may have to bite the bullet. live or 360?

[padon]

ok even though i dont like the idea of it it may be time to get a forward facing sonar. i know abouy catching fish in brush piles , suspended etc. however our lakes have alot of grass. The fish also like to use hard gravel spots next to deep grass lines etc. so i guess my question is how good id livescope at seeing those hard spots next to grass, grass lines themselves etc. do brighter returns indicate hard bottom like down imaging? i was gonna buy 360 but i hear guys say you can get all the advantages of 360 with live plus the extra capabilities. also im a humminbird guy but am kind of leaning towards garmin. what are your opinions on the 3 options?

[casts_by_fly]

I don't have either yet but I'm in the same boat as you for water types and considering options.  I'm also a humminbird guy considering garmin if using 'live'.  My Helix can't support either, so I'd have to buy a full headunit and transducer for either.  Its about the same $2500 for me either route.  If I stick HBird I can keep my zero lines card and all of the mapping I've built up (plus the knowledge of the system).  Or I could just have a second unit but that's getting tight on a kayak.  Based on my research, Garmin 'live' will do everything you're asking (and is probably the better choice for me personally).

[BayouSlide]

My two cents?

 

I have both Mega 360 and, now, Mega Live. Two different animals, one can't replace the other. Mega 360 shows structure from a top down orientation, very detailed and sometimes you can spot fish, but limited for fish because of it's rotating scan.

 

Depending upon orientation you can see trees, brush, etc. with Mega Live, but more importantly, see the fish relating to the tree, brush, etc., in real time.

 

Now that I know how to use it, I constantly look at Mega Live on my top screen, while occasionally referring to 360 which is running on my second screen.

 

If I could only have one it would be Mega Live. Do you have a HB trolling motor and graphs? If so, get the HB products for compatibility and don't look back.

[Tennessee Boy]

I have 360 and Mega Live.  They provide different information and complement each other well.   If I had to choose one it would definitely be Live.   It truly is a game changer.   The Garmin and Lowrance FFS offerings are better than Mega Live but having 360 and Mega Live and now Target Lock,  I would not give up my Hummingbirds.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

29 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I have 360 and Mega Live.  They provide different information and complement each other well.   If I had to choose one it would definitely be Live.   It truly is a game changer.   The Garmin and Lowrance FFS offerings are better than Mega Live but having 360 and Mega Live and now Target Lock,  I would not give up my Hummingbirds.

Target lock impresses me the most haha......smart trolling motor and a good casting deck, has to be what Heaven looks like  ?

[Tennessee Boy]

25 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Target lock impresses me the most haha......smart trolling motor and a good casting deck, has to be what Heaven looks like  ?

Yes,  it’s nice not having to choose between spot lock and using Mega Live any longer.

[Woody B]

I was faced with the same decision a few month ago.   I went with Active Target for a couple of reasons.   I already had Lowrance stuff.  (not compatible with active target, but was already familiar with Lowrance interface).  I fish the same waters a BUNCH, so I know where most of the structure is.   I believe 360 would be good for finding structure, and active target/live sonar for finding fish.   

[padon]

6 hours ago, BayouSlide said:

My two cents?

 

I have both Mega 360 and, now, Mega Live. Two different animals, one can't replace the other. Mega 360 shows structure from a top down orientation, very detailed and sometimes you can spot fish, but limited for fish because of it's rotating scan.

 

Depending upon orientation you can see trees, brush, etc. with Mega Live, but more importantly, see the fish relating to the tree, brush, etc., in real time.

 

Now that I know how to use it, I constantly look at Mega Live on my top screen, while occasionally referring to 360 which is running on my second screen.

 

If I could only have one it would be Mega Live. Do you have a HB trolling motor and graphs? If so, get the HB products for compatibility and don't look back.

i do have humminbird graphs and minn kota trolling motor. i know most people say that garmin has better image quality. if i went humminbird i would buy a seperate head so i could run my gps and still have a full screen. has the image quality improved since the update? 

im pretty familiar with the lakes i fish so i know where alot of the goodies are.As we all know grass is ever changing but im sure i can locate dips points etc in grass with the live and then cast to them. with the added bonus of seeing fish.

[Junger]

17 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I have 360 and Mega Live.  They provide different information and complement each other well.   If I had to choose one it would definitely be Live.   It truly is a game changer.   The Garmin and Lowrance FFS offerings are better than Mega Live but having 360 and Mega Live and now Target Lock,  I would not give up my Hummingbirds.

 

So I primarily fish 2 bodies of water, a tidal creek where it's covered in pads and hydrilla and a deep reservoir. For the tidal creek, I basically don't use electronics at all, and frequently trimming my 52" Ultrex up as far as I can to get through the hydrilla. For the deep reservoir, I'm either casting at bank structure for topwater/moving baits, or looking offshore for suspended schools of fish.

 

Right now I just have the Ultrex MSI, and while I can usually locate the general vicinity of the fish in the deep reservoir, being slightly off in 40-50FOW usually means I miss the fish. I was thinking of getting Mega360 to help pinpoint better, since the fish are generally suspended and not moving much. But now I'm rethinking to Mega Live with Target Lock.

 

One big issue is I trim up the Ultrex a lot, I think I can cut down the shaft of the Mega 360 so that it's above the prop when needed or just remove it pretty easy. Trimming the Ultrex seems like an issue with the Mega Live Target Lock. Any opinion?

 

[BayouSlide]

9 hours ago, Junger said:

One big issue is I trim up the Ultrex a lot, I think I can cut down the shaft of the Mega 360 so that it's above the prop when needed or just remove it pretty easy. Trimming the Ultrex seems like an issue with the Mega Live Target Lock. Any opinion?

I wouldn't cut the shaft. It's held in the bracket with just two allen screws so it would be easy to raise up in my opinion. I fish at lot of skinny water and don't raise it. Then again maybe I should: I've broken one shaft and smashed the transducer on cypress stumps: $325 each time and HB has you back in business within a week.?

21 hours ago, padon said:

has the image quality improved since the update? 

 My buddy has the Garmin version and the screen shots he sends me don't look any different from my graph. I'm perfectly happy with the HB now that I have a little time with it.

 

I have all three of my graphs tied together with a HB ethernet switch.

[padon]

15 hours ago, BayouSlide said:

My buddy has the Garmin version and the screen shots he sends me don't look any different

 

15 hours ago, BayouSlide said:

I'm perfectly happy with the HB now that I have a little time with it.

thats good . i have all birds and would like to stay with them just for simplicity. 

[BayouSlide]

2 hours ago, padon said:

 

thats good . i have all birds and would like to stay with them just for simplicity. 

I don't think you'll be missing much, if any, by going with HB. Fish show up well and that'll all you need IMO.

[padon]

6 hours ago, BayouSlide said:

I don't think you'll be missing much, if any, by going with HB. Fish show up well and that'll all you need IMO.

i would also like to locate irregularities in grass beds hard spots in the grass edge etc. im sure if it shows fish it shows these as well

[WIGuide]

That's a bit of a toss up in my mind. 360 is great for seeing what's around you such as brush piles, weedlines, etc. and gives you more of an overhead view so you can see and understand the lay of the land. Forward facing sonar gives you a great amount of detail and ability to see what's going on in a very specific area and obviously it's awesome to be able to see fish moving around and how they react. Humminbird also offers landscape mode which you have to turn the transducer sideways and it will give you a view somewhat similar to 360. If the transducer is mounted to the tm it can be hard to follow exactly where you're looking at on the sonar. Both technologies work best with as little of movement from the boat as possible. 

To answer your question about returns, yes hard spots show up on live with brighter returns just like on down or side imaging. When it comes to grass though, unless there's quite a bit of water over top of it, you won't see much. Since you did mention a lot of grass, I feel like the 360 grabs or drags more if you're in the grass. I know there are quite a few guys in my bass club that run Ultrex's with 360 and they have cut a small piece of 2x4 to lift their trolling motor and lay across the bracket leaving the tm elevated so the 360 unit is completely out of the water.

 

I really think the decision comes down to how you fish and the knowledge of the bodies of water you fish. From your earlier comments, it sounds like you know your body of water pretty well and have spent enough time on the water to know how these spots are laid out. Since that's the case I think you'd benefit the most from adding Mega Live first and sometime down the road compliment it with 360. Since you already have Birds and a Minnkota, I'd personally stick with them and incorporate them into your system.