Mapping question for Humminbird Helix owners

[Fisher-o-Men]

My wife musta got tired of hearing me complain about my bad eyesight and squinting to read my old 5" Eagle graph so she got me a new Humminbird Helix 7 with DI and SI.

After a trip or two to the lake, it appears that the side imaging stuff is going to be a somewhat steep learning curve for me!

But my question has to do with trying to decide which mapping card to buy. I thought I could just use the "base maps" for awhile but it turns out that the base map shows blue for water and brown for land on Clark's Hill and absolutely nothing (not even an outline!) for where Lake Russell should be!

The Helix takes a micro SD and it recommends either the Lakemaster or Navionics Gold. Now I'm hearing about the Lakemaster Plus and Navionics Platinum instead. These maps look like they are going to cost between $125 and $200 so I definitely don't want to make a mistake.

Can anyone tell me their experiences and also I need to make sure that Hartwell, Russell, and the Hill are on the card I buy. I fish these three 99.9% of the time.

Thank you in advance for any and all help!

William

[CrappieKidd]

I have the Helix 7 & Di Si GPS also. Since I only fish Lake Wylie there is a pick one lake map.Three maps this might not be your option.
https://chartselect.humminbird.com/store

[MidHillbilly]

I have the Navionics plus in mine. If I read it right on the Navionics website, the Platinum version is not compatible with Helix 7. That version adds satellite views and maybe the screen is just not big enough for it because it looks like it is compatible with Helix 9 or larger. You can go to the Navionics website and click on the free web app to see what the map will look like. The web app looks pretty much like what I see on the Helix. Zoom in on a lake you want to see to see more detail.
The Lakemaster looks good and has some features I would like to have like an offset for lake level and the ability to highlight a range of depth. I may buy the individual map for Clarks Hill. The downside of getting the individual maps is you need to buy a SD card and then the map for Thurmond is about $30. You cannot put multiple lake maps on the same SD card so you have to keep a separate card for each lake you want so each one will cost you the cost for the card and the lake map. Lakemaster Plus basically seems to do the same thing as Navionics Platinum and adds satellite imagery. Looks like it is compatible with Helix 7 if I read it right. You can look at the Humminbird site and see if you think you want that and it is worth the extra cost. Personally, I don't think I would use the imagery very much but I don't know.

[SeaRay]

I have the Navionics Gold in both my Helix and HDS7. Russell and Hill are on it. Never fished Hartwell so don't know about it. Problem with Navionics is the section with SC on it does not go further south. I had to borrow one for my Florida trip.

[Jebsdaddy]

I bought the Navionics+ for my Helix 7. I am very happy with it although it did cost me $199. It allows you to insert the card into the computer and load any maps you want in North America for the first year. Then it is $99 per year afterward. I plan to get my spots loaded and leave it. It does seem a little slow every now and then loading the lines, but it has soo much additional information and is especially awesome along the coast when trying to avoid sandbars and what not.

[Hilljiger]

I recently bought the latest version Lakemaster card for my 859 and it has the hill on it. I haven't used Navionics so I can't speak of them, but I really like the Lakemaster I purchased.

[Fisher-o-Men]

All that is great info.... it's crazy that the old maps used to cover whole regions and now they are so detailed and high tech that you are probably better off dollar wise to buy the individual lakes, which is what I guess I will do. Lakemaster brags about 1' increments but since my main effort is just winding along a creek channel and staying off shoals, that seems like a lot more detail than I will probably ever use. Thanks to everyone for your help!