Jason Halfen
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During the summer of 2009, Humminbird and Lakemaster announced that Humminbird's sonar/GPS combo units would become compatible with Lakemaster's high-precision GPS map chips, starting in 2010. I have unique, early access to both a Humminbird-compatible Lakemaster chip (for Minnesota), as well as the latest Humminbird software required to read and display the data on the chip. I will use this page to highlight some of the Humminbird-exclusive features that Lakemaster has built into their chip, which will enhance the ability of Humminbird users to find and catch more fish.
I'm running the new release of the Humminbird software, as well as the Humminbird-compatible Lakemaster MN chip, on my Humminbird 1197c Side Imaging combo. This new software release will be available to current Humminbird owners on January 1 (2010) as a free download from the Humminbird website, www.humminbird.com. Units shipping from Humminbird after this date will arrive pre-loaded with this software, and will be Lakemaster compatible right out of the box.
This first screen capture shows my 1197's GPS diagnostic view. Note the "Chart Card" window in the lower right, indicating that the Lakemaster MN card is installed in the unit. The data from the Lakemaster card is read automatically by the unit when the unit is powered up, or when the chip is inserted into one of the 1197's SD card slots.
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Jason Halfen ~ IDO Pro Staff
Guided walleye and smallmouth bass fishing in western Wisconsin:
JasonHalfenOutdoors.com
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Jason Halfen
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The Humminbird-compatible Lakemaster chips have a set of built-in features that enhance the user's ability to control the way that information from the chip is displayed on their Humminbird unit. These features are exclusive to the Humminbird enviroment, making it easier for Humminbird users to find and catch more fish.
First is the way that individual lakes can be examined on the Humminbird unit. At the bottom of the "Chart" menu (accessed by pressing the "Menu" key twice, and then arrowing over to Chart), is the Lake List option, shown in this screen capture. The Lake List option contains a list of all of the charts found on the Lakemaster chip, sorted alphabetically (in short segments of the alphabet) in addition to a separate category for Lakemaster Hi-Def ProMaps. This screen capture shows a portion of the Hi-Def lakes included on the Lakemaster MN chip. Selecting a map from the menu in this manner will move the cursor (on the chart view) directly to the center of the selected lake, rather than having to use the arrow keys to scroll to the lake of interest. This feature will be a nice timesaver for inspecting a lake's chart while you're located away from that lake.
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Jason Halfen ~ IDO Pro Staff
Guided walleye and smallmouth bass fishing in western Wisconsin:
JasonHalfenOutdoors.com
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Jason Halfen
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The first thing I noticed as I scrolled around on the Chart view is that at the 1 SM zoom level, the Lakemaster chip displays surveyed lakes as "aerial photographs", showing shallow areas in light colors and deeper areas in progressively deeper shades of blue. Below are some screen captures at the 1 SM zoom level, showing the Whitefish Chain of Lakes and Pelican Lake, near Brainerd MN.
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Jason Halfen ~ IDO Pro Staff
Guided walleye and smallmouth bass fishing in western Wisconsin:
JasonHalfenOutdoors.com
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Jason Halfen
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Zooming in closer, the user is greeted by Lakemaster's famous accuracy and attention to detail. In addition to premium GPS cartography, Lakemaster chips for Humminbird deliver three more exclusive features that will help you customize your GPS map display. These features are: Water Level Offset, Shallow Water Highlight, and Depth (and Depth Range) Highlight. All of these features are accessible using the Chart menu on your Lakemaster-compatible Humminbird fishing system.
Water Level Offset
With much of the upper Midwest locked in a multi-year dry spell, lake levels in the region have been, and continue to be, quite low. This decrease in water level renders the numerical depths displayed on depth contours incorrect. Likewise, areas that have been shallow, yet safe to navigate, have now become dangerous to navigation or even exposed as dry land. Now, Lakemaster chips for Humminbird allow the user to correct their displayed contours and depths for changes in water levels (both increases and decreases). This feature is called Water Level Offset, and is found on the Chart menu. When this feature is activated, the user can increase or decrease the depths displayed in the chart by using pushing the right or left arrow key, respectively.
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Jason Halfen ~ IDO Pro Staff
Guided walleye and smallmouth bass fishing in western Wisconsin:
JasonHalfenOutdoors.com
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Jason Halfen
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Below are two screen captures from the NW corner of Pelican Lake, near Breezy Point. The screen capture on the left shows the chart at normal (unchanged) water level, while the screen capture on the right shows the same chart after the water level had been offset by -3 feet (3 feet lower than the level at which the lake was surveyed. Two changes are noteworthy: first, the numerical depth information displayed on the chart has changed. Notice how the depth numbers displayed on the right hand screen capture are uniformly 3 feet less than the depths displayed on the left hand screen capture. Second, all of the lake bottom that has been exposed by a drop in water level by 3 feet is colored brown.
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Jason Halfen ~ IDO Pro Staff
Guided walleye and smallmouth bass fishing in western Wisconsin:
JasonHalfenOutdoors.com
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Jason Halfen
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Here's a zoomed-in picture showing some of the individual depth contours on the previous two charts. Note the change in numerical depths by 3 feet as a result of Water Level Offset, as well as the appearance of the brown (exposed) areas.
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Jason Halfen ~ IDO Pro Staff
Guided walleye and smallmouth bass fishing in western Wisconsin:
JasonHalfenOutdoors.com
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Jason Halfen
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Shallow Water Highlight
Whether exploring a new body of water for the first time, or venturing onto an old favorite that is experiencing low water levels, avoiding areas that are too shallow to safely navigate is uniquely important for ensuring a safe, fun, and productive fishing experience. The Humminbird-exclusive Shallow Water Highlight feature from Lakemaster allows the user to highlight all of the shallow water of a particular depth on his chart in red, providing a strong visual cue to avoid areas that are hazards to navigation. Shallow Water Highlight is also found on the Chart menu, and allows the user to select highlight depths between 1 and 30 feet. If a Shallow Water Highlight depth of 3 feet is selected, then all chart areas where the water depth is 3 feet or less will be colored red.
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Jason Halfen ~ IDO Pro Staff
Guided walleye and smallmouth bass fishing in western Wisconsin:
JasonHalfenOutdoors.com
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Jason Halfen
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Below are two screen captures from Pelican Lake again. The one on the left was taken with a water level offset of -3 feet. On the right, I've used the Shallow Water Highlight feature to color all of the water that is 3 feet deep or less. The red color of the shallow areas stands out sharply, and is a strong reminder to avoid these shallow areas, or proceed through them with extreme caution. Shallow Water Highlight will work hand-in-hand with Water Level Offset to help identify areas that have become hazardous to navigation resulting from a change in water level.
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Jason Halfen ~ IDO Pro Staff
Guided walleye and smallmouth bass fishing in western Wisconsin:
JasonHalfenOutdoors.com
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Jason Halfen
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Depth Highlight, and Depth Highlight Range
One pattern that all anglers work hard to identify is a productive depth, or range of depths, where many of their fish are caught during a given day. Once fish are caught at a particular depth in one part of a body of water, anglers will often begin their search for fish in a new area at the previously productive depth. Depth HIghlight and Depth Range Highlight are two powerful Humminbird-exclusive tools from Lakemaster that will help users to identify those productive depths, or range of depths, in all areas of their favorite body of water. By activating Depth Highlight from the Chart menu, the user will be able to select one particular depth (in one-foot increments) to color in green for the entire chart. By selecting Depth Highlight Range (found directly underneath Depth Highlight), this single-foot depth can be expanded, both shallower and deeper, to highlight a range of productive depths.
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Jason Halfen ~ IDO Pro Staff
Guided walleye and smallmouth bass fishing in western Wisconsin:
JasonHalfenOutdoors.com
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Jason Halfen
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Here is a final pair of Pelican Lake screen captures. On the left is a screen capture that illustrates Water Level Offset of -3 feet and Shallow Water Highlight of 3 feet (coloring all water 0-3 feet deep in red). On the right is the same area, with Depth Highlight of 20 feet and Depth Highlight Range of +/- 2 feet. This has the effect of coloring all water 18-22 feet deep in green. If I'm consistently catching walleyes by pulling spinners through water 18-22 feet deep, then Depth Highlight helps me identify other areas on the chart that are 18-22 feet deep by providing a strong (green) visual cue.
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Jason Halfen ~ IDO Pro Staff
Guided walleye and smallmouth bass fishing in western Wisconsin:
JasonHalfenOutdoors.com
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Jason Halfen
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Lakemaster's new GPS map chips provide Humminbird users with a fantastic new cartography option as well as powerful, exclusive features that make Humminbird chartplotters far more interactive and useful tools than they ever have been before. Be sure to add a Lakemaster GPS map chip to your Humminbird fishing system in 2010 to experience the combined power of these two dynamic, interactive angling tools.
I'm as anxious as can be to get the Lakemaster chip for Humminbird out on Mille Lacs in a couple of weekends for some dedicated night trolling, and will have a lot more to share about the chip and its Humminbird interface performs after that trip. In the meantime, if you'd like to learn more about Lakemaster cartography for Humminbird fishing systems, give me a shout! Or, if you'd just like to see how a portion of your favorite lake looks with the Water Level Offset, Shallow Water Highlight, or Depth Highlight features activated, I can take care of that as well.
To learn more about these Humminbird-exclusive Lakemaster features, or other ways that Humminbird fishing systems can make you a more productive angler, check out the instructional articles at the link below:
Humminbird Instructional Articles from Jason Halfen Outdoors
Finally, if you haven't already, be sure to check out the In-DepthOutdoors video review of the Lakemaster chip for Humminbird:
Lakemaster Video Review
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Jason Halfen ~ IDO Pro Staff
Guided walleye and smallmouth bass fishing in western Wisconsin:
JasonHalfenOutdoors.com
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Nic Habeck
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Excellent features, I have been dreaming of a depth offset setting for most of my life. Some simple programming goes a long ways for us. Excellent report. Need to figure out my explanation to my wife for buying two more map chips...
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Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught. ~Author Unknown
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Lakemaster cartography for Humminbird systems
