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Pleasant Surprise- Canadian Lakes get some love from Navionics!


David Chong

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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!

Mobile SonarChart Shading-Balsam Lake-001-E.jpg

Mobile SonarChart Shading-Big Rideau Lake-002-E.jpg

Mobile SonarChart Shading-BOQ-001-E.jpg

Mobile SonarChart Shading-Cameron Lake-001-E.jpg

Mobile SonarChart Shading-Lake Simcoe-002-E.jpg

Mobile SonarChart Shading-Lake Simcoe-005-E.jpg

Mobile SonarChart Shading-Pigeon Lake-001-E.jpg

Mobile SonarChart Shading-Rice Lake-001-E.jpg

Mobile SonarChart Shading-Sturgeon Lake-001-E.jpg

Mobile SonarChart Shading-Upper Buckhorn Lake-001-E.jpg

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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!

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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!

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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. !?!?

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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!

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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. 

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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!

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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.  

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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. 

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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 

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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.

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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

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