Garmin has finally done what all its users have dreamed about for quite some time now and that is incorporate Navionics lake-mapping into their existing Garmin LakeVü mapping, bringing anglers the best of both worlds.
To me, this just pushes Garmin into yet another level of electronic dominance for people who fish.
Check it out here.
Some of the main features of the Garmin LakeVü G3 and Garmin LakeVü G3 Ultra are:
- Industry-leading coverage, clarity, and detail with updated inland maps that feature integrated Garmin and Navionics® content
- Coverage for more than 13,500 total lakes, of which more than 4,800 have up to 1’ contours
- Auto Guidance¹ technology quickly calculates a suggested route by using your desired depth and overhead clearance
- High-resolution Relief Shading makes it easier to see contours and find fish holding structure
- Depth Range Shading for up to 10 depth ranges enables you to view your target depth at a glance
At 280 bucks for Canadian waters, you may think it’s expensive but remember, this is the best underwater detail available so far.
If you don’t need all of the features of the Ultra, then for 201 bucks you can get Garmin LakeVü Canada (minus the Ultra) and from what I can tell, the only difference is the following:
Garmin LakeVü G3 Feature Comparison
| Feature | G3 Ultra | G3 |
| Navionics® data | • | • |
| Total lakes covered | 13,500+ | 13,500+ |
| Lakes with up to 1′ contours | 4,800+ | 4,800+ |
| Garmin Elite surveyed lakes | ||
| Fish attractors | ||
| Auto Guidance¹ technology | • | • |
| High-resolution relief shading | ||
| Depth range shading | • | • |
| Shallow water shading | • | • |
| Unique 3-D views | • | |
| Dynamic lake level | • | |
| High-resolution satellite imagery | ||
| Surface and side scan sonar photos |
FINAL VERDICT
If you can live without Unique 3D views and Dynamic Lake Levels, then why not save close to 80 bucks?
Then, of course, if you don’t want to pay for all those maps that you may never use, you can always simply Quickdraw only the areas that you need to fish at no extra cost. Garmin has the solution no matter what your budget is.
We’ve come a long way since the old paper maps with numbers pasted all over the water showing us approximate depths.
Personally, I love it!
Pete Bowman