Lake MI Contour Lines on GPS

[Captnbobb]

I am looking for a new GPS unit for fishing Lake MI. I would like a unit that shows contour depth lines. I looked for these a couple of years ago and found that most units (Garmin / Lowrance) used maps that showed contour lines only out to 50 ft deep and then only showed the scattered depth readings that paper charts have. I know more detailed charts exist, I have seen them as JPEGs with 5 meter contours all across the lake. I know those files are also available for PC mapping systems but my boat is too small (20 ft open bow) to take a PC and they can't be seen in daylight anyway. I want to be able to follow dropoffs at 100 ft and greater depths (Herring Hole, 6-mile Hole, Pt Betsie Shelf, etc. Does anybody have any good recommendations (something in the 5" screen size).

[res]

CaptnBob
I have the lakemappro chip on my boats lowrance mapping unit. I picked it up right at the end of the season so I was able to see quite a bit of detail with it and a lot of contour but I am not sure of the exact depth markings. I know it did a pretty good job of showing the drop shelf off Manistee where I fish. I am using a Lowrance MT3000 (not a current model) on the boat and the large screen is a great big help when tracking. I also know that the detail got better as I zoomed in. I will try and get my power chord out of the boat and get my unit fired up and see what it shows me. It might take several days. Rick

[res]

I had some time today and got into the boat and got my power chord out so I could look at the maps. First, I also run a 20' open bow (crestliner) so space is a premium. Much like the handhelds, large mapping units come with limited software and then you have to add software to gain the detail and maps you prefer. I have the lowrance 3000mt mapping unit. It came with the boat and is several years old. The screen is not color. I purchased the Lakemappro chip for this unit. It gives contour lines of 5' out to 300'. After that it gives 10 foot lines all the way to about 800'. The one thing I did note is that you have to zoom in a bit to see the contour lines. The contour lines were visible at the 5 mile setting but the depth readings do not show since they are so close together. At the 4 mile zoom range the numbers started showing. Once you were zoomed into the 2 mile setting you had all of the depths showing. Unfortunately this is the only unit that I have with a lake detail map on it. Don't forget, once you get to a spot and work your way around you can then save that track and the next time you are ready to run you can have that track right on the screen and follow it as well to the same spot you were at the time before. If I can answer any more questions please let me know. Rick