Lakemaster vs. Navionics

[raymondk]

can somebody answer a question for me .I looked at a listing for lakes that I fish i am looking at getting a navtronics chip cost is a big factor I seen one for 2006 chip for $59 and i looked at the listings for a 2007 chip the lakes that I fish none of the lakes are updated so does it pay to get the newer chip or notI have been studing this for awhileI mosely only fish small lakes.

[wolf]

Actually navionics buys some of there lake info from lakemaster and they also do their own but the navionics has more stuff.

Some of the extra lake maps have less detail than than the HD lake maps they do.

[Jorgie]

On Lakemaster's list, they show their lowest level of detail as "enhanced lakes." I'm guessing this means enhanced DNR maps. My question: does LM show other lakes that are not listed with just regular DNR maps or is it only the 730 lakes listed?

I ask because Navionics lists a lot of smaller lakes I fish, but with just the standard DNR quality. Which is fine for me. So I'm thinking if LM will do the same, I could get by spending less on a chip.

[PerchJerker]

Nav shows MANY more lakes than LM.

Whether you're talking about Nav or LM, most of the maps on the chip are enhanced maps, not high definition maps (high def maps are much more accurate).

Navionics HSOforum list all the lakes that are shown on chip (and if they're high definition or not). If there's lakes you like to fish, the best thing to do is to look on their webpages to see if they have those lakes on their chip.

[uwleagle]

I bought the H2O color a few weeks ago with the Lakemaster chip. Have been using it on the St Croix near Bayport a few times a week since I have got it. Today I barrowed my friends Navionics chip and could not believe how much better detail the navionics chip showed the bottom. Compared the two a lot and the navionics chip was way better. Could be different for different bodies of water though. The St Croix was the only body of water I have gotten a chance to look at. Now I wish I would have gotten the Navionics chip though.

[hitthebricks]

I have the Nav. hotmap premium and like it but seen they have a Platnum series of chips. Does anyone own any of these and are they any better then the premium chips and how much do they cost?HTB

[Northlander]

Navionics has many more of my local lakes on it with good contours. Lakemaster doesnt seem to want to do any smaller Northern lakes. Seems like they do big lakes like LOW, Winni and Mil Lacs but not smaller ones.

If you fish up North at all I would go with the Navionics.

[Jorgie]

Thanks for the info Northlander. I have a feeling we fish some of the same lakes in the Duluth area, so its good to know Navionics works well here. I may be moving in a few months too, so I think going with Navionics' more lakes would be good.

[rockman]

Navionics gets the nod in my book for the larger number of lakes it has.I fish what some would consider 'obscure' lakes in my area,and the Nav chip has those lakes on the list.I bought the 2008 Navionics North chip, and followed it up by getting the Navionics S.Canada-N. Minnesota chip right afterwards.Now I have the whole region covered.Very satisified with both chips.

[eurolarva]

I bought an H20 and navonics chip about 2 years ago and have fished probably 50 different lakes since then and only 1 was not on the chip. I have read the surveyors maps are not that accurate however the humps, turns, islands and such are there they just may not be exactly where the map says they are. Most times my accuracy from the sats is only 35 ft so I have to use my marcum and auger or my depth finder on my boat to find exact positions but I am still closer then I would be with a paper map. 8000 lakes versus 750 was an easy sell for me.

[SlabSlayKid]

so i've heard that lakemaster countour lines are every 5 feet and navionics are every 3. is this true? if so, is it hard to see with 3 foot contour lines being so close together?

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tough fish have scales, burly fish have wiskers

[Rick]

No it is not hard to see. They both have mutiple differant depth countour lines. LakeMaster zooms in further but is really not necessary to zoom in that far. Both get you within the tightest zone available via the GPS accuracy currently being transmitted.