The three essential Lowrance screens are your chart, your sonar, and a dedicated battery screen, each set up with the same overlay data, remaining hours on the trolling motor, state of charge, battery voltage, time, and water temperature, so you never have to switch screens to see what matters. In this How 2 Tuesday I show how to use the overlay function to display any information you want on any screen on your Lowrance.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
The idea is to put the same critical data on the three screens you actually use: your chart, your sonar, and a dedicated battery and fuel screen. Across all of them I display remaining hours on the trolling motor, state of charge, battery voltage, time, and water temperature, so I never have to switch screens to see the information that matters.
On the screen you want, hit the power button and choose edit overlay. Then select add and pick the data field you want, such as time remaining, state of charge, voltage, or water temperature. You can place each item where you like and then save it so the data stays on that screen.
After you add a data field, select it and hit configure, then choose the display size. I set the time to extra large so I can read it from the back of the boat, while keeping other readings smaller. Configuring each element's size lets you prioritize the information you care about most.
Yes, and that is the whole point. I add the same overlay data, time remaining, state of charge, battery voltage, and time, to both my chart screen and my sonar screen. That way, whether I am running the chart or watching sonar, I never lose sight of my battery status or the time without flipping screens.
For me the most important readouts are time, water temperature, remaining hours on the trolling motor, and state of charge on the Lithium Pros batteries. Speed over ground and battery voltage earn a spot too. Those are the numbers that keep me efficient and on fish through the day.
Because time tells me what the tide is doing and how long I have to fish a spot before it changes. I display it extra large so I can see it from anywhere on the boat. Knowing the time and the tide together is part of being in the right place at the right moment.
I am not always going to have a screen up with only battery information on it. I may be running sonar, forward-facing sonar, or the chart. So I set up the overlay to show the same critical data, remaining hours, state of charge, voltage, and time, no matter which screen I am on. I break down why that matters in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Here are the steps I walk through in this How 2 Tuesday, with the full demonstration in the episode.
I unpack each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above.
Adding the data is only half of it. I configure each field's size, setting the time extra large so I can read it from the back of the boat while keeping other readings smaller. That way the most important number jumps out at a glance. I show exactly how to configure size in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Once my chart screen is dialed, I edit the overlay on my sonar screen and add the same time remaining, state of charge, voltage, and time, so I never have to flip back and forth. You can carry this to any screen you use often. I walk through it step by step in the episode, so press play in the player above.
For me the data that earns a spot is time, water temperature, remaining hours on the trolling motor, and state of charge on the Lithium Pros batteries. Put those in front of you everywhere and you fish more efficiently.
The Lowrance overlay system makes this easy once you know where to look, and you can set up your screens exactly the way you fish. Press play in the player above.
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
Lowrance · Lithium Pros battery · NEMA connection · forward-facing sonar · state of charge · remaining hours · water temperature · trolling motor · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
Tom Rowland Podcast — Episode 906 (How 2 Tuesday): 3 Essential Lowrance Screens
In this episode: displaying overlay data on the Lowrance chart screen, remaining hours on the trolling motor through the lithium pro battery’s NEMA connection, state of charge and water temperature, configuring readouts extra large, and putting the same data on the sonar screen — in the exact words spoken.
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Tom Rowland: What's going on everybody? It's how to Tuesday, and we're doing a little series on our GPS and the information that we display on the GPS. We've talked about the battery, the lithium pro battery, having a a connection and how we displayed that here.
Tom Rowland: I'm not always going to have a screen up that has only battery information on it. I may be running sonar. I might be running forward facing sonar. I might be running the chart.
Tom Rowland: I wanna show you how you can display the same information or really any information that you want in the overlay on your Lowrance.
Tom Rowland: I have speed over ground, which is very important. I have the date and time, very, very important. So I want that displayed in big letters so that I can see it from the back of the boat. I can see it from anywhere I want to. I don't have to get right up here, but then what's really, really important is the remaining hours here.
Tom Rowland: So with that NEMA connection on the lithium pro battery, I can have this information here. How much time do I have left, at the, at the current rate of expenditure on the trolling motor? So in other words, if I'm running this on high, how many hours can I do that in these conditions? And it'll say you have twenty hours or whatever at ten ninety two that's showing full charge.
Tom Rowland: So the next piece of information that I have over on my, chart that I'm gonna look at mostly is the state of charge.
Tom Rowland: The battery's at a 100%. That's fantastic. Like to see that ten ninety two going out a 100% charge, 47.6 amps. And now if I wanted to add one more thing here, let's say water temperature is gonna be very important. I think it might be under sonar, water temperature.
Tom Rowland: So sonar, water temperature, and it's not gonna display properly because we're out of the water. Save that. And now I have this information here.
Tom Rowland: If there's one piece of information that is really, really important to you, like let's say time, we can go back to edit one more time. Go back to the same menu, edit overlay, hit the time and then if I want to change the way this is displayed, I'm gonna hit configure and I'm gonna, it's out on extra large.
Tom Rowland: So that's displaying as, as big as it could be. But if I wanted it smaller, I could display it smaller. I like it extra large. So it's gonna be right there and all you have to do is go in here and save this. And so when you go to your, chart, that's going to be the information that you see.
Tom Rowland: But if you want to display this on other other screens that you use really often like sonar, let's see right now I've got water temperature and depth displayed. It's exactly the same thing. When I, you gotta go to this screen, I'm gonna hit the power button, edit overlay. And now what it's gonna allow me to do is add. So if I like the depth there, 7.3, that's fine.
Tom Rowland: I want to add more. And what we wanna do is we wanna know how much, battery life we have when we're using our, our, sonar. We don't want to have to go back and forth between screens so I can display the same, information time remaining on to the sonar screen. Okay. Then I'm gonna add another one and let's put state of charge right there, a 100%.
Tom Rowland: I'm gonna go out of that. I'm gonna add another one and I'm going to go battery voltage right there. So those are three very important things. And the one thing that, that I really like to have also is the time.
Tom Rowland: So I'm going to add time in here.
Tom Rowland: It was under time right there. And so we're gonna go right here to just regular time and that's gonna be displayed right there, but I can barely see it. I'm sure you can't see it. So let me show you what we do there. You go to configure and we put time as not small, but extra large.
Tom Rowland: So now I have the time right there. And if I don't like that where it is, I'm gonna put the time up higher right there. Okay. So back and that's now the same data that I have. That's what I want to keep.
Tom Rowland: So I'm gonna hit save and now on my, on my screen for my chart, I have the same data for my screen for the sonar. I have the same data and you could just continue to go through here and add this anywhere. This is a screen that we put together before where it's remaining hours, battery, fuel, and time. This is a really important one. But now with, with your Lowrance, you can now display any of this information very, very easily.
Tom Rowland: Whatever is the most important information to you. For me, it is time, water temperature, remaining hours on the trolling motor and state of charge on the, on the, batteries, on the lithium pro batteries. So that's it. That's how you go through, your Lowrance and add that to your screen. I hope that helps.
Tom Rowland: See you.
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