Which map for Lowrance Elite graph

[Steve Thompson]

I just picked up a new Lowrance Elite Ice Machine in the portable PPI-18I Ice Pack and not sure which mapping option I should purchase. Great on the ice so far, but needs detailed maps. I'll primarily be fishing in South Dakota. The maps all have their pro/cons, but not sure which one is better. Any advice would be helpful.

Looks like the option are....

Lake Insight HD/Pro

Nautic Insight HD/Pro

Navionics

Fishing Hot Spots PRO

[Fred_Bear]

I have the lowrance lake insight pro in my HDS 5 and I love it... The HD will not work in the elite series, only the pro will work. The key is to see what kind of coverage each one has for the lakes you fish most often. If you have any kind of sports store close, go there and check them out.

If that's not an option then PM me with the lakes you're interested in and I can check them out on the Lowrance maps.

[Steve Thompson]

Thanks for the info Fred! I figured out that the "Nautic Insight Pro" maps are out since they cover the coastal shorelines. So, I started an excel file and copied/sorted the maps for "Lake Insight Pro" and "Fishing Hot Spots PRO". They basically cover for the same lakes with few exceptions that would not impact me.

However, when I copied the map list for "Navionics", it has 86 more lakes than FHS Pro, however it doesn't tell me whether they are "Shoreline only", "Standard Definition (Depth Contours > 3’), or High Definition (Depth Contours 1’ – 3’) like the LI Pro.

Does anyone know if Navionics maps are better than FHS Pro and LI Pro? I also can't figure out which Navionics map work for the Lowrance Elite series.

[CaptainMusky]

I dont have the navionics chip, but I do have the navionics app on my phone but I think that is a fair comparison.

I dont have experience on the South dakota waters, but the Navionics app does have 1 foot contours on some of the lakes where the LakeMaster or Lowrance Lake Insight Pro have only 3 foot.

I looked on my navionics app and it doesnt appear too detailed for much in South Dakota other than the obvious bodies of water, but I do have an older version of the app (US North)

[Steve Thompson]

Guys, thanks for the thoughts. I ran over to Scheels last night and sat down with a salesman in the electronics. He put both the Navionics and Lake Insight Pro in side by side graphs. While the Navionics covers twice the number of lakes, the Lake Pro has far greater detail.

There are three major lakes (Waubay, Bitter & Thompson) in the Lake Pro that absolutely blew Navionics out of the water. In one area on Bitter, Navonics shows the southeast portion of the lake as 2' deep marsh land, while on the Lake Pro, it show 1' contour to the 20' depth in fine detail.

In comparing the available lakes on both, they both cover all the major lakes with some minor bodies of water the same. The extra lakes in Navionics are smaller bodies of water that would not impact my fishing.