Lowrance HDS 12 Live With 3 in 1 Active Imaging Transducer
- Thread starter WILF J
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Drink
Well-Known Member
Not sure but for a small shallow lake it seems like an over kill for me. Just my opinion. If you have the space and the $$$ why not.
With boat show pricing now is the time to consider an upgrade.
I was thinking of an upgrade as well but with a 7" touch for my 12' Journey . Been looking at Garmin as a choice as it has the dual ability to add BC Backroads mapping for lakes. No very little about Garmin functionality as always been a Lowrance guy. Good luck on your search as I would be interested in what you settled on.
GPS Central
7'' unit the best GPS/sonar combo is the ECHOMAP UHD 75 svhttps://www.gpscentral.ca/products/garmin/ECHOMAP-UHD-72sv-73sv-74sv-75sv.
html
With boat show pricing now is the time to consider an upgrade.
I was thinking of an upgrade as well but with a 7" touch for my 12' Journey . Been looking at Garmin as a choice as it has the dual ability to add BC Backroads mapping for lakes. No very little about Garmin functionality as always been a Lowrance guy. Good luck on your search as I would be interested in what you settled on.
GPS Central
7'' unit the best GPS/sonar combo is the ECHOMAP UHD 75 svhttps://www.gpscentral.ca/products/garmin/ECHOMAP-UHD-72sv-73sv-74sv-75sv.
html
I run two of the new live units( 7" and 9" networked) and like the performance. The 12" and up models have a more powerful processor which would be nice although any of the HDS live units are decent. I'd also check out the latest models from Simrad. The 3 in 1 transducer works better than expected and well in tandem with a P-66 although probably not required for lakes. For trolling salmon out front I run the P-66 on 200khz and chirp/ down scan with the 3 in 1 for better definition depending on the circumstances. Considering the 3 in 1 isn't a true dedicated chirp transducer it does surprisingly well.
Boat show specials likely at dealers mid island
Having both I'd try going 9" if a deal can be found with the specials going on. It's much more comfortable on the eyes as they age...
Problem is like buying larger TV, difficult to go smaller once you make the plunge. That being said the 7" is a decent unit.
YachtMech
Well-Known Member
If you are really wanting that capability look at the new elite FS, even that is way overkill for what you are doing, Since structure is less important for trout fishing, ESPECIALLY in small lakes. Reality is you can easily do with the even with the hook or even less, it seems to be overkill to be spending that much money on sonar for jon boat fishing.
And just so you know where I am coming from, I have my own mobile marine service company, I am a certified NMEA 2000 marine electronics installer, I am a marine engineer, and a captain. I’ve been fishing my whole life have a dozen or so high end setups for fly, spin, cast, troll, and bottom. And really you don’t need a 3 in 1 for inland lakes unless you are targeting bass, but in BC that’s really not necessary as we tend not to need to do that like they do in the states. A more basic finder would suit you just fine, the retail on the HDS 12 with 3 in 1 is $4k which is probably more than what the boat cost. Anything that can find the bottom and spot fish is all you really need, I've gotten away with a fairly basic used hummingbird on my lake rig that cost me $200, I use it for choronomid fishing in the spring and trolling anything from wedding bands to leeches in the summer, it does just fine
also just FYI I have an Elite FS 9 on order thats going on my ocean rig, which is more fitting since I want a proper chartplotter that can display engine data, radar, ais, ect. The HDS is one step above that, I cant see a reason why an inland jon boat would possibly need those capabilites.
And just so you know where I am coming from, I have my own mobile marine service company, I am a certified NMEA 2000 marine electronics installer, I am a marine engineer, and a captain. I’ve been fishing my whole life have a dozen or so high end setups for fly, spin, cast, troll, and bottom. And really you don’t need a 3 in 1 for inland lakes unless you are targeting bass, but in BC that’s really not necessary as we tend not to need to do that like they do in the states. A more basic finder would suit you just fine, the retail on the HDS 12 with 3 in 1 is $4k which is probably more than what the boat cost. Anything that can find the bottom and spot fish is all you really need, I've gotten away with a fairly basic used hummingbird on my lake rig that cost me $200, I use it for choronomid fishing in the spring and trolling anything from wedding bands to leeches in the summer, it does just fine
also just FYI I have an Elite FS 9 on order thats going on my ocean rig, which is more fitting since I want a proper chartplotter that can display engine data, radar, ais, ect. The HDS is one step above that, I cant see a reason why an inland jon boat would possibly need those capabilites.
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Fisher_dude
Crew Member
I have a Garmin 73cv going up for sale soon if you’re interested.
bcbassfishing
Well-Known Member
been running garmin for the last couple years... and just got an Echomap 7 with side and down imaging. I had a 65cv on my 17ft bass boat and it was plenty big. Space is a premium on small boats so I wouldn't oversize it personally. Save the coin for other fishing stuff.
Thanks everyone for your input, I have decided to purchase the Garmin ECHOMAP UHD 95sv Chartplotter 9" touch screen and the Garmin Panoptix Livescope scanning sonar for the following reasons.
Price compared to Lowrance is less
The fact that Garmin has been using the livescope tech,(Active Target),for a couple of years now vs Lowrance which just started.
Main fishing boat is presently set up with Garmin equipment so I can cascade in a pinch
Just got to get out and try it now
Price compared to Lowrance is less
The fact that Garmin has been using the livescope tech,(Active Target),for a couple of years now vs Lowrance which just started.
Main fishing boat is presently set up with Garmin equipment so I can cascade in a pinch
Just got to get out and try it now
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