If you spend a lot of time fishing different bodies of water, one thing becomes pretty obvious: good mapping is one of the most valuable tools you can have in the boat.
It doesn’t matter if you’re fishing walleyes in Canada, chasing bass on a southern reservoir, or exploring a lake you’ve never been on before. Having accurate contour information right in front of you can dramatically shorten the learning curve.
That’s one of the things I really like about the Humminbird XPLORE units. Right out of the box, you have access to mapping for 13,000 lakes across North America, including Canada.
That is a tremendous amount of water.
High-Quality Mapping Wherever You Fish
Right now, I happen to be fishing up on Lake Winnipeg, and I’ve got quality mapping available right on the unit. In certain sections of Lake Winnipeg, that includes one-foot contour detail.
Think about what that means from a fishing standpoint.
Instead of looking at a general outline of a piece of structure, you can start seeing the subtle changes that actually position fish. Small breaks, points, turns, humps, flats and other structural details become much easier to identify.
And those little differences can be incredibly important.
A lot of times, fish aren’t randomly scattered across a lake. They’re relating to something specific. It might be a breakline, an inside turn, a subtle point or a particular depth range.
Good mapping helps you identify those areas before you ever make your first cast.
Mapping Across the U.S. and Canada
Another thing that’s important for anglers like us is the geographic coverage.
We spend a tremendous amount of time traveling and fishing throughout the Midwest and Canada. Lakes like Rainy Lake and Lake of the Woods are good examples of those big crossover bodies of water where having dependable mapping is extremely valuable.
But the usefulness of this system certainly isn’t limited to northern fisheries.
If I head south and start fishing major reservoirs such as Toledo Bend or Sam Rayburn, I’ve still got high-end LakeMaster mapping available in the unit.
That’s what makes this particularly useful for traveling anglers.
You can go from fishing a giant Canadian walleye lake to fishing a southern bass reservoir and have detailed mapping available for both situations.
Mapping Has Come a Long Way
When you look back at where marine electronics were years ago, it’s pretty amazing how much things have changed.
There was a time when traveling to different areas meant buying individual map cards for virtually every place you wanted to fish.
You might spend around a hundred dollars on a map for one state or province, then travel somewhere else and need another map.
For somebody who fishes a lot of different waters, those costs could add up pretty quickly.
Today, having thousands of high-quality maps incorporated into the XPLORE system changes that equation considerably.
Instead of thinking about whether you’ve got the correct mapping card for the next destination, you’ve already got an enormous mapping library available.
Why Detailed Mapping Matters to Anglers
Modern electronics have completely changed the way we approach fishing.
We have incredibly sophisticated sonar, side imaging, down imaging and live sonar technologies that allow us to see fish and structure in ways that weren’t possible years ago.
But mapping remains one of the foundational pieces of that entire system.
Before you can effectively use your sonar to investigate an area, you first need to know where to look.
That’s where a detailed map becomes so valuable.
If I’m approaching a new body of water, I can start studying the contours and immediately identify areas that fit the seasonal pattern I’m looking for. I can find structural elements that deserve closer inspection and then use the rest of my electronics to determine what’s actually there.
In other words, mapping helps you narrow down an enormous body of water into a collection of high-percentage areas.
That’s particularly important on massive fisheries like Lake Winnipeg, Lake of the Woods or some of the giant southern reservoirs.
On water that big, eliminating unproductive areas is every bit as important as finding productive ones.
A Powerful Tool for the Traveling Angler
For me, that’s one of the biggest advantages of having this kind of mapping built into the Humminbird XPLORE platform.
We’re constantly traveling.
One week we might be fishing walleyes somewhere in Canada, and the next trip could put us on an entirely different style of fishery hundreds or even thousands of miles away.
Having 13,000 North American lake maps available gives you an enormous amount of flexibility.
More importantly, these aren’t simply generic maps. On many major fisheries, you’ve got the kind of detailed LakeMaster mapping that serious anglers have relied on for years.
The technology has simply become more accessible and more convenient.
Better Information Means More Efficient Fishing
At the end of the day, electronics are about helping you make better decisions on the water.
Where should I start?
What depth should I be looking at?
Where does this point actually break?
Is there a subtle contour change that might concentrate fish?
Where is the next piece of similar structure?
A good map starts answering those questions before you ever put a bait in the water.
And when you combine detailed mapping with everything else available through today’s marine electronics, you’ve got an incredibly powerful fishing system.
For anglers who travel and fish a variety of waters across North America, having that kind of information already available in the unit is a tremendous advantage.
Years ago, we’d be carrying different map cards for different states, provinces and regions.
Today, with the Humminbird XPLORE, you’ve got mapping for thousands of lakes sitting right at your fingertips.
And when you’re trying to break down unfamiliar water and put more fish in the boat, that’s a pretty nice tool to have.