Lowrance owner-thinking about making a switch

[XChris1632X]

I have been a die hard HDS owner for the past few years. It is the only thing that I have owned since owning real electronics. With that being said, I am considering giving Hummingbird a try. The biggest reason right now is thinking about buying the Ultrex and using the features with the bird. To be honest, I have yet to get my lowrance units set up perfectly to where they look and work as clear as I want. The Hummingbird just seems like they have a few good options that the Lowrance may be lacking.

I'm hoping someone can talk me out of making the switch.

[188Musky]

First off, I'd point out that linking your electronics to your trolling motor is way overrated.

Following contours is only as accurate as the map you have, and doesn't work well with flat contours, only well defined contours.

Keeping an eye on the electronics, and positioning the boat is a big part of the act of fishing, why would you want a machine to do that for you?

[mn_bowhunter]

First off, I'd point out that linking your electronics to your trolling motor is way overrated.

Following contours is only as accurate as the map you have, and doesn't work well with flat contours, only well defined contours.

Keeping an eye on the electronics, and positioning the boat is a big part of the act of fishing, why would you want a machine to do that for you?

It's not only following contours, it's using the Ultrex and having the ability to navigate to other waypoints as well as auto-pilot which is an unreal feature.

The amount of rigging that Humminbird requires is very minimal compared to Lowrance. I feel like both units are giving me similar image quality, but the Lakemaster maps are FAR better than anything else around here, which prompted my switch to Humminbird. I am not a big proponent of touch screen graphs either, also that's my personal opinion. In dealing with cold weather wearing gloves, and rain - just not for me. The ease of use/dialing in an image is so much easier for me with a Humminbird than with a Lowrance. That's just me personally. Lowrance can get dialed in too, but I feel like I have to pay somebody to give me a class on how to do that. No knock on Garmin, just don't have the mapping quality I want (yet) and price point was too high for what I wanted.

Hope you can get the image quality you're looking for with whatever you choose.

[CHECrappie]

I have my HDS 9T gen 2's hooked up to my Xi5 and love it!

[Fishysam]

My terrova link is important while offshore, not requird but nice. 50 saved tracks vs 6 is much more handy. Anyways. The birds seem to come out of the box ready to rock and using the us2 ducer with birds has been better than lowrance in my opinion. And I will say lowrance 2d is better than bird 2d but not through the us2. I love the lake master maps... Ohh poo did I go the wrong way to talking you out of it?

[grout-scout]

I own 5 hds graphs and I wouldn't blame you 1 bit if you changed. I'm just not sure if there is a unicorn brand out there.

[TopGun21x]

I own 5 hds graphs and I wouldn't blame you 1 bit if you changed. I'm just not sure if there is a unicorn brand out there.

This past season I got rid of 3 Gen 3 12's and went with Garmin...couldnt be any happier

[grout-scout]

This past season I got rid of 3 Gen 3 12's and went with Garmin...couldnt be any happier

From what I've seen, they are about the closest to the unicorn. If they have your lakes mapped, they don't have mine.

[TopGun21x]

From what I've seen, they are about the closest to the unicorn. If they have your lakes mapped, they don't have mine.

Most lakes in this region are mapped since it's one big connected waterway. I've heard they have Garmin boats mapping lakes just like Google had cars doing streets. Hopefully they make it your way soon...or they could just pay Navioncs a user fee?

[terry5357]

This past season I got rid of 3 Gen 3 12's and went with Garmin...couldnt be any happier

I have the smaller units on my boat (Garmin Echomap 63DV on bow and HB Helix 7GPS at helm) and both have things I like and dislike. I like the way the Garmin zooms in and out and the factory charts are much better with the Garmin. The chart on the HB is useless without a card (on the lake I fish anyway). The zoom on the HB is in increments and the zoom on the Garmin is instant and as little or as much as you like. I will have all Garmin when it said and done with.

[TopGun21x]

I have the smaller units on my boat (Garmin Echomap 63DV on bow and HB Helix 7GPS at helm) and both have things I like and dislike. I like the way the Garmin zooms in and out and the factory charts are much better with the Garmin. The chart on the HB is useless without a card (on the lake I fish anyway). The zoom on the HB is in increments and the zoom on the Garmin is instant and as little or as much as you like. I will have all Garmin when it said and done with.

I liked the functionality of the Lowrance and didn't mind Nav mapping, but I had far to many complete failures and glitches over the last few years. The quality of the Garmin is unreal, in the unit, transducers and wiring. After a season I've had zero issues even when I load a lake with close to the max wpt allowance. It still funtions perfectly with no delays. Oh and it doesn't stall searching for bottom between depth changes...and issue I had with LW

[TroyBoy30]

there are pros and cons to each manufacturer. you simply have to decide what features are the most important for the way you fish and go from there. email me if you have any questions

[redrangeraz]

To me, the contour following ability of the Unltrex Link feature as it pairs with Hummingbird sounds nice, but I would be too scared to put my boat on auto pilot and let it run its course. I can't even begin to count the number of underwater obstructions I have encountered over the years that auto pilot simply would not see. In addition, if I did use the autopilot feature, that means the boat is moving, which likely means I am throwing reaction baits (as opposed to fishing jigs/plastics). I am so used to using a footpedal it is already as if my foot goes into autopilot mode as I traverse down a bank or around a point. I never really have to put much mental effort into steering. My foot does what my mind sees automatically. If it only cost a couple of hundred dollars to convert over to Hummingbird, the swap wouldn't be so bad, but you are talking thousands of dollars in new graphs. If your old graphs did not have structure-scan, than I would recommend upgrading graphs just so you could add the ability, but otherwise I am not certain the benefit of contour-travel can justify the costs of swapping out all your electronics.

[SoonerFan]

I'm learning that many of the features are useless unless your lake is on the Lakemaster chip....which none of my favorite lakes are.

[Bassmeister]

I'm learning that many of the features are useless unless your lake is on the Lakemaster chip....which none of my favorite lakes are.

They can take the Navionics maps also...

[SoonerFan]

They can take the Navionics maps also...

Checking the Navionics lake list, I see more of the lakes I fish. However 2 of the 3 lakes I fish most often are not HD. Will the I-Pilot Link and Helix work with Navionics and what features my be unavailable?

[catdude28]

You are talking about spending a lot of money to get an Ultrex and new Birds. If you really want the Ultrex and feel that it would really help you with the type of fishing that you do, then why not just get one and keep the Lowrance electronics for now? Perhaps try to get some more help using the units that you have. You can always change your electronics later if you want to.

[Fishysam]

I will add that I don't think follow the contour is worth it bass fishing. I'd suggest getting a standar ipilot and keeping your graphs.

[Nitrokid]

I've horrible experiences with HB's & MG Customer Service (CS). And I'm certain others has had the same experience with other products. Went with Lowrance HDS Gen 3 and the Ultrex. The good news is I haven had to deal with CS with this setup. Couldn't be any happier....Awesome package.

Im with the other guys who chimed in.

[Skeeter08i]

I was a humminbird guy until I purchased the new boat this year that comes from the factory with lowrance units. To me humminbird seem more user friendly but it seems like I can fine tune and change more stuff on the lowrance and customize to my liking. Maybe it's just me and the fact that I made it a point to actually play around with these this year, but am far from an electronics guru.