Garmin QuickDraw Maps

RogersonCrusoe

RogersonCrusoe

Well-Known Member
Hi All,

Seeking collective wisdom:

I'm entering the market for a new fishfinder. Long story short, but the father in law asked if I wanted to buy a barely used Elite 7 he saw on UsedVic. I said YES! But when I went to pick it up from him with the cash he told me that he was going to put it in his boat instead and I could get his Raymarine Dragonfly 7. It was very rude and I was not happy. Anyway...

While plying the waters, I'm learning more and more about the differences between the brands. One thing that sticks out is Garmin's QuickDraw maps that create detailed charts as you move. I'm intrigued, but it kinda seems gimmicky?

Anyone have experience with them?
 
i have the option on my new unit but have yet to play with it. in my home waters of CR i don’t feel it’s relevant. The base maps are very generic when it comes to bottom detail and there are lots of pinnacles that are uncharted. for this reason i think the idea is awesome. imagine finding and fishing your own previously uncharted pinnacle that yields success. our daddy’s all had their “ secret ling hole “ that they would find by aligning this mountain top with that eagles nest with that old tree.......you get the point. Quick draw records and then stores this in your SD card. After you find and record your own hidden pinnacle, Garmin encourages you to upload your maps into their community site for all to enjoy.

Sorry not a chance that’s happening!!
 
I've been playing around with QuickDraw for a couple years on my 7612xsv. I've used it to map out some interesting reefs that I fish, where the detail is lacking on conventionally available charts (garmin's base map, navionics, noaa, etc). It's actually pretty kickass, and can really add some granular detail to complex bottom structure. While it probably isn't directly responsible for putting any more meat in my freezer, I do think it's helpful if you're a map detail guy, or just interested in over-thinking it on occasion. FWIW I think it is a tool mainly for bottom fishing habitat (lings esp) in my hands. There is a learning curve to data entry on it. You'd want to map a contiguous structure all in one episode, as tidal height differences would introduce some weird artifacts if you mapped places at different tidal heights. Also best to do your mapping when swell is low and wind waves are not hostile.

Uploading your personal maps of secret ling holes to the public community in the cloud just seems funny to me, so needless to say my stuff isn't up there.

It was a factor in my Garmin choice too, and I'm glad I have it. When they get the bugs worked out of panoptix for the saltwater angler, it will be Garmin for the win,

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I started on Raymarine (Navionics Charts) and then my last boat came with a Garmin 7612xsv. I used the QuickDraw contouring and did upload quite a few locations. I subscribe to the philosophy of gathering and sharing that information.
The thing that did put me off though, was the tidal difference as mentioned. Every time I went over a previously mapped bottom, it would be changing it. You can set an offset at the start of recording to allow for the tidal difference, but Garmin should automate that in the future, I would hope.
Garmin has bought out Navionics, so there should be some amalgamation of the chart info, one would think. I bought Garmin for my new boat.
 
eriks said:
Garmin has bought out Navionics, so there should be some amalgamation of the chart info, one would think. I bought Garmin for my new boat.
Click to expand...

Yes, the new G3 cards have integrated Navionics data.

As for the original question about mapping, I've used Navionics SonarChart Live a bunch and it is really cool. Both for places that had no map data to improving existing coverage.

This was the shot after I went through while mapping, it had literally nothing before.

IMG_0273.png


Now the coverage is there for the areas I mapped. This was done with an iPad and once back to my home wifi it sent data to Navionics and then a week later it was updated on the app and Navionics cards.
 
Was searching if there was a way to factor in tides when using the Quickdraw feature on my 942 XS. I can't find one. Without factoring in tides, the Quickdraw map doesn't provide much benefit over just using G3 map card. Fish through a tide and you get a bunch of weird contours and ledges that don't exist in real life. Garmin should fix this, it wouldn't be difficult.
 
Matt16 said:
Was searching if there was a way to factor in tides when using the Quickdraw feature on my 942 XS. I can't find one. Without factoring in tides, the Quickdraw map doesn't provide much benefit over just using G3 map card. Fish through a tide and you get a bunch of weird contours and ledges that don't exist in real life. Garmin should fix this, it wouldn't be difficult.
Click to expand...
Both Garmin & Lowrance's mapping are pains in the you-know when it comes to tides, IMHO MAtt.

However, you can overcome it.

With Garmin & Lowrance you can set offests (originally designed to deal with fluctuating lake levels).

On the Garmin you set it on the unit as you go - with the Lowrance you apply it afterwards on short time segments when saved as sonar logs & uploaded afterwards.

With both units - I would recommend saving using shorter time frames (5-10minutes around mid tides, and 15-20 around the highs/lows) - before changing the offsets and/or restarting the logging of the sounding transects. The reson: the tide only changes so much during the shorter time frames and you want to match the offset to the current time.

In other words - use a tide graph as your lake offset. in the field - using Garmin - you will need to print-off a tide chart and manually change the offset ev 5-20minutes. You'd do the same with the saved Lowrance sounding logs afterwards - the same ways but online.

As I said - a pain for both - but can be done...
 
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