Pleasant Surprise- Canadian Lakes get some love from Navionics!

[David Chong]

So up until very recently, the Navionics SonarChart Shading feature only covered the Lake of the Woods, Namakan & Rainy Lakes in north-western Ontario! While I was checking out the NEW Navionics mobile app that now includes this feature, I discovered that most of the Trent-Severn Waterway from the Bay of Quinte up to Port Severn, the Rideau System, St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes are now covered as well! I understand that they are still working on more in Canada but that's a huge improvement! I've including some of the screenshots from my iPhone for different bodies of water now covered up here!

[fishindevil]

thats awesome dave thanks for sharing ...if i do my navionics chip updates will that feature be there now?

[mamona]

I just noticed Shading overrides Fishing Ranges feature.

[David Chong]

1 minute ago, mamona said:

I just noticed Shading overrides Fishing Ranges feature.

Yes, but you can switch back & forth! It would be too confusing to try to look at the color shading and the SonarChart Shading at the same time! Also put your setting to Nautical Chart instead of SonarCharts when you're using the Satellite Overlay with SonarChart Shading, it will be clearer!

[David Chong]

29 minutes ago, fishindevil said:

thats awesome dave thanks for sharing ...if i do my navionics chip updates will that feature be there now?

The only Navionics chip that you access this feature with are the Platinum+ & Hotmaps Platinum cards! So if you have either of those then YES!

[GBW]

I see your battery life is all over the map too    Thanks David.  

[KraTToR]

23 hours ago, David Chong said:

The only Navionics chip that you access this feature with are the Platinum+ & Hotmaps Platinum cards! So if you have either of those then YES!

THanks David, this is awesome!

For clarity, this is only available  on the mobile app, Plat+, and Hotmaps Plat.  NOT the standard Navionics + which I think most of us use. !?!?

[David Chong]

9 hours ago, KraTToR said:

THanks David, this is awesome!

For clarity, this is only available  on the mobile app, Plat+, and Hotmaps Plat.  NOT the standard Navionics + which I think most of us use. !?!?

Correct! That's why it's such a great deal on the Navionics Boating App!

[Tjames09]

Is this only for the phone? or for the chip card as well?

[David Chong]

1 hour ago, Tjames09 said:

Is this only for the phone? or for the chip card as well?

This is about the Navionics Boating (mobile) App but the feature is available on the Navionics Platinum+ & HotMaps Platinum cards as well but not on the Navionics+ card.

[Valley Lad]

Always like your posts David.

Do you purchase your yearly subscriptions for navionic chips or just subscribe to the boating apps? Are  there that many updates to for Canadian waters to warrant  extra expense?

Edited April 30, 2020 by Valley Lad

[Tjames09]

2 hours ago, David Chong said:

This is about the Navionics Boating (mobile) App but the feature is available on the Navionics Platinum+ & HotMaps Platinum cards as well but not on the Navionics+ card.

Thanks, I think I just have plain navionics chip card, whatever comes in the humminbird units from factory. 

[David Chong]

1 hour ago, Valley Lad said:

Always like your posts David.

Do you purchase your yearly subscriptions for navionic chips or just subscribe to the boating apps? Are  there that many updates to for Canadian waters to warrant  extra expense?

That's a question, that only you can answer! For sure you should keep your mobile subscription current simply for the SonarChart Shading & Fishing Depth Ranges! In Canada, it's only around $30 annual. Now as far your chips go, there currently is a rebate on renewing your subscription so it is not as expensive as one might think, if you want more details - https://www.navionics.com/usa/update-your-chart

If you happen to travel to different areas, with a current subscription on a card you can select new maps to download. If you use advanced features like dock to dock auto-routing and other advanced map options you want to be current as well. There are significant updates done each year, just depends on your region and how many are uploading data. larger bodies of water like Lake Ontario, St. Lawrence River etc. Navionics/Garmin will record their own data!

If you only use the very basics and don't travel out of your region, you probably could update every other year. Again your decision! Hope that this helps!

[David Chong]

12 minutes ago, Tjames09 said:

Thanks, I think I just have plain navionics chip card, whatever comes in the humminbird units from factory. 

Usually it is a Navionics+ that comes with units! Just keep your mobile subscription and you'll have access to this feature!

[Valley Lad]

Thanks for the information David.

[David Chong]

47 minutes ago, Valley Lad said:

Thanks for the information David.

No problem! Any time!

[Canuck]

I played around with it a bit, but to be honest, I doubt I will use it. Its "pretty" and might be useful for planning and exploring but not while on the water IMO.  the blue masks contour lines in bright sunlight .  I find the Sonarchart view very useful though, especially in areas that are well charted.  

[Tjames09]

Not sure I understand what it would be used for. The shading doesn’t appear to coincide very wel with break lines. I’ve looked at it on a Kawartha Lake I fish a lot and not sure I see what the shading is representing. 

[Terry]

Well it’s what the satellite picks up

so it shows changes in the bottom structure that the map contour lines don’t show. 
gps is not 100 % accurate so it can show the lines and shading off a bit. But once you learn to read it, it will show a point on a point 

[David Chong]

8 hours ago, Tjames09 said:

Not sure I understand what it would be used for. The shading doesn’t appear to coincide very wel with break lines. I’ve looked at it on a Kawartha Lake I fish a lot and not sure I see what the shading is representing. 

The SonarChart Shading gives you a is a hi-definition relief shading which gives you a different view of what the bottom might actually look like. For me the greatest use for this is during the planning stage and aids in possibly locating that spot on a spot. Remember when you look at regular hydro-graphic contour lines, a shoal/hump looks exactly the same as hole/ depression until you read the numbers. The Shading same as coloured depth shading makes it easier to determine what it really is at a glance. 

Of course as with all features, people are going to be more comfortable with one view or another. In most cases, it really is  a matter of what they're used to.

[moses]

Thats great but what does all The numbers and letters mean?

[David Chong]

31 minutes ago, moses said:

Thats great but what does all The numbers and letters mean?

Not really sure what you are referring to but the numbers on hydro-graphic contour lines are indicators of depth. Not sure what letters you're referring to?

[moses]

Ok. Numbers and depths are what I.  Was interested in. Thanks for your reply. 

[Tjames09]

15 hours ago, David Chong said:

The SonarChart Shading gives you a is a hi-definition relief shading which gives you a different view of what the bottom might actually look like. For me the greatest use for this is during the planning stage and aids in possibly locating that spot on a spot. Remember when you look at regular hydro-graphic contour lines, a shoal/hump looks exactly the same as hole/ depression until you read the numbers. The Shading same as coloured depth shading makes it easier to determine what it really is at a glance. 

Of course as with all features, people are going to be more comfortable with one view or another. In most cases, it really is  a matter of what they're used to.

Thanks. I found it is easier to view if I turned the contour lines right down, otherwise they conflict with one another

[David Chong]

On 5/4/2020 at 11:47 PM, Tjames09 said:

Thanks. I found it is easier to view if I turned the contour lines right down, otherwise they conflict with one another

Yes, it is easier to look at with the Nautical charts on rather than the SonarCharts!