Looking for an Honest opinion from Humming bird guys Is it worth the money for the transducer? , I was looking at Garmin but already have Hummingbird that came with the boat so I was thinking of giving the Mega live a try first before going with an additional Gamin unit. Good bad or ugly Just want an honest opinion, I live in Louisiana and fish Toledo Bend and Rayburn mostly.
2020 Bass Cat Lynx DC Mercury 300. Dual Hummingbird Solix 12’s
No regrets and updates keep making it better and better. I also really recommend targetlock which made my live so much better to use
2018 Phoenix 920 Pro XP
Phoenix Jim Thank you, Im really leaning that way it way less than half the price I figure if I don't like it I could sale it then add another unit latter
2020 Bass Cat Lynx DC Mercury 300. Dual Hummingbird Solix 12’s
All three manufacturers’ forward facing sonars are good. What I like best is the Humminbird One-Boat Network and no black box.
‘22 Ranger Z520R - Mercury 250 Pro XS
Humminbird/Minn Kota One Boat Network
Absolutely love mega live....target lock added another dimension to the mega live operation...definitely would recommend mega live without a doubt
Thanks Guys, I'm easing the wife into it, I just bought the boat In august now I'm adding to what the wife thought was everything I needed LOL, I got to ease here into it, Mega Live first them Target lock
2020 Bass Cat Lynx DC Mercury 300. Dual Hummingbird Solix 12’s
Do you have Mega 360 ? The pair in combo is great for me. Target Lock I want to add later this season.
Yes I'm currently running Solix 12's with Mega 360 Looking to add the Live now
2020 Bass Cat Lynx DC Mercury 300. Dual Hummingbird Solix 12’s
Oh cool because live and 360 are awesome together. Tell her you only live once! I will say when I first got mega live although I liked it I quickly realized it only work in the direction my trolling motor was pointing and it was a bit frustrating using spotlock. Targetlock came out like a week later and I jumped on it. For me you have to have that to fully enjoy mega live. Are we costing you a lot of money??Originally Posted by bean1187
2018 Phoenix 920 Pro XP
I've had both, I think the garmin is a little better by itself but in combo with 360 plus the target lock in with my ultrex link I think it's a awsome package
Dave
2023 Ranger Z518/ Mercury 200 Pro XS
She really don't care at all LOL , Im just cheap , If I see I like the Live sonar And will get a benefit out of it I will definitely order the Target lock next, I just want to run it a while then decide if I will stay with it or go to Garmin
2020 Bass Cat Lynx DC Mercury 300. Dual Hummingbird Solix 12’s
I had convinced myself over the last couple days to buy the Garmin 126sv and LVS34 because they are on sale. Had the cart all ready to go and discount codes to get the price down even more. I got busy and never checked out. Took my Mega Live out today and played with the settings a bit (turned dynamic contrast to low) and saw my swim jig out to 80 feet and line out to 70 feet. Saw two fish in some grass lines that I made a couple extra casts toward with the jerkbait and caught them both.
The Garmin is probably better but Mega Live works.
I must have missed it! They fixed the update?
Tell me where has a slow movin' once quick draw outlaw got to go
I spend 6 months of my year on Rayburn and Toledo and the other 6 months on the St Lawrence River. I also own both Mega Live w Target Lock and Active Target and have used them side by side. Mega Live and Active Target are pretty much indistinguishable from each other right now but I give Mega Live a slight edge because it can be more finely tuned with sensitivity and contrast adjustments instead of just tuning with contrast on AT. The new Garmin LV34 is quite a step above both. On Rayburn and Toledo I find Target Lock to be only useful when it's windy and you want to play offshore. On the St Lawrence where current is always a factor Target Lock is the bomb and is a major differentiator from AT and LS.
If you're fishing grass, I don't find any of them really offer all that much if what you are looking for is down in the grass - the density of the grass makes everything look like a blob. But they all see stuff in the upper parts of the grass and it's very cool watching fish shoot out of the grass to check out and hopefully eat whatever it is you're throwing.
2013 Ranger Z520c, 2013 Yamaha 250 SHO
2018 Ranger RT198p, 2013 Mercury 150 Optimax
BoatBuggy, Great reply thank you I'm mostly looking into the Live for offshore fishing in deepwater, Once I have it and installed I may have to meet up with you and get you to give me some lessons on Toledo bend when your there
2020 Bass Cat Lynx DC Mercury 300. Dual Hummingbird Solix 12’s
I love my Birds
I had Mega Live and Livescope. Had LS first for about 2-1/2 years or so before adding ML.
Really, really wanted ML to work but unfortunately it didn't for me.
Using both units side by side made the differences pretty clear for me. Much better bait tracking and fish targets on LS. The updates helped some but not enough. Ended up taking a loss and selling my ML. It hurt.
I just had mine out for the first time yesterday and really liked it. Yes, the Garmin is "better" as far as detail, but ml does the job.
The major factors for me staying with humminbird and not going Garmin were 1) I know how to operate humminbirds, 2) I can stand operating Garmin units, and 3) I can move my ml from my boat to Kayak in 10 minutes without a black box.
I had it on my Kayak yesterday with my homemade live pole. I spent about 5 minutes tinkering when I got on the water, then went fishing making little adjustments here and there while pedaling to the next spot.
In 30 minutes I was able to spot bass under and in bait schools, and track my jerkbait at 70'. Only thing I couldn't do was get the fish that I watched follow my jerkbait for 50' to eat.
I was one of the first group that got one when the finally released it. I messed around for months trying to get it dialed in until I finally just gave up and bought a Garmin system so that I just get back to fishing. As I peruse this page, I'm glad that I jumped ship as I see guys still dealing with a system that is just not up to par IMHO.
Last edited by Tone357; 03-18-2023 at 07:30 PM.
17 Ranger Z520c Black Out Edition
Yamaha 250 SHO
Well I just pulled the trigger on a Transducer now I have to wait 3 weeks to get in from offshore to install and use it. For way less than half the price its worth a shot, If it don't work out I will buy a Garmin set up, I found the transducer for under 1000 dollars so I glotta give it a shot before Garmin at that price
2020 Bass Cat Lynx DC Mercury 300. Dual Hummingbird Solix 12’s
Yep, I agree with what you said 100%. Being honest ML is nowhere near on par with LS. For those who say otherwise your just fooling yourself. I love my Birds and tried everything to convince myself that ML was close to LS but in the end I had to admit it was not even close. :(
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