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Getting caught up within the marine electronics arms race is straightforward. Your fishing buddy upgrades his screens, his choices, and his processing velocity, after which all of a sudden you’re feeling compelled to do the identical. With some professional anglers working 5 or 6 completely different graphs, every with a definite function and hefty price ticket, it’s straightforward to really feel like you want to blow out your finances so as to catch fish. But actually, you simply want one strong system to get you within the recreation. I made a decision to see if the Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 126sv could possibly be that unit for my boat.
When I purchased my first bass boat in 1996, the console graph was a 4-inch diagonal, black-and-white, two-dimensional sonar unit, and it value about 2 hundred bucks. On my final boat, I paid greater than that only for the mount to safe one in all my items. I’ve gone from that first unit to including GPS, to switching to paint, to including side-imaging, and now ahead going through sonar. Each iteration provides to the associated fee, battery demand, studying curve, and capabilities.
I ran different manufacturers via my first six boats. But after being within the boat with varied guides {and professional} anglers, I’d been impressed by the Garmin items’ crisp photos, ease of use, and notably the forward-facing side—previously Panoptix, now known as LiveScope. I’ll by no means be a whole sonar guru as a result of I usually search for bass in lower than 5 toes of water on my residence tidal rivers. But I knew that tackling this new expertise would open up new worlds to me, so I took the plunge and put one 126sv on the console and the opposite on the bow. The former has side-imaging, and the latter has ahead going through sonar.
After a number of months of working them, listed below are my ideas on the Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 126sv and LiveScope transducer.
- 12-inch touchscreen
- 1280 x 800 pixels
- Accepts Micro SD Cards
- Built-in receiver
- Two units of preloaded maps/charts
- ActiveCaptain app permits updating and distant monitoring
- Traditional sonar and Ultra High-Definition ClearVu and SideVu scanning sonars.
- Wide number of shade palettes
- Network Capable
- Engine connectivity
- Compatible with LiveScope Plus transducer
Touchscreen
The 12-inch touchscreen options easy-to-use menus and stays readable even in shiny daylight due to quite a lot of shade palettes that may be chosen to distinguish completely different targets and varieties of cowl.
Mapping
The 126sv comes preloaded with Garmin’s Navionics plus coastal and inland waters mapping, with smartphone compatibility. You can add premium cartography with high-resolution reduction shading and satellite tv for pc imagery for a payment. You may create shareable customized maps with 1-foot contours.
Networking
Through networking expertise, anglers with a number of suitable ECHOMAP items can use them to share data, together with sonar, charts, and waypoints. There’s additionally built-in wifi connectivity to permit for software program updates and notifications, in addition to the sharing of knowledge with different neighborhood members.
Testing the Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 126sv within the Field
When it got here time to order my boat, I used to be initially tempted to hitch within the electronics arms race. As lengthy as I used to be placing ahead going through sonar on the trolling motor, I figured I’d need a devoted LiveScope display and a separate 12-inch display for mapping and two-dimensional sonar. I additionally thought-about placing two graphs on the console, one for side-imaging whereas I idled and the opposite for mapping and sonar.
Eventually, I noticed that will be an enormous extra value (these items are near $3,000 apiece, and the LiveScope ducer is further). I used to be unlikely to get probably the most out of them as a result of I spend nearly all of the time taking a look at and casting to seen targets.
My Electronics
That’s why I settled on one bow display and one for the console. When I need to fish offshore, I rely solely on one display, damaged down into a number of views. The ECHOMAP Ultra 126sv isn’t a typical 12-inch display although. It appears bigger than the 12-inch view I had on my final boat, and the truth that it’s a touchscreen makes it straightforward to customise my view on the fly.
Whenever attainable, I attempt to get the identical graphs on the console and bow, so if one in all them dies or malfunctions throughout a day of fishing, I can merely swap them out. That’s not essentially straightforward on this case as a result of the console graph is flush mounted, however no less than it meant that I didn’t must be taught two completely different applied sciences. I do know that some anglers like completely different manufacturers for various functions, however I’ve all the time most well-liked to be uniform on any given boat. It simplifies the method.
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ECHOMAP Ultra 126sv Useability
The menus on the Garmin are intuitive, and you may again out for those who begin down the unsuitable path. Even with out studying the handbook—sure, I’m that man—I shortly arrange presets to take me nearly instantly to my most-used vantage factors. Once you flip the unit on, it shortly hundreds and leads you thru a number of fast steps to calibrate the compass and construct in your preferences. I experimented with varied palettes and ranges of sensitivity till I discovered the one which labored for me. On completely different waters with various turbidity ranges and canopy or construction, I’ve discovered that I make slight changes to maximise the items’ advantages.
Learning LiveScope
Several Bassmaster Elite Series execs led me via the fundamentals of LiveScope earlier than I ever ordered the boat, so I believed utilizing it on the trolling motor can be straightforward. I used to be unsuitable. They had merely made it look straightforward. Yes, I may flip it on and see in entrance of me, however after I hit a stump and the “puck” by accident acquired knocked upward, all of a sudden it was trying behind the boat, and I couldn’t determine why. I needed to make a name to a pal. With his recommendation, I clicked the unit two notches, and all of a sudden all was proper with the view. It additionally took some experimenting with settings, together with the “gain” operate, to see fish and baitfish in entrance of me.
Ultimately, I realized to make use of the ahead going through sonar moderately effectively by spending plenty of time working with it. I went to buildings I knew, like bridge pilings, and aimed the transducer at them to determine focus and keep targeted. Even then, I’d discover my foot drifting, and all of a sudden I’d lose what I’d been taking a look at. It takes time on the pedal to dial it in and make it extra intuitive. However, after I noticed a fish eat my crankbait on the display for the primary time, that “a-ha” second made me understand that I’d unlocked a brand new instrument.
What the Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 126sv Does Best
The LiveScope expertise is a significant improve in sonar skill for the typical angler. Several high execs have used it to win, together with the 2023 Bassmaster Classic, and it’s even gained on waters like Lake Okeechobee, the place you won’t count on it to be a significant factor. It permits even the typical weekend angler to see what’s in entrance of them and gauge fish habits. By seeing how fish react, you’ll be taught rather a lot about whether or not you’re utilizing the proper lure and cadence.
That’s nice, however consider it or not, there are higher issues about this unit. What I actually like is the readability of the image, the benefit of use, and the truth that even after I’ve overwhelmed it up a bit, it hasn’t gone downhill in any respect. I’ve heard anecdotal tales about “ghost trees” and different phantom pictures, however I haven’t skilled that.
I additionally like that my single graphs don’t want particular mounts to safe them in tough water. The console-mounted mannequin is agency, and the bow model locks into the offered gimbal and stays rock strong. The items is probably not cheap, however there aren’t any “hidden fees.”
I additionally unexpectedly discovered that Garmin’s customer support is superlative. I noticed traces on one aspect of the display whereas side-imaging and thought it may be a defective transducer. The customer support agent walked me via the testing course of, despatched a attainable substitute half, and adopted up a number of occasions to make sure every little thing was fantastic. It turned out to not be a manufacturing facility or mechanical defect however quite a slight set up error. So not Garmin’s fault in any respect, and but they nonetheless went out of their option to make issues proper.
Where Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 126sv Can Improve
Look, for those who’re exceptionally budget-conscious, these hefty and highly effective items won’t be the proper name. Most anglers can get away with fewer options or a smaller display measurement with out dropping fishing effectiveness. The value of the Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 126sv is comparable with graphs from the opposite main firms. So they’re not overestimated by any means. It’s only a mater of determining what you want and what value burden you may bear.
Also, for those who pair it with a Garmin trolling motor, it’d present some extra efficiencies. But for those who don’t go together with a Force trolling motor you may nonetheless get plenty of utility. I selected one of many different greatest trolling motors available on the market, and I’m nonetheless getting plenty of worth out of my graph.
The one factor that I didn’t like about these graphs is the complexity of placing within the wires (on the console mount), particularly at midnight. At almost $3,000 per graph, I gained’t depart it plugged in for a protracted experience down a bouncy freeway or at a sketchy gasoline station. Granted, every extra function requires some kind of connection, however Garmin may and may discover a option to plug every little thing in simply, in a single fell swoop. Eventually, I solved this by shopping for graph locks that can defend me towards thieves, though possibly not a decided one with a Sawzall, however no less than towards informal miscreants.
Final Thoughts
Garmin made a push into the marine business a few decade in the past, after which appeared to again off a bit earlier than reentering with gusto. I used to be doubtful of their dedication and of their expertise, and I wasn’t going to purchase till I used to be positive that they have been considerably higher than the competitors. Once that was clear, I knew I needed to have them. I’ve drenched these items within the rain, pounded them via huge waves, and knocked the transducer into stumps and dock pilings. Yet each time I flip them on, they fireplace proper up and present me what I would like. It was the proper alternative for my finances and for my fishing type.
Using LiveScope is a studying course of, and I want Garmin would devise a option to maintain the beam in place, notably on windy days after I struggle the trolling motor to remain in place, however even for a 50-something technophobe, this expertise helps me be simpler. I’ve gotten bites that I in any other case wouldn’t have triggered, and that makes it price each penny.