Navionics off

[JoshS]

Hey guys, I was up on Nipissing last week exploring the south part of the lake for my first time. I cautiously relied on navionics to navigate the new waters and couldn't help but notice how off it was at times. Humps, edges were off half the time, which is expected, but even buoy's were showing up 500m away in some instances. I have spent a lot of time fishing the kawartha's and although it can be accurate there most of the time, there are instances where navionics is quite off as well. E.g. there are a few humps that show up on my old gold card that do not show up on the new "all inclusive" sonar charts+. I would of thought that with data sharing, the popularity of these waters and fact that these spots were on the old software, that the new all inclusive software would have that data. It's a huge advancement from paper maps (lol) and a great product I rely heavily on but I'm hoping they are working to improve it's accuracy and actually offer all the data they have available on one chip.

[AKRISONER]

Hey guys, I was up on Nipissing last week exploring the south part of the lake for my first time. I cautiously relied on navionics to navigate the new waters and couldn't help but notice how off it was at times. Humps, edges were off half the time, which is expected, but even buoy's were showing up 500m away in some instances. I have spent a lot of time fishing the kawartha's and although it can be accurate there most of the time, there are instances where navionics is quite off as well. E.g. there are a few humps that show up on my old gold card that do not show up on the new "all inclusive" sonar charts+. I would of thought that with data sharing, the popularity of these waters and fact that these spots were on the old software, that the new all inclusive software would have that data. It's a huge advancement from paper maps (lol) and a great product I rely heavily on but I'm hoping they are working to improve it's accuracy and actually offer all the data they have available on one chipI

i dont have a problem with it not being 100% accurate as long as its not in a main navigation path. In fact some of my best fishing spots are not charted at all, and i would prefer to keep it that way.

[Sterling]

I've been on the south end and callander bay a lot, and also noticed the levels were off by 0-6ft. Navionics will give you the general lay of the lake, but that's about it. Just about ran my riggers into a shoal at one point LOL

[JoshS]

Yeah I'm well aware it's not even close to 100% accurate. But it can usually get you by. Obviously to be taken with a grain of salt. This time it was a lot more inaccurate than the norm to the point some buoy's were way off on the charts. I had to stop trusting it at night navigating the main channels. You'd think they would at least get the buoy's close. I also don't understand why the data on the new software upgrade is not inclusive as advertised. Some of the stuff that showed up on the old Gold card doesn't show up on the updated card. Maybe I a missing something lol.

[Tjames09]

Yeah I'm well aware it's not even close to 100% accurate. But it can usually get you by. Obviously to be taken with a grain of salt. This time it was a lot more inaccurate than the norm to the point some buoy's were way off on the charts. I had to stop trusting it at night navigating the main channels. You'd think they would at least get the buoy's close. I also don't understand why the data on the new software upgrade is not inclusive as advertised. Some of the stuff that showed up on the old Gold card doesn't show up on the updated card. Maybe I a missing something lol.

 

I have the Navionics phone app, and noticed there are two modes: naivonics and sonar+. I notice both maps are completely different from one another. For example in the navionics version in the middle of Sturgeon it shows a depth of around 10feet, but the sonar+ version shows the complete opposite and shows it as a 1 foot deep hump.

[Court R]

I have seen this before, what you need to do is go to map off set and set it manually, go to one of the markers buoys ortip of a island and drag the cursor to it and set it.

[landry]

I find the maps to vary in accuracy sometimes by a small amount and others ridiculously so.

I often mark or plot out a fav point or edge or hump myself. Then I know it's fairly accurate - within ten feet anyways depending on gps accuracy at the time

[Bondar]

Does your graph have a regular base map? Hows your position on that with the card out?

[KLINKER]

What are you using gps or phone, you would need clear line of sight on 3 towers to be accurate with a phone

[BillM]

Adjust the offset on your fish finder so it lines up. Some maps are worse then others.

[JoshS]

Bondar, good idea to check that but I don't think I have one... I'll check. The unit is a humminbird 898si. Could be my GPS too. I'll see how it works next time I'm back on familiar waters.

 

If the maps are half accurate on a lake, that leads me to think offsetting wouldn't be much help. Am I wrong?

[Woodsman]

What are you using gps or phone, you would need clear line of sight on 3 towers to be accurate with a phone

Most newer smart phones actually have a built in GPS recievers & don't rely on triangulation from towers. Edited September 1, 2016 by Woodsman

[Stoty]

Do you have the freshset data subscription which allows you to update your maps?

[JoshS]

Yeah and I updated them recently. I switch between navionics+ (which shows up when you select the "fish and chips" chart on the bird) and the other chart on my card (think it's my gold card - shows up when you select the auto select chart feature) to see what's most accurate.

 

I think the maps are just weak for the area I was in. I am used to humps and edges being off, but still can't get over how off main buoy's were. I'll play with it next time I'm on a lake I know and see if I do need to offset it.

[Woodsman]

I am used to humps and edges being off, but still can't get over how off main buoy's were.

Humps & edges don't move.

Buoys can be moved.

Does you GPS have optional GPS standards?

If so insure the GPS is set to the same standard as the map your using.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Woodsman