free lake maps from Lowrance

[jacksonlaker]

Has anyone out there ever downloaded the free lake maps from the Lowrance web site for use in their fishfinders. If so do I need a SD card writer to get the info from the site to the card?? I'm no computer wiz so I dont want to buy stuff I cant use. The maps look pretty good. I cant see buying maps for 19 states if I only need 2 lakes. Any info would be greatly appreciated...JL
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[utwalleye]

I haven't down loaded there maps, but you will need the card writer so you can connect it to your computer and down load the maps to the card for the gps. I have a card with the western united states. it cost 100 bucks, it has most of the major lakes and some with bottom contour. later chuck
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]How are the maps for Utah? I just bought the IFinder H20 model and am working on getting it up and running.[/#0000ff]
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[Jedburton]

I just bought the same gps and love it. The free maps are only free if you buy the 100$ mapcreate software. They are pretty good though. My wife gave me the mapcreate software for my birthday. The gps was the difference in catching and not catching wipers on wed. Though. Anyway I have really been enjoying it,
jed
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[Jedburton]

you do have to have an SD card for the maps. You also have to have the mapcreate software and maps or I believe there was another set of maps you can buy as well that they work with. On their own though they don't do anything,
jed
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks. I just bought the basic unit from Tiger GPS for $137 and have just about decided that I need to spend the extra money for the goodies.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You can tell your wife that MY birthday is coming up next month. [/#0000ff]
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[utwalleye]

4 lakes here in ut. have contour, the gorge, berry, lake x, stravation, I think those are the ones. I have the same unit and all the goodies for it. hope it helps me tomorrow. later chuck
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[Jedburton]

due to fathers day I think the well has run dry. Sorry,
jed[]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks anyway. My wife's birthday is six days after mine. She gets ME something SHE wants, and then I give it to her on her birthday. Kind of a one way deal.[/#0000ff]
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[jacksonlaker]

Thanks alot for the heads up on the maps. It looks like I will spending more money on fishing!! If you guys have never been on the Lowrance web sight the sonar tutorial is really good. It tells you all about how and why sonar works,why fish make arches, etc.
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[MADMAX101]

I have downloaded the free maps from there and it works great. I did all 3 Wyoming lakes, Jackson, Glendo and the Gorge. You do need the Mapcreate software, and an SD card, and it just replaces the lake map that was there, with pretty good detail. Has anyone used the new Mapcreate Topo 6.3? I only have the 6.2 and was wondering what the difference looks like with the maps. It should work good for you.
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[fishstalker]

I have tried to download the enhanced maps from the Lowrance website but have been unsuccessful. My same old map with no contour lines continues to come up. Is there a trick to doing this? What is the countour interval on the enhanced map of the Gorge? Is it 40 foot contours or are they smaller than that? Thanks for any help you could provide.
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[DonInDenver]

I have the iFinder H20 and the LCX-19C and use the free downloadable maps from Lowrance. The one I use the most is the one for the Gorge. The contours are in 40' increments but that's enough to help you out a lot, especially if you also use the paper map from from the Fish-N-Map company, too, for more fine detail. All you really need is something to get you in the ballpark. Then when you find your hotspots on your sonar you save the waypoints on your GPS.

I went out to Bass Pro Shops here in Denver and compared the free Lowrance map for Flaming Gorge with the one on the newest Navionics Premium chip and I liked the free one much better. The free Lowrance map had greater contrast on the color screens (we tested it in an LMS-332C) and was more readable on my black and white iFinder. And the Navionics map had the same 40' contour lines. So I saved myself $140 or whatever the price is.

And I could be wrong, but I think all you neeed to download and use the maps is the Lowrance card reader ($29.99 from Cabela's) and an MMC card or SD card. I don't think you need to buy the entire MapCreate package, although for $99.95 you can get the card reader, an MMC card and the Map Create 6.2 CD. Worth it in my opinion.
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