Two separate yet equally important questions
 

1.) Is there going to be another edition of Barry Mitchell's guide this year and when?

2.) How reliable does everyone find Navionics +? I was out at pigeon lake near Grandview looking for this mid lake hump. I went right to middle of the spot which the chart said would be 10ft and drilled. It was 20-30ft in every spot I drilled. Never found the shallower water. What gives eh?

Cheers

Nicholas

(Bonus question, what do we do during this in between period in April?:thinking-006: aka the no mans land of fishing where the ice is rotten but still there)

I picked up a 2021 copy of Barry Mitchell’s fishing Guide at Superstore this weekend. Should be available at all the usual tackle shops/Crappy Tire too.

I’ve found Navionics to be iffy at best. Some lakes it’s decent and will get you within 30-40yards of where you should be. Other lakes it’s completely out to lunch and not even close. I cross reference navionics with other data sources such as AEPs bathymetry, C-MAP Genesis etc. A combination of as many data sources usually yields the best results. It definitely helps to be somewhat tech savvy with mapping software. I don’t have a boat so during ice season I’ll drill tons of holes and I mark all my holes with depths and notes in a handheld GPS unit. Then I upload all my waypoints into google earth and keep a database that way. From there you can build depth contours and generate great maps. One day when I can afford a boat and mapping units I’m going transition to that as it will save me hours of time.

nav maps are no good none of the structure is where they show it.
canadian tire in leduc has Barry m fishing guide.

What sonar do you use?
Navionics isn't very good in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba

I run a Lowrance unit and use the Genesis Social Maps and it shows lots of pigeon structure and is bang on. You need a Lowrance unit to use it but it's free maps.

www.genesismaps.com

Navionics. Lol.

The most accurate maps I have found are from a site/app called GPS Nautical Charts, and I'm not saying they're stellar by any means. I don't fish Pigeon, but the hump you're referring to doesn't seem to be on any manufacturer's social map. It does appear to be on the map I referenced. The maps in order below are the GPS Nautical Charts app, Lowarance's Social Map, Garmin Connect, and HumminBird AutoChart LiveShare. Social maps are generally very accurate where they exist. On behalf of Lowrance/Garmin/Humminbird, I thank you for doing their job for them if you contribute.


P.S. The sizes listed for various species in a lake in Barry Mitchell's Fishing Guide are about as accurate as Navionics maps last I looked, which is admittedly over a decade ago.

All the free or cheap ones like Navionics etc all use the same old free data set from the Alberta Gov't and hence they are all about the same. Some look more accurate but usually are not. The social map or ones you make your self are far more accurate. It simply would not pay here for a company to come in and spend the resources to map or lakes with such a small market.

Never found Navionics to be very accurate. I moved to C-Maps on my Lowrance and never looked back.