Best LOTW GPS/Sonar?

[jasonk]

In your opinion what is the best GPS/Sonar combo for the Canadian side of LOTW? My dad turns 60 this year and we would like to get him one for his birthday. Thanks for the information.

[Hemlock]

Navionics has done a great job of mapping LOTW Canadian side. I believe the best chip to get is the West Great Lakes series.

[jasonk]

I am thinking of buying a Lowrance 332C with the Navionics Gold chip. Does anyone have any experience with these?

[eskay]

jason,

This is the unit I use and I haven't had a bit of trouble with it, and it gets used alot. I had trouble with my GPS unit dropping the satellites on the one I had before I bought the 332c, but have never had this unit drop out of coverage, and the color is great! One tip I found helpful was to mount the antenna unit on an antenna mounting bracket, it seems to work better than the surface mount.

Another thing that I like is that I still get depth readings even at high speeds. Nice to know what's under you as you zoom from one spot to the next.

I have the Navionics chip, and it covers both sides of LOW, including the buoys and the route directions. The only problem with the chip is that when you zoom in tight, sometimes you're in an island instead of right next to it. This is on every chip I've seen, it has to do with the overlay, I'm guessing.

A neighbor up north has a different chip he got at Reed's, he says it doesn't have this problem. I don't know who makes it, but it's on their HSOforum. I think it's only for the Canadian side, not sure. I'm waiting for the Lakemaster map to be finished in the 1 foot increments for the entire Canadian side of the lake to buy a new chip, but I'm happy with the Navionics one for now. I also noticed that Navionics now has a Canadian lakes chip, so if your dad fishes somewhere besides LOW, it could be worth investigating.

I would also suggest getting a RAM mount for the unit. It makes installation easier, and makes use more versatile.

Hope this helps.