Chart Plotter/Phone Programs for Washington Lakes

[dutchman2858]

I'm running a Garmin 421 chart plotter that accepts micro-chip charts. I'm looking for any input about whether the BlueCharts GS2 or LakeVU programs have coverage of local lakes here in W Washington. It looks like Navionics has a pretty good phone app also that might be worth trying. Thanks for any info.

[tbrinks]

I don't have any experience with the Garmin cards but know that Navionics will have more lakes in our region.

I would definitely get the Navionics app for your phone. It comes with a free trial for 14 days and it has the best coverage around here in terms of numbers of lakes and those with 1ft contour intervals. Here is a link to details about the app. https://www.navionics.com/usa/apps/navionics-boating

This is a screenshot from the app for Lake Washington

[Larry3215]

Garmin has a new phone/tablet app out called Active Captain that will allow you to see/use your Garmin charts on your phone or tablet, do routs, waypoints etc. It also works with blutooth mfd's to do screen recording and several other cool things including wireless up-dates. Its a big step up from Helm and intended to replace HomePort at some point down the road.

Totally free.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/573254

[Larry3215]

Here is the same view on my phone with Active Captain. My charts are not the latest, but fairly recent.

[Larry3215]

My personal experience is that Navionics is better on some lakes and Garmin is better on others. I dont thnk either one is a clear winner over all.

[dutchman2858]

Thanks, 3215–Exactly the type of info I wanted!

[DavidA]

I picked up the Garmin 53DV echomap and early this year and it comes with LakeVu built in. I moved up from a basic $100 fishfinder and I couldn't be happier. It has 1' depth intervals and this unit also allows you to map any bodies of water it does not have e.g. all saltwater, for crabbing and shrimping. Very happy with both the unit and with LakeVu.

[dutchman2858]

DavidA

Does the LakeVu program have good maps for some of our smaller lakes like Goodwin in Snohomish or Clear in Skagit County or do you have to make your own?

[Larry3215]

You can check any lake you want to see what the coverage is by going to this site and type in the name of your lake:

https://lakes.garmin.com/

For the best coverage, and max detail, you want MaxDef lakes. Those are lakes Garmin has scanned themselves and they have the most detail.

Next is HD lakes. Those are also 1 ft contours but they may or may not have been scanned by Garmin and I have found a few errors on some of them.

Next lower is >1ft contours. Those lakes are hit and miss as far as accuracy.

The lowest level is Shore Line only with no contours.

Well, actually lower yet is nothing at all

For what its worth, Goodwin and the Skagit Clear lake are both HD lakes, so they will have 1 ft contours and probably pretty good coverage.

[Larry3215]

Its easier to check Navionis lakes as far as how detailed the coverage is.

https://webapp.navionics.com/#boating@8&key=uhh_HjhaiV

Just zoom in on your lake of choice to see what the coverage is.

[Larry3215]

By the way, charts are the single biggest weakness of Garmin plotters. They can ONLY use Garmin brand maps. Other brands can generally use more than one brand of chart, so if your favorite lake isnt covered, you can shop around for better maps. Not so with Garmin. If they dont cover your favorite lake in good detail, your stuck having to map it yourself with QuickDraw - if the MFD you bought supports it.

[Larry3215]

Oh - they also just decided for some stupid reason to discontinue all their transducers that have a downview element, so if downview is important to you, you need to be very very careful how you shop for a new Garmin plotter.

[DavidA]

Dutchman:

I am up in north Kitsap, so can't say for anything for sure about those particular lakes, but I have taken it out on a relatively small lake - Leland (Jefferson County) and as far as I am concerned, it is excellent! I was initially concerned about how I would go about locating the lake I needed to input, but since it is GPSed, you just turn on the unit and it shows exactly where you are. You also have the option of identifying each depth range by color e.g. make all waters between 0-10' be dark blue, 11-20' lighter blue, etc.