Garmin Panoptix: Is It Worth It?

[spiltmilt]

I've been using my Panoptix for a over a year now. Here are my impressions.

[appleye]

Thanks for the info. Very helpful.

[Gunflint]

Garmin Livescope impacted my fishing (both hard and soft water) for the better than any single item or technology that I can remember over the past 60+ years.

Shocking at how different I view things and fish.

It is more than the Livescope itself (which is amazing). It is more than having a living ultrasound about what is happening in the deep below.

I have been creating my own maps of my favorite lakes (continuously improved) and have a better understanding of what is happening. I have a "CONTEXT" that I never had before.

I am no longer a financially challenged father with a young family to support. If I was, I would probably have spent my money differently. I would have been difficult to justify this purchase when I was 28.

But I am not and anybody in my financial situation that does not have one is missing out on something valuable. That is just my humble opinion.

[bryan62]

Good video and a lot of good information. I am a veteran Vexilar man myself and a diehard crappie chaser.

Hey Gunflint. I am in the same position in life that you are and have been thinking of pulling the trigger. Unsure of whether the Livescope, or the Panoptix is the way to go though.

[Gunflint]

Good video and a lot of good information. I am a veteran Vexilar man myself and a diehard crappie chaser.

Hey Gunflint. I am in the same position in life that you are and have been thinking of pulling the trigger. Unsure of whether the Livescope, or the Panoptix is the way to go though.

Don't go cheap on a high-end purchase. Get what you think is best. I think you will be happier with the results.

[spiltmilt]

Garmin Livescope impacted my fishing (both hard and soft water) for the better than any single item or technology that I can remember over the past 60+ years.

Shocking at how different I view things and fish.

It is more than the Livescope itself (which is amazing). It is more than having a living ultrasound about what is happening in the deep below.

I have been creating my own maps of my favorite lakes (continuously improved) and have a better understanding of what is happening. I have a "CONTEXT" that I never had before.

I am no longer a financially challenged father with a young family to support. If I was, I would probably have spent my money differently. I would have been difficult to justify this purchase when I was 28.

But I am not and anybody in my financial situation that does not have one is missing out on something valuable. That is just my humble opinion.

Absolutely all good opinions. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[bryan62]

Don't go cheap on a high-end purchase. Get what you think is best. I think you will be happier with the results.

Good advice Gunflint. I guess if I am going to go, go big! Reeds has an all season livescope bundle on sale for 2699 and Garmin is giving a $200 rebate right now. I would definitely want to use it for both ice and open water fishing. Sure does weigh a lot though.

[Gunflint]

Good advice Gunflint. I guess if I am going to go, go big! Reeds has an all season livescope bundle on sale for 2699 and Garmin is giving a $200 rebate right now. I would definitely want to use it for both ice and open water fishing. Sure does weigh a lot though.

It is not light. I cut out some of the weight by using a Milwaukee Fuel 12 AH battery. Also, the newer versions have the 9 inch screen, an improvement on my 7 inch.

But, I use the exact same setup in the summer. I use different boats and simply bring along the transducer mount and screw it to the side of the boat (or canoe).

[hnd]

I built my kit and it fits in a 5 gallon bucket. 

for us, the difference is astounding.  We have a lot of options for fishing areas and we are always trying new places.  the challenge for us is maximizing fishing time.  we typically get a few hours to fish.  on new bodies of water, we often spend more time drilling holes than we do actually fishing (some may say "use maps" but everything around us is basically unmapped...the only thing we know is what the flasher tells us).  we end up calling it reconnaissance more than anything.   which is fine because the hunt for us is part of the game.  we have spots where we can go and catch fish all day long but we know whats there.  we love the unknown.   that said what gets old is drilling and drilling and drilling and drilling. 

enter panoptics last year.  we didn't just cut our drilling time in half, we cut it down to a fraction of the time. 

our first flasher certainly changed everything for us...but getting panoptix is a close 2nd.   and definitely worth the cost for us. 

if a guy pulls a permy out on the middle of the lake into shanty town, its likely not the right purchase.

[Gunflint]

We have a lot of options for fishing areas and we are always trying new places.  the challenge for us is maximizing fishing time.  we typically get a few hours to fish.  on new bodies of water, we often spend more time drilling holes than we do actually fishing (some may say "use maps" but everything around us is basically unmapped...the only thing we know is what the flasher tells us).  we end up calling it reconnaissance more than anything.   

Exactly. Most of the lakes I fish are MAPPED, but the maps end up being fiction and not helpful.

I started creating my own maps in the summer and that also changed everything. I know where I am and can plan my fishing far better than the fake maps did.

I can see individual boulders or small rock piles that make a huge difference on the ice. As I fish these lakes in the summer, my maps continuously improve.

[hnd]

have hand made contour maps of a few local lakes.  they were only gotten by drilling the entire lake out.  just to even give us a starting point to start actually trying to fish. 

i can not wait to make more use of the quickdraw feature of the garmin.   something i didn't realize i had until about a month ago    a little too late for me to utilize it for this year but oh well.