I think I know the answer but I want to make sure I am not missing something.
Assuming you fish only in Iowa, it does not do any good to purchase the PREMIUM Navionics hotmaps card because there are no Iowa lakes with any more detail then the regular (and cheaper) Navionics Hotmaps charts.
True? or am I missing something…..
Thanks!
Dave
Dave,
You may or may not be missing out on some detail, or possibly even some lakes in Iowa. The new Navionics Hotmaps regular and Premium will include only 4 regions – North, South, East, and West. But the Premium will offer more detail on some lakes and it appears will also include more lakes overall. As for Iowa specifically, I can’t say at this time because we do not have that level of specifications yet. You could contact Navionics directly and ask to speak to Jeff Brodeur. He should be able to tell you how this effects Iowa.
Our new Premium North chips are supposed to arrive here today, but these are the chip only, no detailed specifications.
Here’s a copy of a recent memo regarding the 2005 release (note that it says that the Hotmaps has over 1000 lakes while the Premium has 3000 lakes):
Substantial enhancements to Navionics’ inland Mapping series, HotMaps, will make the New Year a very happy one for freshwater anglers, plotter manufacturers, and dealers alike.
Fishermen will have three products to choose from in 2005; HotMaps Classic, HotMaps Gold, and the all new HotMaps Premium. These three products will share the same geographic boundaries in the continental U.S-each offering a single chart for the North, South, East, and West. The new 4 Region packaging consolidates the previous 14 HotMaps Regions-offering tremendous value to the customer, fewer stocking items for the Dealer, and ease of distribution.
HotMaps Classic and HotMaps Gold for 2005 will feature the same 1000+ lakes offered in the 2004 version, but 3 or 4 times as many per Region, at the same price! With no loss of detail or performance, HotMaps Classic and Gold 2005 represent a great value!
Navionics newest offering, HotMaps Premium, is the inland mapping system by which all others will be judged. The excitement centers around the inclusion of Navionics’ exclusive high definition survey lakes. These are some of the premier freshwater fishing bodies in the U.S. recently mapped to an unprecedented level of detail and accuracy. Legendary waters like Texoma, Sidney Lanier, Winnipesauke, Beaver, and many more with detail to 1’ depth changes, only available on HotMaps Premium!
Our Premium customers will also enjoy over 2000 new lakes, bringing the lake total to over 3000, and the inclusion of our new Inland Navigable Rivers. We didn’t stop there, also included are many coastal rivers and estuarine systems such as the Everglades, Potomac River, Sacramento Delta, and many more!
Offered in 4 huge Regions on plug-and-play cartridges, HotMaps Premium represents the new standard in inland mapping!
These 3 new HotMaps offerings cement Navionics’ position as the leader in freshwater cartography for 2005. The most lakes, the strongest value, and the finest detail compatible with the best chart plotters…an unbeatable combination. [End Memo]
It might be best for you to get all the details before you make your decision. If I get more info I’ll let you know.
Hey Wade, the wife just called to tell me the 500 showed up today. I can’t wait to get on Minnetonka with the new chip to test it out. I’m also very interested to see how the navigable river work for Pool 2 – 4.
Thanks for the great service and helping the wife pick the right products!!!
John
Quote:
Hey Wade, the wife just called to tell me the 500 showed up today. I can’t wait to get on Minnetonka with the new chip to test it out. I’m also very interested to see how the navigable river work for Pool 2 – 4.
Thanks for the great service and helping the wife pick the right products!!!
John
John,
I hope you really enjoy it. You’re wife was a pleasure to talk to and please tell her thank you also. The new chip will be on it’s way soon.
Take care,
Wade
I believe the regular chip does not include the river charts. So if you fish the Mississippi River along Iowa’s borders you will want to go for the premium. This was true but check to see if it is still true for 2005. I think the regular only has 1 Iowa pool included while Premium includes continuous river coverage.
We just got the Navionics Premium North chips in and they did include a lake list. It looks to me like the Premium chip has 25 more Iowa lakes than the regular Hotmaps Gold/Classic chip. And I think Ken may be correct about the Rivers, although it is not that clear on the lake list. I personally think the Premium is the way to go for most folks. You might also consider the resale value of a chip if you decide to sell and upgrade down the road. The Premium should be an easier sale in the classified ads of on ebay. Navionics will offer you some trade in value but you can often get more selling the old chips outright. Something to consider… If you want to know about any specific lakes Dave, just post here and I’ll tell you what I can.
Thanks,
Wade
Thanks for your help guys. I was comparing the premium and “regular” Hotmaps chips yesterday and the 2 lakes that I spend 95% of my time on (Saylorville & Big Creek) were listed as FHS maps on both chips. It didnt look like paying extra for the premium was going to get me more details on either one. I hadnt really thought about more Iowa lakes being listed on Premium. Perhaps if some of our smaller lakes are listed, it would make it worth while…
Thanks for the good advice…
Dave
Alright, perhaps Im looking at the wrong thing. I cut and past the map list from the Gold Chip and the Premium chip and deleted everything that wasn’t Iowa. Whew…
They seem to be the exact same 13 lakes. I assume their arent any extra details on the premuim chip? Iowa just doesnt get any respect…. 
Gold Chip
Big Creek Lake Polk IA
Clear Lake Cerro Gordo/Pocahontas IA
Coralville Lake Johnson IA
East Okoboji Lake Dickinson IA
MacBride Johnson IA
Mississippi River-Pool 13 Jackson IL-IA
Odessa Louisa IA
Pleasant Creek Lake Linn IA
Rathbun Lake Appanoose IA
Saylorville Lake Polk IA
Spirit Lake Dickinson IA
Storm Lake Buena Vista IA
West Okoboji Lake Dickinson IA
Premium Chip
FHS LAKES:
Big Creek Lake Polk IA
Clear Lake Cerro Gordo/Pocahontas IA
Coralville Lake Johnson IA
East Okoboji Lake Dickinson IA
Lake Odessa Louisa IA
Mississippi River-Pool 13 Jackson IL-IA
Rathbun Lake Appanoose IA
Saylorville Lake Polk IA
Spirit Lake Dickinson IA
West Okoboji Lake Dickinson IA
ADDITIONAL LAKES:
MacBride Johnson IA
Pleasant Creek Lake Linn IA
Storm Lake Buena Vista IA
Dave,
That is the 2004 chip. We now have the 2005 version that is called Premium North rather than Premium #10. A lot more lakes listed, more on the Premium than on the regular Hotmaps chip for 2005. If you tell me some of your favorite IA lakes I can tell you if they are listed on one, both, or neither. I’ll eventaully have the full list on the site but that’s gonna be a while (too many lakes to type!).
Hey Wade, anyway you can scan the list and post the lakes covered on the new chips for say Iowa and Minnesota? Might even help you sell more chips. 
Besides, buying from Wade guys means no sales tax and free shipping if you live outside Iowa and free shipping if you live in Iowa and the sale helps benefit a site sponsor. Thanks, Bill
Bill, That’s a good idea but the scans never seem to come across very clear on the web. I’m trying to get an electronic list so I can reproduce it for you all.
Thanks!
Wade,
I can relate to the typing problem, I use OCR software from my fax program to translate the scan or faxed image to text format. Not perfect but probably over 90 – 95% accuracy and that beats the H… out of my typing. Just a thought, might not help, but I feel your pain.
dave
Thanks Wade. Please just wait for the electronic list and cut and paste it here (or provide a link).
The 2 lakes I fish are already covered (Saylorville and Big Creek). I would be interested to know what other smaller lakes they have added in my area. The 13 they have listed on the 2004 chip I think are the same ones that have printed Fishing Hot Spot maps. I a bit curious to know where the new info comes from. A lot of these smaller Iowa lakes dont even have any surveys done (that I know of).
Dave
emover – Thanks for the suggestion (and the empathy). 
Dave, I should have it soon. You won’t be doing any trolling this week anyway, right. 
From what I gather, Navionics uses several different sources for the lake data and they are also doing there own surveys. What I do know for sure is that they sure work well. Ryan Hale and I both use the chip on Okoboji and Spirit and we were both impressed with how accurate it is. We were cruising this the small inlet from Templar (I think it was) to Spirit Lake, not more than two boat-widths wide, and our Lowrance units with the Navionics chip had us mapped right smack in the middle of the inlet. Some of my customers who troll Mille Lacs have told me that they can run the contour lines on the GPS and be dead on, using the Premium chip. Whatever Navionics is doing they are doing it well. I understand that I am biased as a seller but it’s not just me shouting about the quality of these chips, it’s a lot of serious anglers out there.
I’ll keep you posted as I get more info. For now it’s back to moving snow.
What really excites me about this is that now I can buy one chip to cover MN AND WI instead of two. Wade, I assume that this will work in the new Lowrance 332C? Have fun with all that snow down there. 
The Navionics Premium and/or regular Hotmaps will work very well with the LMS-332C. Should look great on that 480×480 color screen. I recently heard that Lowrance may begin shipping the new LMS-332C the week of the 17th, so we should have them in stock by the end of that week. I’ve got one pegged for myself. That’s going to be a sweet combo if you don’t need a super-sized screen.
As for the snow… is it Spring yet?
Scott,
Sorry. Not listed on either the regular nor the Premium chip.
Wade, sounds good. Wait til you get a list that you can cut and paste. Thanks, Bill
Okay, I broke down and decided to type out at least the Iowa Lakes. I’ll be adding the Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin lakes soon. Updates will be at this link:
I do have a few Premium North chips available now. We’ll be adding all the Navionics chips for all 4 new regions in both premium and regular hotmap gold/classic soon.
Hotmaps Premium North Iowa Lakes
* indicates that the lake is also available on the regular Hotmaps gold/classic
Ahquabi
Beeds
*Big Creek
Big Swan
Black Hawk
*Clear
*Coraville
Darling
De Soto
*East Okoboji
Geode
Icaria
Ingham
Keomah
Lacey Keosauqua
Lewis Clark
Lost Island
Lower Gar
*McBride
Manawa
*Mississippi River-Pool 13
North Twin
*Odesa
Panorama
*Pleasant Creek
Prairie Rose
*Rathbun
Red Hawk
Red Rock
Rock Creek
*Saylorville
Silver (Dickinson)
Silver (Palo Alto)
*Spirit
*Storm
Swan
Trumbull
Wapello
*West Okoboji
Rivers – Premium North
*Grand River
*Mississippi River – Pool 4, Pool 8, Pool 13
Missouri River
*St. Croix River
Hope this helps guys. Let me know if there are any questions.
Thanks,
Wade
Come on Wade, you cannot tease us like that. We need the list for Mn and WI too. That chip will go good in that 5500c that I plan on getting from you in a month or two.
Thanks,
Ron
You bet Ron. The new Lowrance color Globalmaps look pretty sweet. I promise to get more lakes up soon…
Wade you scared me. You forgot to list the Upper Mississippi River is included as well for Iowa. I thought maybe they removed it from this new chip but it is still listed in the link. This covers all the pools down to IA/MO border not just pool 13 using USACE data.
Sorry Ken. That was the way they have it listed on the material but the Miss. is on there.
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