The right combination of data leads anglers to make faster and more precise decisions when on the water, and that means more fish.
May 15, 2025
By Thomas Allen
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Fishing technology has advanced so quickly that it takes commitment to keep up with it. But once you’ve embraced it and implemented it into your fishing game plan—based on what your boat and budget can handle—the learning opportunities are extensive. And you’ll catch more fish.
Critical to efficiency is maximizing available screen inches and making all digital real estate work together to provide you with the most current and relevant information to help make the next best cast. Depending on the species you fish for and prevailing trends, the number of graphs rigged on a boat certainly varies.
One of the latest trends is fewer graphs but larger screens—for instance, a single 19-inch graph at the dash instead of two 13-inch screens. With that much screen, you can comfortably view information generated from up to four sources at the same time. A single larger graph certainly works for many scenarios.
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For the sake of our discussion here, the three major brands include Humminbird, Garmin, and Lowrance, and each offers big screens and networking capabilities to share waypoints, tracks, mapping, data, and more.
Humminbird’s network is called One-Boat Network , Garmin’s is Marine Network, and Lowrance’s is called Networking System, and each links together multiple graphs to share all fishing information, trolling motor functionality and data, engine and fuel information, and connection to National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA), which is a U.S.-based trade organization that sets standards for marine electronics communication.
In short, NMEA 2000, NMEA2k, or N2K is a plug-and-play standard that allows devices such as sensors, engines, and instruments on boats to communicate over a single network cable—NMEA 2000 can support up to 50 devices and enhances boat network management and overall boat control. Here, I focus on smaller fishing crafts such as bass, walleye, and general fishing boats.
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The Network Pulling forward-facing sonar data from the bow and combining it with mapping is a beneficial view when fishing with young anglers. Each brand of electronics offers different models of graphs and transducers, often with different connection styles across models within the same brand. As such, it’s recommended that you use the same model across your boat—although different screen sizes within the model lineup is okay. An example: linking a Humminbird Helix to a Solix. Can it work? Yes. But the chances for problems increase when you’re crossing models. We suggest you keep all the models the same on your rig for best networking performance.
A networked boat can be complicated and requires numbers of Ethernet cables to link everything together, and if rigged improperly, the resulting interference will be frustrating. Humminbird offers a 5-port Ethernet hub that features built-in interference rejection software, and the ability to minimize connections. In my Skeeter, I run five graphs and numbers of transducers, and as a result, I link two Ethernet hubs to collect all my data for networking, and it works wonderfully that way.
The bottom line of a network is to instantly share data from anywhere in the boat, and it’s handy in countless applications. If I drop a waypoint on the pedal of my Minn Kota Ultrex Quest, for example, the waypoint is saved on all five of my graphs, instantly, and visible within certain applications, including mapping, 360, and Side Imaging.
Complementing Screens With growing popularity in larger single screens at the dash instead of two and even three units, you can split the screen up to four ways for comfortable viewing. There are many variations of multi-screen views to consider, depending on the type of fishing you’re doing, which dictates what information you need and where you need it. The following are a few examples of how I organize views and data at certain locations within my boat.
When I’m serving as a boat captain for my son’s high-school bass tournaments, he or his partner runs the trolling motor and makes casts based on what they may be seeing on the front three graphs. At the bow I generally run the top graph with Mega Live, the bottom left graph with Mega 360, and the third unit features mapping and 2D—lots of info. Thanks to my One-Boat Network, I can pull Mega Live data from the bow to the dash where I sit to stay out of the way. I can help coach them on bait presentation as I’m seeing exactly what they’re seeing.
During late fall while fishing with suckers for muskies, I prefer to stand in the back of the boat while driving the trolling motor via remote. I often pull 360 Imaging from the bow to the dash graphs so I can anticipate weedline points and inside turns, which helps me manage boat control and keep the sucker from getting tangled in weeds.
Those are two good examples of pulling data output from the bow of the boat and featuring it at the dash. But how about maximizing screen size?
Big Screen Fun Mega 360 and Lakemaster mapping increase navigation accuracy when pulling big suckers for late-season muskies. I run two Apex 13s at the dash of my Skeeter. Typically I have 2D sonar and Mega Side Imaging on the right-hand unit, and Lakemaster Mapping on the left unit with my Depth Contour Highlights set to contrasting colors for easy viewing—sometimes I split that screen and add Mega Down Imaging.
When I’m scanning complex structure and looking for fish, I often run three views on one graph for side-by-side comparison. For example, I like to split the screen three ways and run Side Imaging on the bottom beneath 2D and Down Imaging. But aren’t 2D and Down Imaging the same? Not at all, in fact one complements the other. 2D often tells you something is there, and Down Imaging provides extra detail to discern what it is. But Down Imaging doesn’t have the peripheral reach that 2D does, so when you combine those two views with Side Imaging, you’re collecting data at an incredible rate.
The new trend I mentioned above is to add a large graph to replace multiple units. Garmin’s GPSMAP 1643xsv is available in a 16-inch screen ($4,999.99) , Humminbird’s Apex is available up to 19 inches ($5,299.99) , and Lowrance has a 16-inch screen in the HDS Pro 16 model ($4,999) .
Yes, at first glance these larger screens seem a bit ridiculous—until you use them, and then it makes perfect sense. A larger screen features more real estate, so when you divide the screen data into three or four data sources, each is easier to read. Surprisingly, it’s quite comfortable and convenient to look at a single large screen with four data sources being presented, and with a large screen you can minimize cable clutter and interference.
Screen View Combos Each electronics brand allows you to set up custom screens to view 2, 3, and 4 data sources at the same time. Here are some combinations I use regularly:
Two Data Sources
Mapping and 2D Sonar 2D and Down Imaging Mapping and Side Imaging 2D and Side Imaging (top and bottom) 360 and Mapping Live and Mapping Three Data Sources
2D, Down Imaging, and Side Imaging Mapping, 2D, and Side Imaging Mapping, 2D, and Down Imaging 360 Front, Mapping, and 2D Four Data Sources
Mapping, 2D, Down Imaging, and Side Imaging Live, Mapping, 2D, and Down Imaging Set it to how you want it, and make the technology complement your internal rigging and fishing style. There’s no wrong answer here, but no matter what path you choose, the right electronics rigged the right way puts you in position to catch more and bigger fish.
