It’s not too often that a single product introduction has the ability to change how everyone from tackle manufacturers to weekend anglers to seasoned pros see and approach a day of fishing, but in 2018 when Garmin unveiled the world’s first live-scanning sonar—LiveScope—that is exactly what happened!
Now instead of watching what had been in their transducer’s field of vision, anglers could see a live display of what was currently in front of them and see how fish reacted to varying presentations. It was now not only possible to determine varied sizes of fish on the electronics’ display, but anglers could even distinguish between species and seek out specific targets in real time. This truly revolutionized fishing as we know it today, so much so that some questioned whether this was even fair to the fish. Fortunately, the fish have no say in the matter and the results are undeniable as LiveScope has led to countless professional fishing tournament wins including three of the last four Bassmaster Classic Championships, and it has won numerous industry awards including ICAST’s Best of Show, NMEA’s Technology of the Year and Boating Industry’s Top Product, just to name a few.
In 2019, LiveScope made its way into the ice fishing scene with the introduction of the LiveScope Ice Fishing Bundle, and hardwater anglers couldn’t get their hands on it fast enough! Ice fishing electronics or flashers have always presented more of a real-time readout of what was going on below the angler’s feet than open-water models, but where traditional flashers displayed distinct color bars to represent fish, bait and structure, the Panoptix LiveScope display shows both a real time and far more realistic, almost video-game-like picture on the screen.
With the two markets of open and hard water live-scanning, real-time sonar covered by Garmin LiveScope, the next step was to set about improving on the technology; enter Garmin LiveScope Plus in 2022.
In one of the latest additions to Garmin’s revolutionary live-scanning sonar lineup, anglers experience 35% improved target separation over the existing system with sharper resolution, reduced noise, and Garmin’s clearest images ever. LiveScope Plus can identify and separate targets as small as 14 inches at distances 100 feet from the boat so anglers can see exactly what they need to with improved stitching, reduced noise and fewer on-screen artifacts that impede the picture of fish and structure. If there was any question as to whether LiveScope was fair to the fish before, this very well may settle the debate!
The LiveScope Plus System delivers three unique view options with a single mount—Forward, Down and Perspective. The mode can be easily adjusted to fit an angler’s fishing techniques, needs and preferences on the go without the need for any additional tools. Simply turn the transducer forward for a live look at what’s out in front of the boat; point it down to see directly beneath the boat; or turn it sideways with the included Perspective Mode Mount to enable the ‘top down’ perspective mode to see a wide view of what’s in front of the boat up to 50 feet away. Select the LiveScope mode that best fits that fishing spot, and the view will automatically change on a compatible Garmin chartplotter screen.
The LiveScope Plus System includes the Perspective Mode Mount, a compact GLS™ 10 black box with a LiveScope Plus LVS34 transducer, a trolling motor barrel and shaft mounting kit, perspective mount bracket and a simple plug-and-play Garmin Marine Network connector for easy installation and integration with a compatible chartplotter. If your customers are looking to upgrade their current system to LiveScope Plus, they can simply add the LVS34 transducer (sold separately). The LiveScope System and LiveScope LVS34 transducer retail for $1699.99 and $1199.99, respectively.
Leverage this technology to your advantage today, and if you’re not already, become an authorized Garmin dealer today to see your profits soar.