A little help with picking a Lowrance

[Smalls]

Finally decided to upgrade the graph for my kayak. For price vs features, I’ve decided on a Lowrance Hook2. 
 

Whichever I choose will have the tripleshot transducer. I’m trying to decide between a 5”, with maps, or the 7x. 
 

If I get the 5” with mapping, I don’t understand the difference between “4,000 US lake maps” and “US/Can Nav+”.

I know I’m the only one who can decide what my needs are. With that being said, I don’t feel like I ever paddle far enough where I need maps. I study online maps before I go enough to see a cove/dock/point and know exactly where I am. 
 

I also live in NM, I can’t imagine their maps of out here being very detailed. Some of our lakes fluctuate 20-50ft or more throughout the year. 
 

I would, however, like to be able to drop waypoints. Is the chart plotting on the “x” models enough for me to see a waypoint, and start paddling to it?

 

Basically, if the mapping is more useful to me than I think it is, I can afford the 5”. If it’s a feature I don’t need, I can go up in screen size. No one ever complained about their screen being too big. 
 

The last piece of information I’m looking for is power consumption. I know this will vary depending on what features I’m running, but just looking for a general idea, so I can figure out what size battery I’ll need. 

 

Tips, guidance, or any other hand-holding for this process would be great 

[J Francho]

I'm a Humminbird user, but I'll try to answer some of these.

48 minutes ago, Smalls said:

If I get the 5” with mapping, I don’t understand the difference between “4,000 US lake maps” and “US/Can Nav+”.

That is the inland version.  There's a coastal version as well, I think.

49 minutes ago, Smalls said:

I know I’m the only one who can decide what my needs are. With that being said, I don’t feel like I ever paddle far enough where I need maps. I study online maps before I go enough to see a cove/dock/point and know exactly where I am.

Not alone, the options are dizzying.  My must

 

haves: GPS/Mapping and traditional sonar.  DI/SI are nice to have, but you usually get at least DI when you add mapping. 

52 minutes ago, Smalls said:

I also live in NM, I can’t imagine their maps of out here being very detailed. Some of our lakes fluctuate 20-50ft or more throughout the year. 

You can adjust the offset for high/low water conditions in the unit's settings. 

52 minutes ago, Smalls said:

I would, however, like to be able to drop waypoints. Is the chart plotting on the “x” models enough for me to see a waypoint, and start paddling to it?

The X-models have no mapping features.

53 minutes ago, Smalls said:

The last piece of information I’m looking for is power consumption. I know this will vary depending on what features I’m running, but just looking for a general idea, so I can figure out what size battery I’ll need.

I use a small 7ah battery, and it lasts fine for 10 hour trips using either my 5 or 7 GPS/DI/SI units.  I imagine Lowrance would be similar.

55 minutes ago, Smalls said:

Basically, if the mapping is more useful to me than I think it is, I can afford the 5”. If it’s a feature I don’t need, I can go up in screen size. No one ever complained about their screen being too big. 

I use my 5 on my kayak more than the 7.  Mapping, like said is an absolute must have.  I drop way points for every fish I catch, any spots I want to mark, any submerged structure, etc.  Once you fish an area a lot, those way points can start to tell a story. 

[Smalls]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

I'm a Humminbird user, but I'll try to answer some of these.

That is the inland version.  There's a coastal version as well, I think.

Those are two different options so if there’s a 3rd, that just adds to the pile. 
 

And if my lakes aren’t in the preprogrammed lakes, I really can’t afford the $150 or whatever it is for the extra card. I can’t seem to figure out any of that info. 

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Not alone, the options are dizzying.  My must

 

haves: GPS/Mapping and traditional sonar.  DI/SI are nice to have, but you usually get at least DI when you add mapping. 

You can adjust the offset for high/low water conditions in the unit's settings.

This is helpful, I didn’t know that. 

Quote

 

The X-models have no mapping features.

So far, this is the only thing I’ve learned 100% about Lowrance’s terminology. 

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I use a small 7ah battery, and it lasts fine for 10 hour trips using either my 5 or 7 GPS/DI/SI units.  I imagine Lowrance would be similar.

Currently running an 8ah battery. So I might just pick up another (it was only $25) for tournament weekends. 

Quote

I use my 5 on my kayak more than the 7.  Mapping, like said is an absolute must have.  I drop way points for every fish I catch, any spots I want to mark, any submerged structure, etc.  Once you fish an area a lot, those way points can start to tell a story. 

The 7x allows you to set waypoints, I just don’t know what it looks like in the screen, and how useful the waypoints are without an actual map. If I see something on the graph, I can mark it, but I don’t really know what I can do from there. 
 

I’m coming from a Humminbird Piranha Max, so I’ve done without any mapping or GPS functions whatsoever. Trying to gauge how much of those functions I’ll use if I had them. 

[Smalls]

I did find what lakes are included in C-Maps. 95% of my lakes say “shoreline only”. 
 

I’m gonna assume all I get with that is a trace of the lake, no contours or anything else. 

[J Francho]

Try the Navionics site: https://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#boating@12&key=wsnxErqygS

[Smalls]

27 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Try the Navionics site: https://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#boating@12&key=wsnxErqygS

The US/Can Nav+ option under maps would be a Navionics card?
 

It didn’t make sense earlier, because the card itself is $200, and that option is only $30 with the graph. But it kinda makes sense, now. 
 

edit- it is indeed Navionics, and they have a majority of the lakes I fish. 
 

J Francho, I appreciate you holding my hand. I’m gonna go ahead and get the 5” with maps. 

[J Francho]

Navionics card is an upgrade to the base maps.