so accurate. Most of the lakes on the LM chip are also not high def, but I think (not sure about this) that LM has more high def maps.

Of course, what really matters is what lakes you fish. Doesn't do you any good to have a bunch of high def maps if you never fish those lakes. Like Northlander said, more of the lakes in his area are on the Nav chip so that's a better way for him to go.

LM lets you zoom in much tighter than Nav. On low-def maps that aren't accurate anyway this isn't a big deal, but on the super-accurate high-def maps the LM is much better than the Nav.

I never use my chips unless I'm on the water, but I think LM still has a lot more road detail and point of interest detail than Nav.

Again, it really comes down to what lakes you fish the most, and which chip has more of them in total and more of them in high def.

[youngie22]

Each chip is better for specific person. I think you need to know which lakes you fish, and where you want to use it. If you hit major lakes mostly LM will probably be the one. If you hit alot of lakes, and go out of state (wisc, N&S Dakota, then Nav. may be better. I have both chips, Nav. has more lakes around the cabin, & has other states on one chip. I use the LM most often when I am on Major bodies of water (mille lacs, Pool 4, St. croix river, etc.). The biggest factor is how far you can zoom in on the LM; Much more accurate when you can get right on top of something. That is alot harder w/ the Nav. chip. Does that help any?

[hitthebricks]

I just upgraded from a Reg. 10 navonics chip (MN only(to the new 07 version and was wondering if anyone with the LM chip has done the same and would like to swap their old chip? Email me at bob at rglarson (Contact Us Please)

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Hitthebricks, Im confused... are you saying you want to trade the new Navionics chip for the old lakemaster? If so I might be able to help you out...

[hitthebricks]

No, I would like to trade old for old. My chip is 3-4 years old but i would like to try the the feature where you can zoom in closer and maybe someone would want my nav chip for the rebate available or for the more extensive amount of MN lakes. HTB

[Jimmy from Cottage Grove]

The lakes I fish the most are mille lacs and upper red. I have the old chip so upper red is not an hd map. The mille lacs in hd is awesome. I know now that they have upper red in hd on the 07 chip. I have the black and white h2o. Is it true that the chip tells you what type of bottom it is on any of the chips? Someone told me that you can on the color h20.

[PerchJerker]

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Is it true that the chip tells you what type of bottom it is on any of the chips?

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No. There may be a few icons for submerged vegetation or rocks, but that is it. If you know how to read a contour map you can make good guesses as to rocks, hard bottom, mud, etc. but there is nothing on the chips that tell you that. The color units just use different colors for different depths, dark blue is deep, lighter colors are shallower.

[Walleyes4Matt]

For southern Minnesota Navionics covers almost every lake I would fish with a boat where Lakemaster is missing a few. If you only fish the bigger lakes than its up to you which chip you like better.