A couple of months ago I purchased a 597 DI. Over the past few weeks I have been woring on getting it fine tuned. This week I finally bit the bullet and bought the HB Lakemaster for Michigan, so I was really looking forward to getting the full unit on the water. I think I must be getting close, because last night I was marking fish and then catching them. Last night I was going for gills and I must say the combination of the maps and the fishfinder half of the equation works well. This is my first modern fish-finder and it was so cool to see fish on the finder and then to catch them at the depth the finder said.
I am so glad I got the lakemaster maps (from I-boats at the best price. THANKS!). I have the navionics app for my i-phone and their accuracy (at least on the i-phone version) is not overwhelming. The maps are not often not properly oriented to the real world as shown on the satelite maps. Also, in my case the lake I was fishing has a sunken island that I was not aware of. Apparently neither was Navionics, but Lakemaster knew it was there and had the location right.
As far as the fishfinder half of the system, it is working mostly as hoped. I still have some interference that comes when the motor goes above about 1/2 throtttle. Not sure if it is electrical or accoustic, but for my uses, it is not to much of a hassle as the depth still stays locked on fairly well. At low throttle, it gives the arches just like the pictures show for fishes. As far as structure, it shows weeds properly. I do not know of any hard structure in this lake (limbs, trees, etc.) in this lake, so I cannot comment on that.
I would post some pictures, but my only slot has the map card, so it is not going to happen.
TerryMSU
I am so glad I got the lakemaster maps (from I-boats at the best price. THANKS!). I have the navionics app for my i-phone and their accuracy (at least on the i-phone version) is not overwhelming. The maps are not often not properly oriented to the real world as shown on the satelite maps. Also, in my case the lake I was fishing has a sunken island that I was not aware of. Apparently neither was Navionics, but Lakemaster knew it was there and had the location right.
As far as the fishfinder half of the system, it is working mostly as hoped. I still have some interference that comes when the motor goes above about 1/2 throtttle. Not sure if it is electrical or accoustic, but for my uses, it is not to much of a hassle as the depth still stays locked on fairly well. At low throttle, it gives the arches just like the pictures show for fishes. As far as structure, it shows weeds properly. I do not know of any hard structure in this lake (limbs, trees, etc.) in this lake, so I cannot comment on that.
I would post some pictures, but my only slot has the map card, so it is not going to happen.
TerryMSU