Lowrance vs HB vs Garmin for Tournament Kayak Bass & Crappie fishing

[ShimanoDobynsGuy]

First off I hated to make a new thread since there was one just below but My budget is much higher I actually have no budget I just want the best tool for the job.

 

So with that being said I'm from Illinois most of my fishing will be done in IL,WI,MO in water less then 40 ft with quit a bit of cover. I like to fish for Panfish Bass and walleye so structure fishing is pivotal. 

 

Kayak is a Old Town 136 autopilot. For some reason they didn't put ILink on these trolling motors just ipiolot so that eliminates the need for a HB unit for linking purposes.  

 

I originally thought i was gonna go Garmin for live scope but then HB announced mega live and then Lowrance announced active target. So to be honest I think Garmin is now out for me, I left in the discussion  to keep options open but as of writing this I am leaning towards HB or Lowrance. That's where things get muddy Lowrance has a done a great job at getting plenty of video out of active target so it looks awesome defiantly almost pre ordered one. Now HB on the other hand has not and from what I read and from talking with others they are concerned the imagery wont be the best dew to the lack of the black box a selling point for HB. Most are saying it will compare to Garmin's gen 1 version plus it doesn't release till march kind of late but first tourney isn't till may so I would have time. 

 

So any help pictures of images of both units you can share or link thoughts on active image vs lives cope vs mega live and last but not least 9,10in or 12in unit for size. Thanks for your time  

[ShimanoDobynsGuy]

 I'm overwhelmed with the comments

[TnRiver46]

Hahaha . The way I understand it , they all show the same thing? I’m sure you’ve heard wheeler had all 3 brands on his boat this year and did very well. It’s just different interpretations of the same information, probably all boils down to personal preference. 

[GaryH]

Chevy, Ford, Mopar. Everyone has there preference. I used to run Lowrance and now I run Humminbirds. I think the best advice I could give is go to a store that sells all three and  look at them in the demo mode and see what one you like best. Good luck on your choice...

[Team9nine]

Too early to tell since no one really has or has used HB and Lowrance “live” versions yet - or at least very little at this point. Either wait and see what comes out over the next few months (reviews, etc.), or jump on Garmin and start getting familiar with unit.

 

For size, with “live,” everyone says go large (12”). Not sure how much room on a kayak there is for that. Would agree if you stand and fish. If sitting down, where you are naturally closer to screen, you might be OK dropping a size and going 9”-10”. Bigger is almost always better. Kind of like hp and thrust - lol.

[12poundbass]

It’s interesting you say Garmin is out since Humminbird and Lowrance are coming out with something new. Humminbird and Lowrance are using Garmin’s technology. 

[Shimano_1]

I think it depends on what specifically you want them for. As a whole I prefer garmin.  2d and mapping is the best and side imaging is plenty good enough.  If you want the best side imaging get birds with mega. Lowrance has some nice newer units but I've just never much cared for Lowrance.  As already mentioned you're gonna get different opinions.  I bought my garmins because they were 600 bucks compared to 1500 for what I wanted in birds. My partner runs birds and they're great as well but he spent 2k a piece. Can't really go wrong just buy what suites you and what you're looking for in a unit!

[ShimanoDobynsGuy]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

10 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

It’s interesting you say Garmin is out since Humminbird and Lowrance are coming out with something new. Humminbird and Lowrance are using Garmin’s technology. 

I just learned about the gt56 so I'm still considering Garmin. From what i can see from the video's i like the look of the active target better then the live scope. To be honest i like the images of the humming bird mega the best. I don't like the idea of waiting till march to see what mega live is going to look like. And I'm a little concerned that it doesn't use a black box when the other brands do. Do you use Garmin? If so why did you choose Garmin over the others?

[12poundbass]

1 hour ago, ShimanoDobynsGuy said:

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I just learned about the gt56 so I'm still considering Garmin. From what i can see from the video's i like the look of the active target better then the live scope. To be honest i like the images of the humming bird mega the best. I don't like the idea of waiting till march to see what mega live is going to look like. And I'm a little concerned that it doesn't use a black box when the other brands do. Do you use Garmin? If so why did you choose Garmin over the others?

I started with Garmin and Humminbird. The boat I bought had a couple Helix units and before I bought the boat I bought a Garmin Echomap.
 

Before I bought the boat I had decided on Garmin. I’m a budget guy and with Garmin you get more bang for your buck. The preloaded maps had my lakes, Humminbird didn’t. Garmin has QuickDraw where you can create up to 1 million (I believe) acres which is more than I’ll ever need, Humminbird you have eight hours, then you need to buy a zero lines card which is over $100. So Garmin was the right fit for me. 
 

You really can’t go wrong with any unit. Humminbird has MEGA imaging which from the sounds of it, it’s better than Garmin’s UHD. Lowrance have fish reveal which looks like it would be nice to have. Lowrance’s live imaging is borrowed technology from Garmin, so it’s basically Garmin’s first gen live imaging so I doubt it’ll ever compete with Garmin. Humminbird has MEGA 360 and soon to be MEGA Live which has caused some to become head over heels in love with it even though to my knowledge nothing has come out to show what it is or what it looks like. Then Garmin has Panoptix, Livescope, their excellent mapping, UHD, and some argue the best 2d sonar. 
 

Just keep researching, the more informed you are the better you’ll feel about your decision. 

[Johnbt]

"Garmin has QuickDraw where you can create up to 1 million (I believe) acres"

 

Fwiw, the Garmin Vivid 9sv I just bought says "up to 2 million acres"

 

None of the places I fish are on any of the map units, so who knows, I might map a few acres.

I primarily bought it because the GT52HW transducer just barely fit on my Maxxum 70. And it even has SideVü.

[DogBone_384]

On 12/21/2020 at 6:38 AM, GaryH said:

Chevy, Ford, Mopar.

Nissan, Honda, Toyota for the ‘tuners’ in the crowd...

[Dens228]

11 hours ago, Johnbt said:

"Garmin has QuickDraw where you can create up to 1 million (I believe) acres"

 

Fwiw, the Garmin Vivid 9sv I just bought says "up to 2 million acres"

 

None of the places I fish are on any of the map units, so who knows, I might map a few acres.

I primarily bought it because the GT52HW transducer just barely fit on my Maxxum 70. And it even has SideVü.

Haha, I didn't think I'd use the QuickDraw much either.  I fish a lot of quarries that don't have maps or are based on many, many years ago before they even had water in them and aren't accurate. Not only do I use it all the time, I use it on less popular bodies of water where the maps are not very accurate.  I also find that damned reservoirs change a lot over the years from the time they were originally mapped.   Once you have the Garmin QuickDraw is free so use it!

[Smalls]

Something to consider- HB and Old Town are owned by Johnson Outdoors, and the OT kayaks are designed with HB electronics in mind. No extra parts or figuring out how to make transducers fit, etc.