Mega 360, Panoptics? Need some advice

[Functional]

Been toying with the idea of wanting Mega 360 on my boat. I'm not personally really on board with livescope, but having a "map" of the ground around me and casting to specific targets is very appealing instead of my usual approach of making educated guesses. When I outfitted my boat 2 years ago I went with a Garmin Force TM and Echomap UHD at the console with the intent to get another 9" at the bow later on. From images, I feel like the Mega 360 would give me what I'm looking for, however I havent really seen anyone use panoptics in the perspective mode, always the forward (livescope) view.

 

Can anyone comment on a Mega 360 vs Panoptics perspective view and their experiences with them? 

 

Panotpics:

For panoptics it seems like you need to mount the transducer in the orientation you want to use it in and cant just use any of the 3 with a screen selection, is this correct? Also I'm assuming it works as a "cone" and you have to point the TM towards the ground area you are trying to get an image of...basically making spotlock and the panoptics non compatible?

 

Mega 360:

What difference will there be using 360 from say 10FOW to 30FOW?

 

[casts_by_fly]

I debated 360 vs live imaging and settled on live imaging.  Here were my thoughts before and since.

 

- I went HBird on my kayak from the start.  The head unit I started with was not compatible with either, so an upgrade was required as a starter.  I wanted to stick with HBird as I think their sonar imaging is the best.  It also fits better with my autopilot.

 

- I primarily am a down the bank fisherman.  Offshore wasn't a thing for me before this year and mostly wasn't this year.  Most of the lakes I'm fishing here are shallow and weedy.

 

- I chose live imaging because I think it gives much of the functionality of 360 plus the actual live imaging portion.  With 360 you are getting a snapshot in time.  I think it takes a minute for the snapshot to refresh a given position.  With live imaging, you can do the same sweep of an area to see what structure and cover is down there.  You can sweep the area over and over if you want as quick as you can turn the transducer.  You don't get the static picture on the screen, so you have to build that up in your head.  In both cases, the boat's movement will change the picture.  With live imaging you can keep sweeping more quickly than 360 takes to rotate the transducer picture.

 

- live imaging gives you the ability to also 'scope' fish if you desire.  I bought mega live to have a better picture of what's on the bottom, not necessarily to scope fish.  To that extent I'm happy with it.  I've largely figured it out for that purpose.  When I'm going down the bank I'll point it ahead of me and towards the bank (maybe 30 degrees off directly in front of me) so that I can get a preview of what's subsurface that I can't see.  If there is a stump or brushpile that I can't see with the eye, I might stop the boat and work the area from further out before I run it over.  I might make a few more casts in that area.

 

- You are correct that you have to flip the transducer for the different perspectives.  I'm running mega live but I think they are all largely the same in that regard.  I've used perspective mode to immitate 360 and it works.  you have a smaller cone than 360 degrees but you also can turn it to scan otherwise.  

 

- In your case, you're on a garmin system currently.  If you want to add 360 then you're adding a non networked unit from a different manufacturer with a different style and set of controls.  Of course that's the onyl way you can add 360 to your setup so that's a consideration.

 

- You can mount live imaging on a separate pole that is hand controlled if you want. That's how mine is on my kayak.  Humminbird offers target lock also for their system.  I think there is an aftermarket company with a similar setup that is not unit specific.

 

- after having used it for a year or so now, I feel like I'm comfortable with the basics.  There is a learning curve.  I think being in a kayak makes it tougher still as the boat twists and turns a lot more with the wind and I have to manage the pole with one hand while fishing with the other two...  I might play with my FF placement a little more and pole depth for a little better usablity.  In either case, if you're going to use either the way you're describing, then spotlock and/or SWA are definitely required.

[Tennessee Boy]

I have Humminbird Mega Live on a Target lock mount and Mega 360 all mounted on an Ultrex which makes for a very heavy trolling motor.   If I had to choose Live or 360 I would choose live but it would be a difficult decision.  There are days when I prefer 360,  they serve different purposes.   The Live landscape mode is very limited.  Remember the sonar beam is 20 degrees wide so when you flip it sideways you are seeing a very limited 20 degree swath of the bottom.   The 360 beam is 84 degrees wide and there are two of them pointing in opposite directions.   You can adjust how fast it turns and the image is much higher resolution than Live in landscape mode.  If you’re looking for a map of the bottom as you describe then Mega 360 is what you’re looking for.   

[padon]

ive been debating this for months and finally bought a 360. for my style of fishing what i want is to be able to pull up to a waypoint, ( say a rock pile) and know exactly where it is . not guess. also my lakes are weedy , i need to see clumps that grow out a little further than the rest, rocks in the edge of the deep weed line etc. makes me more efficient hopefully.live can do the same but for me its more tricky to read and you have to keep moving the transduecer to adjust for wind drift etc. im not sure i want to take the surprise and wonder out of my fishing. i dont care if other people use it thats up to them but part of fishing to me is wondering weather there are fish there and feeling that bump.also im not sure that with my limited amount of fishing time i want to spend it chasing fish and stairing at a screen which i do alot at work. ymmv.

[FryDog62]

I have had Panoptix/Livescope/Livescope+ for 5 seasons and Mega 360 Imaging for two now. Much of my opinions below are generalities and there are always exceptions. 
 

Livescope: Absolutely excels in the spring pre-spawn period where for me, 360 Imaging isn’t worthless but not very useful IMO. Outside of spawn beds (which I don’t target much, and you can just sight fish with good polarized sunglasses anyway) fish aren’t set up on/near structure yet, they are roaming and that is where Livescope kicks tail. Seeing schools of crappies, white bass or other species moving around is lights out with a jerk bait. You not only see the fish, but also what depth they are at, how far down they are suspended, etc. I also found walleyes just off the emerging weed line each Spring and usually catch my limit.  I could easily figure out whether to use a shallow or deep jerk bait a lot easier once I know their depth. Livescope also is awesome in down view for drop-shotting as the season goes on. Not a big fan of Perspective mode - it’s grainy and 360 is so much better at reading the bottom. 

 

360 Imaging: I don’t get much benefit from it until post-spawn when the fish set up on off-shore cover, drop-offs and rocks. Pre-360 I could always find a concentrated boulder field but struggled to find broken/chunk/scattered rock even with side imaging (I could find it on SI but didn’t always successfully pinpoint it when fishing). I was amazed when I got 360 how I was able to find some isolated areas and catch more than one fish. Finding the big boulder field is a no-brainer, but you can really key in on specific rocks – the biggest one, or one on the end of a point, etc. I even found a sunken picnic table on the Mississippi in 18 feet of water and could drop my jig right right through a missing plank after a few tries. Was great target practice to learn depth perception, distance from the outer rings on the 360 graph, etc. When it got hot this Summer and fishing was really tough, finding bottom structure with a Ned or football jig was sometimes nothing short of incredible. 

 

Both: Livescope doesn’t come much back into play for me again until Fall when fish started to transition and move again. But at that time, it was a great combo with 360 to see rocks or sunken trees and then see fish moving around it with Livescope to see if anyone was home.

A few other general observations:

1)I was surprised how little the two technologies overlapped. Didn’t get the benefit from them simultaneously as often as I would’ve thought. 

Both technologies were good to see/track the outside weedlines. I had heard some people previously say one or the other is better – but both work well enough.

 

2) Besides a jerk bait bite, I seem to catch more fish now when the lure slowly gets into the bite window and gradually moves versus – fast retrieve. Confirms I have always fished too fast. I had much better results with finesse applications. I have been a long-time critic of the Nerd-Rig (slow, tedious, last resort) but I relied on it more this year and it absolutely saved my bacon time and time again when I put it in the spot-on-the-spot. 

3) Fish rarely sit still in one location very long. You have to be in the right spot at the right time. These two technologies absolutely help you do this. 

———————————————

So the question I get a lot is if you had to buy either Livescope or 360, which would you? Wish I had an easy answer, but I don’t. If you fished one way or the other as described above – roaming fish vs. fish set up on structure/cover – you could pick one over the other. Unfortunately for me anyway, the expensive answer is both. If I really had to choose one I would probably lean towards Livescope. 

 

 

[gulfcaptain]

So DD26 makes a "livefoot" that adds onto your trolling  motor, believe it weighs 10oz. 12v with a remote or foot control. Your uhd will work and network with one another. Now if you're looking to do this go with a uhd ultra 10" unit it has to data inputs (one for livescope  one for networking).. I've in the last 2 years swapped all my electronics to Garmin for multiple reasons and  have them all networked.  I like being able to make a target on panoptix and have it on my chart. Also you get the upgraded navonic card from garmin you can adjust lake levels as well.  I like real time data so I know what I'm looking at and use more to scope the bottom and structure then fish. I've done away with a bow transducer and have only my panoptix for all my needs up front . I would love to have   have a 369 as well but then can't network and the live foot is about the same price as the 360 transducer.  For you running down the bank real time picture would probably be best. It is for me. I point,  I see what I'm looking at and I go.  

[Functional]

Thank you for all of the info, it honestly helps. I think I'm leaning pretty heavily towards going with 360. Some of the arguments here actually made me consider livescope stronger than I thought I would have. Really comes down to not wanting to hamstring my TM control for sonar and really not looking to dump nearly 4-5K into mounting it with its own control. I move along the bank for the most part, but not fast enough where 360 would be useless. 

 

I'm fairly certain I'll land on a Helix 10 and if I can swing it come purchase time go with a Helix 12 for the screen size and resolution bump. However, is it even worth doing if it was on a 9"? Really more curious than anything. 

[padon]

5 hours ago, Functional said:

Thank you for all of the info, it honestly helps. I think I'm leaning pretty heavily towards going with 360. Some of the arguments here actually made me consider livescope stronger than I thought I would have. Really comes down to not wanting to hamstring my TM control for sonar and really not looking to dump nearly 4-5K into mounting it with its own control. I move along the bank for the most part, but not fast enough where 360 would be useless. 

 

I'm fairly certain I'll land on a Helix 10 and if I can swing it come purchase time go with a Helix 12 for the screen size and resolution bump. However, is it even worth doing if it was on a 9"? Really more curious than anything. 

i think it depends on your use. i got a 9 because i got a good deal on a package. for me that unit will run nothing but 360. my 10 will be split between mapping and 2d.ive only had the 9 out once and probably wont again til spring but so far i think it will be fine.

[txchaser]

I think you can find 360 fish with a livescope, but can't find suspended fish and catch them well with a 360. 

 

I'm biased though, the last garmin box showed up today. I had to ditch my hummingbird unit and get a Garmin one, and I still made the livescope choice. 

 

If you are going to be pretty bank oriented the livescope utility probably falls off some. 

 

[gulfcaptain]

7 hours ago, txchaser said:

 

I'm biased though, the last garmin box showed up today. 

 

I feel ya, just had 2 arrive myself this week (10" and 12") to complete my entire garmin network. 

[Woody B]

I've had my Active Target (Lowrance "live scope") for a little over a year.  I was torn between getting it, or 360 before.   I'm happy with my decision, but I don't fish a bunch of "strange" water.  IE I usually fish the same lake.  I have a pretty good idea where the structure is.   

 

I rarely use "Scout" mode.  (I think that's "perspective" view).    I use forward and down mode all the time.   

For a rock pile, brush pile ect in the "middle of no where" I normally use side imaging to find it.  I'll mark a way point 50 feet or so away, then have my sonar unit to tell my trolling motor to spot lock on that spot.   I'll point my active target transducer at it, then start fishing.   I have a motorized turrent mounted on my trolling motor with my active target transducer.  I can turn the transducer in any direction.   

 

I've been in one boat with 360.   I liked it.  I may add it someday, but without even considering the cost my trolling motor already has one pole and transducer hanging off of it.  There's also already 1 screen on the bow of my small boat.

[padon]

On 12/12/2023 at 11:14 PM, FryDog62 said:

I have had Panoptix/Livescope/Livescope+ for 5 seasons and Mega 360 Imaging for two now. Much of my opinions below are generalities and there are always exceptions. 
 

Livescope: Absolutely excels in the spring pre-spawn period where for me, 360 Imaging isn’t worthless but not very useful IMO. Outside of spawn beds (which I don’t target much, and you can just sight fish with good polarized sunglasses anyway) fish aren’t set up on/near structure yet, they are roaming and that is where Livescope kicks tail. Seeing schools of crappies, white bass or other species moving around is lights out with a jerk bait. You not only see the fish, but also what depth they are at, how far down they are suspended, etc. I also found walleyes just off the emerging weed line each Spring and usually catch my limit.  I could easily figure out whether to use a shallow or deep jerk bait a lot easier once I know their depth. Livescope also is awesome in down view for drop-shotting as the season goes on. Not a big fan of Perspective mode - it’s grainy and 360 is so much better at reading the bottom. 

 

360 Imaging: I don’t get much benefit from it until post-spawn when the fish set up on off-shore cover, drop-offs and rocks. Pre-360 I could always find a concentrated boulder field but struggled to find broken/chunk/scattered rock even with side imaging (I could find it on SI but didn’t always successfully pinpoint it when fishing). I was amazed when I got 360 how I was able to find some isolated areas and catch more than one fish. Finding the big boulder field is a no-brainer, but you can really key in on specific rocks – the biggest one, or one on the end of a point, etc. I even found a sunken picnic table on the Mississippi in 18 feet of water and could drop my jig right right through a missing plank after a few tries. Was great target practice to learn depth perception, distance from the outer rings on the 360 graph, etc. When it got hot this Summer and fishing was really tough, finding bottom structure with a Ned or football jig was sometimes nothing short of incredible. 

 

Both: Livescope doesn’t come much back into play for me again until Fall when fish started to transition and move again. But at that time, it was a great combo with 360 to see rocks or sunken trees and then see fish moving around it with Livescope to see if anyone was home.

A few other general observations:

1)I was surprised how little the two technologies overlapped. Didn’t get the benefit from them simultaneously as often as I would’ve thought. 

Both technologies were good to see/track the outside weedlines. I had heard some people previously say one or the other is better – but both work well enough.

 

2) Besides a jerk bait bite, I seem to catch more fish now when the lure slowly gets into the bite window and gradually moves versus – fast retrieve. Confirms I have always fished too fast. I had much better results with finesse applications. I have been a long-time critic of the Nerd-Rig (slow, tedious, last resort) but I relied on it more this year and it absolutely saved my bacon time and time again when I put it in the spot-on-the-spot. 

3) Fish rarely sit still in one location very long. You have to be in the right spot at the right time. These two technologies absolutely help you do this. 

———————————————

So the question I get a lot is if you had to buy either Livescope or 360, which would you? Wish I had an easy answer, but I don’t. If you fished one way or the other as described above – roaming fish vs. fish set up on structure/cover – you could pick one over the other. Unfortunately for me anyway, the expensive answer is both. If I really had to choose one I would probably lean towards Livescope. 

 

 

That is one time i definetly think forward facing will shine is in fall when fish really start to get on bait and follow it around without really relating to structure . im sure once i get the 360 down and get experience with it ill probably add live for those situations when i really have to fish opem water suspended fish.

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, Woody B said:

I've had my Active Target (Lowrance "live scope") for a little over a year.  I was torn between getting it, or 360 before.   I'm happy with my decision, but I don't fish a bunch of "strange" water.  IE I usually fish the same lake.  I have a pretty good idea where the structure is.   

 

I rarely use "Scout" mode.  (I think that's "perspective" view).    I use forward and down mode all the time.   

For a rock pile, brush pile ect in the "middle of no where" I normally use side imaging to find it.  I'll mark a way point 50 feet or so away, then have my sonar unit to tell my trolling motor to spot lock on that spot.   I'll point my active target transducer at it, then start fishing.   I have a motorized turrent mounted on my trolling motor with my active target transducer.  I can turn the transducer in any direction.   

 

I've been in one boat with 360.   I liked it.  I may add it someday, but without even considering the cost my trolling motor already has one pole and transducer hanging off of it.  There's also already 1 screen on the bow of my small boat.

 

I'm kinda similar.  I'll mark on SI and then motor back to it manually.  I've got 50' casting rings set up on my Nav screen and I'll stop downwind roughly on the line to lock in.  Then fire up Mega live.

 

Which 'target lock' turret are you using and how well do you like it?  I'd love to add target lock, but its $1500 last I checked and I don't need it that bad.

 

thanks

rick

 

[Woody B]

8 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

Which 'target lock' turret are you using and how well do you like it?

I don't have "target lock".  I've got a turret from LS Mounts.  I use a foot pedal to turn it left and right.  I didn't like some of the things about it.  I've re wired it, and mounted it differently that it came.   

[txchaser]

 

This looks really interesting. I'll revisit after I have it on the TM directly for a while. 

 

[Functional]

8 hours ago, txchaser said:

 

This looks really interesting. I'll revisit after I have it on the TM directly for a while. 

 

There is more tech in that thing than my truck 🤣

[padon]

15 hours ago, Functional said:

There is more tech in that thing than my truck 🤣

yeah thats why i hesitate with some of that stuff. i work with that every day. i go fishin to get away from that.

[Fishin Dad]

On 12/16/2023 at 10:06 PM, padon said:

yeah thats why i hesitate with some of that stuff. i work with that every day. i go fishin to get away from that.

I agree with this statement.  That is why I only put 360 on my boat.  Without sparking another FFS issue, I fish to get away from technology.  With that said, I did step up to 360 (I know it’s tech) and love it.  My offshore game has grown exponentially and I have not had to stare at screens all day and mess with much.  360 has few adjustments needed and once it shows what I am looking for, I can just fish and enjoy.   Just my opinion.  A very successful fisherman I know said he would take 360 all day over his FFS.  That helped my decision. He makes a lot of money with both however, but carries  a backup 360 unit in case!!   

[mcipinkie]

360 and FFS are entirely different tools.  I have both and would hate give up one.  If you can only have one, you have to ask yourself how you fish.

 

A lake I fish a lot  has a bunch of submerged rock piles offshore.  360 all the time.  Makes it so easy to find and fish them.  Never use the FFS here.

 

Another lake has a lot of creek channels with big trees along the channel line.  360 will find the channel drop,  but no help finding fish in the trees.  FFS here.

 

If chasing suspended fish, FFS.

[padon]

On 12/31/2023 at 7:23 PM, mcipinkie said:

360 and FFS are entirely different tools.  I have both and would hate give up one.  If you can only have one, you have to ask yourself how you fish.

 

A lake I fish a lot  has a bunch of submerged rock piles offshore.  360 all the time.  Makes it so easy to find and fish them.  Never use the FFS here.

 

Another lake has a lot of creek channels with big trees along the channel line.  360 will find the channel drop,  but no help finding fish in the trees.  FFS here.

 

If chasing suspended fish, FFS.

yeah u think theres no doubt about that none of my lakes have standing timber etc. our fish relate alot to rock piles grass beds etc. i think 60 will help me alot there. now one lake does have shad and in fall alot of the fish get nomadic and follow those shad schools. thats when ffs would really shine. luckily im not above putting the kayak in a river and fish for smallmouth or fish a shallow out of the way small place that time of year. 

[Jhmanning3]

I recently bought the 360. I will use it to mainly target structure to make more accurate casts, I'm tired of messing with marker buoys. I'm not looking for instant feedback, I will use my rod and lure for that. It would probably be different if I was into tournament fishing, FFS and 360 are amazing tools.