I was having issues with my steady cast holding calibration, Garmin responded back the same day with multiple things to try. None of them worked. By the next day they had already sente another new steady cast for free & I was back up running with everything working properly in less than 5 days.
Really cool setup. Very similar to what I'll likely rig up on my next boat. I'm definitely interested in testing out the newest version of Lowrance's side scan, but I've heard some great things.
Thanks Nick! I finally got a good setup for dual transducers on my rig, and must say, I’m really impressed with the Lowrance Side Imaging on the HDS Pro units.
I definitely like it but I’m not sure I’m quite there yet to swap from Humminbird as my main unit because there are a lot of things that I really enjoy with the Humminbirds, but I definitely do not feel at a disadvantage running the Lowrance side imaging
These days you really can't go wrong with any of the 3. Their all soo close. Russell Marine did a bunch of comparison vids on all the newest units. Single digit differences between side imaging looking at all same areas. Birds definitely have the 360 to their advantage! Garmin have the LS. Just get whatever you think has best mapping for your area & or best deal. I have echomap Ultra 106sv, Lvs34 system and steady cast on my kayak. Between sales, coupon codes, bass pro rewards I got my entire set up for 2650.00+ tax! Including my Amped Outdoors 32ah 14.8v lithium. That's cheaper than a 10" unit itself from Lowrance or hummingbird! My set up works great & I didn't spend a fortune. Plus Garmin's customer support is awesome!
This confirms my choice in humminbird. Side imaging and Mega 360 were what I wanted and I doubt any of the brands are far ahead for maps in my area. I do wish the icon selection and naming of points was that quick and flexible with my helix though like you showed on the lowrance. Being on a kayak I already think my plans on getting a second unit (so I can have Mega SI+ and 360) is excessive so no other brands for me lol
I run twin Solix 12's on my Lund. I wish Lakemaster would make their mapping colors and shading a bit more "pastel" instead of these bright, solid colors. Shading is just that.....transparent a bit. Some light greens and subtle blues would make it easier to show accurate contour shading.
You can play around with the colours a bit on the new VX cards and customize how you like it. But I agree, the Lakemaster colours are much more vibrant than that of the CMAP.
Great content - Thank you! ( I see you're fishing "my river" 🙂) I started off with a (low budget) Garmin 95SV and wanted better side-imaging so I moved to a Helix 9 G3N. I then moved to a Garmin 106SV but found it's imaging quality did not match the Helix. So, I have another (Radio World) move planned, not a cheap one. The dilemma: Solix/Apex vs. HDS Pro. Q: Do you find the side-imaging clarity of the Solix better or equal to the Lowrance HDS Pro?
The electronics game is forever evolving! While the HDS Pro really impressed me, I still prefer my Solix. If you want the best in imaging, you will want to go to the Apex Series simply for the increased resolution in the screen. Hope to run into you at the shop or on your river one day!
Awesome video! Thanks for sharing! I recently purchased a new G3 Gator Tough SC17 with a Yamaha 70HP. I plan to fish small to medium lakes and rivers for crappie and bream for the most part. I’m considering installing a Lowrance FS 9 fish finder with active imaging 3-in-1 Transducer near the steering column. I’d like to also install a unit at the front of the boat and keep my options open for potentially using live scope in the future. Any suggestions on the selection of a unit for the front of the boat or suggestions in general?
Congratulations on your new boat! I think when it comes to a dual graph setup (1 at console, 1 at bow) it is very advantageous to stick with the same brand. Doing so will allow you to network your two units together to share data between them, such as waypoints, routes, tracks.
Thank you for the prompt response. Those are all great suggestions. I guess I was considering installing a Garmin at the bow because they seem to be a bit better for live scope.
Garmin is definitely the leader in FFS. And if you plan on using your bow unit strictly for FFS, then you may not be interested in networking that unit with the console. In that case, a stand-alone Garmin on the front of the boat would be a great choice!
Great vid, thanks! Since my 2012 HDS-9 gen 2 side scan sonar transducer are cracked (but Its working) Im about to upgrade with a new 1000 usd-ish unit, mostly for better and more acccurate sidescan. (Fishing mostly 0-15 meters fresh water). Maps (not too important) and some down sonar will be mainly on the HDS... For what I hear, the Hummings are a bit better on sidescan due to the Mega and there are lots of settings to be done if you want to dig deep into It. Lowrance are maybe (?) a lot easier to dial in right out of the box and has Its advantages of course. Find my HDS a bit lag-ish and not too responsive. To come to the point, I would appreciate any/your thoughts on the reliability of the three brands. Software, support, quality of the transducers, bugs/resets, and stuf. // M
I’ve found Garmin to be most user friendly personally and least buggy. Humminbird as of late have had some struggles with updates and quality. All three brands have a great side imaging now since all are in the Megahertz range. With Garmin, you want the GT56 transducer. With Lowrance you want the HDS Pro units with the Active Imaging 3-in-1 HD transducer.
I'm planning to add one imaging system to my 16' Alumacraft. I fish rivers and small to medium sized lakes. I think Humminbird Helix 9 is the choice. Any other suggestions?
The Helix 9 units are great! Depending on if you’re considering adding more to the system later on, I would also consider a Garmin 9” Ultra (if you wanted to add Livescope down the road). But the Humminbird is great as it allows you to add 360 if you want later.
Humminbird is still going to give you the best side imaging. Lowrance and Garmin are close, but still not there. To reach depths of 150 you would need to run it on the lower frequencies
@@vaskodimoski5690 the max depths and ranges on the Solix for the Mega+ imaging are larger than the Helix. I believe it’s +50ft for Mega+ Down Imaging and an extra 100ft of range for the Mega+ Side Imaging
Being a bass guy, I think the top 3 brands are Humminbird, Garmin, and Lowrance. Raymarine is a much bigger off shore boat player in the trolling game and saltwater.
![Tricked Out Lund 1875 Pro-V Bass Boat Build [Precision Marine Installations]](/img/n.gif)
Appreciate the info, definitely a hummingbird man, and some of those other units are looking very interesting
Running all 3 brands has opened up my eyes a bit to some stuff I was missing. Each brand definitely has its strengths and place!
I was having issues with my steady cast holding calibration, Garmin responded back the same day with multiple things to try. None of them worked. By the next day they had already sente another new steady cast for free & I was back up running with everything working properly in less than 5 days.
There’s definitely something to be said about solid customer service these days!
Really cool setup. Very similar to what I'll likely rig up on my next boat. I'm definitely interested in testing out the newest version of Lowrance's side scan, but I've heard some great things.
Thanks Nick! I finally got a good setup for dual transducers on my rig, and must say, I’m really impressed with the Lowrance Side Imaging on the HDS Pro units.
@@patrickzajdel Have you decided whether you like it more or less than SI yet?
I definitely like it but I’m not sure I’m quite there yet to swap from Humminbird as my main unit because there are a lot of things that I really enjoy with the Humminbirds, but I definitely do not feel at a disadvantage running the Lowrance side imaging
These days you really can't go wrong with any of the 3. Their all soo close. Russell Marine did a bunch of comparison vids on all the newest units. Single digit differences between side imaging looking at all same areas. Birds definitely have the 360 to their advantage! Garmin have the LS. Just get whatever you think has best mapping for your area & or best deal. I have echomap Ultra 106sv, Lvs34 system and steady cast on my kayak. Between sales, coupon codes, bass pro rewards I got my entire set up for 2650.00+ tax! Including my Amped Outdoors 32ah 14.8v lithium. That's cheaper than a 10" unit itself from Lowrance or hummingbird! My set up works great & I didn't spend a fortune. Plus Garmin's customer support is awesome!
You nailed it! Glad you found a setup that works exactly as you want for you!
The Garmin 8 series with the GT56 is a weapon for sidescan and downvu. Cheers
That is a series of units I’ve been wanting to try 🤔
This confirms my choice in humminbird. Side imaging and Mega 360 were what I wanted and I doubt any of the brands are far ahead for maps in my area. I do wish the icon selection and naming of points was that quick and flexible with my helix though like you showed on the lowrance.
Being on a kayak I already think my plans on getting a second unit (so I can have Mega SI+ and 360) is excessive so no other brands for me lol
Going to be a sweet setup for a yak!
I run twin Solix 12's on my Lund. I wish Lakemaster would make their mapping colors and shading a bit more "pastel" instead of these bright, solid colors. Shading is just that.....transparent a bit.
Some light greens and subtle blues would make it easier to show accurate contour shading.
You can play around with the colours a bit on the new VX cards and customize how you like it. But I agree, the Lakemaster colours are much more vibrant than that of the CMAP.
Great content - Thank you! ( I see you're fishing "my river" 🙂) I started off with a (low budget) Garmin 95SV and wanted better side-imaging so I moved to a Helix 9 G3N. I then moved to a Garmin 106SV but found it's imaging quality did not match the Helix. So, I have another (Radio World) move planned, not a cheap one. The dilemma: Solix/Apex vs. HDS Pro. Q: Do you find the side-imaging clarity of the Solix better or equal to the Lowrance HDS Pro?
The electronics game is forever evolving!
While the HDS Pro really impressed me, I still prefer my Solix. If you want the best in imaging, you will want to go to the Apex Series simply for the increased resolution in the screen.
Hope to run into you at the shop or on your river one day!
Awesome video! Thanks for sharing!
I recently purchased a new G3 Gator Tough SC17 with a Yamaha 70HP.
I plan to fish small to medium lakes and rivers for crappie and bream for the most part.
I’m considering installing a Lowrance FS 9 fish finder with active imaging 3-in-1 Transducer near the steering column.
I’d like to also install a unit at the front of the boat and keep my options open for potentially using live scope in the future.
Any suggestions on the selection of a unit for the front of the boat or suggestions in general?
Congratulations on your new boat!
I think when it comes to a dual graph setup (1 at console, 1 at bow) it is very advantageous to stick with the same brand.
Doing so will allow you to network your two units together to share data between them, such as waypoints, routes, tracks.
I will also add that when looking for a Forward Facing Sonar display, I would look at a 10” at the minimum.
Thank you for the prompt response. Those are all great suggestions. I guess I was considering installing a Garmin at the bow because they seem to be a bit better for live scope.
Garmin is definitely the leader in FFS. And if you plan on using your bow unit strictly for FFS, then you may not be interested in networking that unit with the console. In that case, a stand-alone Garmin on the front of the boat would be a great choice!
@@patrickzajdel it’s so much to consider. Thank goodness for experts like you that are willing to share your knowledge! I appreciate you, sir!
Great vid, thanks! Since my 2012 HDS-9 gen 2 side scan sonar transducer are cracked (but Its working) Im about to upgrade with a new 1000 usd-ish unit, mostly for better and more acccurate sidescan. (Fishing mostly 0-15 meters fresh water). Maps (not too important) and some down sonar will be mainly on the HDS... For what I hear, the Hummings are a bit better on sidescan due to the Mega and there are lots of settings to be done if you want to dig deep into It. Lowrance are maybe (?) a lot easier to dial in right out of the box and has Its advantages of course. Find my HDS a bit lag-ish and not too responsive. To come to the point, I would appreciate any/your thoughts on the reliability of the three brands. Software, support, quality of the transducers, bugs/resets, and stuf. // M
I’ve found Garmin to be most user friendly personally and least buggy.
Humminbird as of late have had some struggles with updates and quality.
All three brands have a great side imaging now since all are in the Megahertz range.
With Garmin, you want the GT56 transducer.
With Lowrance you want the HDS Pro units with the Active Imaging 3-in-1 HD transducer.
I'm planning to add one imaging system to my 16' Alumacraft. I fish rivers and small to medium sized lakes. I think Humminbird Helix 9 is the choice. Any other suggestions?
The Helix 9 units are great! Depending on if you’re considering adding more to the system later on, I would also consider a Garmin 9” Ultra (if you wanted to add Livescope down the road). But the Humminbird is great as it allows you to add 360 if you want later.
Which aquavu are you using?
I believe it is called the Multi-Vu Pro Gen 2
Can i borrow about 10g's?
I only have bitcoin left, will that do 😂
Should i get an echo map or a helix msi+? I need side imaging but i mainly use 2d and DI. I like crisp clairty.
Do you have any other units on your boat that you would be looking to network with? Or would this be the only unit?
@@patrickzajdel Just one unit.
I have a 10' Jon boat. Lmao
@@straightwhitemale5753 go with the touchscreen option with the Garmin 👌
@@patrickzajdel You would choose Garmin over Humminbird? Why? How is the clarity and is the screen glass?
@@straightwhitemale5753 the 2D sonar on the Garmin is really impressive!
Great video
Thanks Johnny!
Which unit has the best side scan for fishing 150feet of water
Humminbird is still going to give you the best side imaging. Lowrance and Garmin are close, but still not there.
To reach depths of 150 you would need to run it on the lower frequencies
@patrickzajdel thanks for your reply. Would there be a difference between Solix 10 gen 3 vs Helix 10 gen 4 in the same situation ?
@@vaskodimoski5690 the max depths and ranges on the Solix for the Mega+ imaging are larger than the Helix. I believe it’s +50ft for Mega+ Down Imaging and an extra 100ft of range for the Mega+ Side Imaging
Ok thank you. I might go solix
@@vaskodimoski5690 that’s what I prefer between the two. I really like the touchscreen of the Solix and the features it has.
But wait! Raymarine gets overlooked and ignored once again. But whyyyyy?
Being a bass guy, I think the top 3 brands are Humminbird, Garmin, and Lowrance. Raymarine is a much bigger off shore boat player in the trolling game and saltwater.
So you’re sponsored by all three?
Definitely not!
I am just trying to share an unbiassed opinion of the three major brands and their strengths and weaknesses
Ya that's too much and too big of electronics. That's not fishing unless you're supplying a restaurant . That is some badass stuff though.
Man, you got too much money.
I can’t speak for Patrick but he may argue all this is exactly why he doesn’t have any money 😂
A fool and his money…😂
New farming with chirp is best for me
great video
I would very much like to communicate with you in private
For some important information please