Using your GPS to help you catch more fish

[Darryl Morris]

Though modern technology is not a necessity, when applied it certainly can make things easier, more efficient and reap profitable results. You hit the water at first light for a full-day of fishing. Everything is perfect – bait, boat, beans and beverages. You motor down the lake to your first spot. It’s a nice brushpile you made yourself sunk in 15-foot of water on the inside bend of a secondary creek channel and you’ve always found it when you line up that ole knotty pine with that forked gum tree behind it. After a few minutes of spinning the boat to the left and then again to the right, you finally catch the edge of the brushpile and see it on your fishfinder graph. Hey, there it is and hope you haven’t spooked all the fish out of it while looking for it. You do this all day for every spot. On a full-day’s fishing trip, you end up spending an hour or two total time searching for the brushpiles instead of fishing them. The day was good because you brought home enough for supper. But what if you were able to get on all your brushpiles faster and more accurately and spend the time saved fishing instead of searching? Hey Honey, can I buy a GPS? A what? A GPS, you know . . .!!!

There have been many posts asking about GPS units, how to use them, etc. Knowing where that honey hole is and getting in the strike zone faster will put more fish in your livewell. I hope this post will help you use your GPS to do just that. Many crappie.com posters have GPS units and know how to use them, but there are some out there who don’t and hopefully this post will give them some help and confidence to utilize the technology.

First, understanding what a GPS is and how it works is where to start and will allow you to use it more effectively. Here’s a link to a website that gives a simple introduction to what a GPS is; how GPS determines your position; the accuracy of GPS units; and what the wide area augmentation system (WAAS) is -- http://www.lei-extras.com/tips/gpsguide/default.asp The article may lead you to believe that the WAAS is not necessary or doesn’t add to your GPS’s accuracy. It has been my experience that it does. Make sure this feature is activated on your unit. Most unit default setting is with the WAAS turned off. Another setting that you want to check is your map orientation should be set to “track up.” In “track up” orientation the top of your GPS map screen will always be the direction of your movement. Here is a link to Garmin’s website tutorial -- http://www.garmin.com/aboutGPS/ -- and here is a link where you can download a 23-page PDF file of Garmin’s GPS Guide for Beginners -- http://www.garmin.com/aboutGPS/manual.html

Now, here are the nuts and bolts of how to use it when fishing. I will use names and terms as it relates to my Garmin GPS Map76, but no matter your brand of GPS, it will have the same functions.

Just think of a GPS as an electronic map where “X” marks the spot. The “X” is a waypoint. Every GPS has other functions like compass, tracking, routing, but it is the “map mode” that we’re interested in.

This is the map screen with the triangle in the middle, showing a waypoint, zoomed in to 30 foot, no enhanced maps installed:


The map screen whether you have an enhanced map installed on your GPS or not is still the map screen and is where you will use your GPS 99% of the time. I do not have one installed on mine. It’s just a blank screen with a triangle in the middle (that’s you and your position or more accurately, your GPS’s position). The “in” and “out” buttons allow you to zoom in as close as 20-feet and out as far as 800 miles. I use mine in the ranges from 30 to 200 feet. “Page” over to your map screen.

A waypoint is the saved coordinate (longitude and latitude) of any given spot. For example, the very spot where I am sitting right now writing this post is N 34 27.073 W093 02.875. To save a waypoint, hold down the “enter” or “mark” key for several seconds, not the “NAV” or “MOB” (man overboard) key. That’s another feature for emergency marking and immediate return navigation. A screen will show with the waypoint icon, name, longitude/latitude coordinates, date, etc.

This is the waypoint screen when saving a waypoint:


These data fields can be edited or saved as is. You can give the waypoint a specific name and icon or you can go with the default icon and number. Continuing to save with an “enter” on the “okay” saves the waypoint in your GPS’s memory, and then return to the map screen.

If you were zoomed in to the 20 or 30 foot range on your map screen and walked away from that spot, you would see the waypoint icon move away from your triangle, and vise-a-versa back to your position when you walk back to that spot. When in the map mode you could drive across town (the waypoint would disappear off your screen), buy some new fishing tackle and come back to that spot and your waypoint would show back up on the map screen. Nothing else is required. The GPS does all the work.

When in the boat and you’re sinking brush or you’ve found some brush, use markers or whatever is necessary to get dead center on the spot you want and allow your GPS to catch up or settle. Save the waypoint. Remember, the GPS will save the exact coordinate of its exact location. If your transducer is on the transom of your boat, your graph is showing the brushpile and you’re sitting in the front of the boat, your waypoint will be that many feet away from the spot you want to save and find again. Using the GPS for general location is not using the unit to its potential and you’ll still be hunting your brushpile like before when you didn’t have a GPS. The waypoint should put you right on a deep brushpile in seconds and help you stay off shallow brushpiles so you don’t spook the fish.

Now you have all your waypoints saved. And, you know the general location of each little honey hole you’ve made or found. How do you get back to that spot and use the GPS to do it? This is where many start to over-complicate it. One mistake is trying to use the “Go To” function. The “go to” is for navigation to an unknown waypoint. You already know the general location of your fishing spots, so just boat to them with your GPS on the map screen. Zoom out to 120 or 200 foot and when you’re within that range of the waypoint it will show up on your screen. Drop the trolling motor and start driving to the waypoint. Keep zooming “in” as you get closer until you’re on the 20 or 30 foot screen. I use the 30 foot. If you’ve got a good waypoint, dead center on your brushpile, it should start to show up on your sonar unit as the triangle (your unit’s position) covers the waypoint icon on your map screen. Just take note of your zoom setting. If you remain zoomed out several hundred feet it would appear that you’re on the spot but when you zoom in tight you might find you’re not exactly on the spot yet. And, sometimes if not most times as little as five foot makes a big difference when on the water. Throw a marker buoy off the brushpile and up wind to give you a physical reference on the water as to where the brushpile is and fish it thoroughly. Your sonar unit will tell you where on the brushpile the fish are (the dining room as Jerry calls it) and how deep they are. FISH ON.

Run and gun to the next spot, use the GPS to get you right on the spot. No more searching and telling yourself, “Well, I know it’s here somewhere!” You’re on it literally in seconds and ripping a lip before your fishing partner has time to re-bait his hook. Now you can sink, find, and fish with confidence very specific spots out in the proverbial middle of the lake as easy as you can those close to the bank. Now you don’t have to make mental adjustments for lake level to find that honey hole. A saved waypoint with the GPS in map mode will put you on it every time. Now you can explore and discover new honey holes and know with certainty you can come right back to it and find it.

[radtexan]

Well written article Darryl,Thanks for sharing

[SteveJ]

Why don't you put this and the depth finder stuff in the articles section?

[Jigster]

Great info !

Thanks Darryl

[Bridges]

Well written, I think the GPS is probably one of the more useful tools for Crappie fishing.

[weldcraft]

nice work darryl...the gps is on my wish list from santa...i hope ive been a good boy this year

[Deacon]

Darrell,
Thanks man,
That write-up there did more to help me than anything I have seen so far.

[anchorpuller]

I didn't realize the part about finding your waypoint. That always messed me up. So much so, that I threw the thing in a bag and haven't had it out since it was new. THAT makes a whole lot more sense to me now. I've got several waypoints saved and would love to use them, but couldn't quite figure out the how to of finding the exact spot again. Thanks Darryl.

[crapaddict]

I have lowrance H2O and there really nice to have. I really don't use it for brushpiles yet but it's gotten me back to the boatramp several times when the fog so thick ya can't can't SEE the front of the boat. A must for any outdoorsmen!

[Jerry Blake]

Here's a couple more suggestions:

One mistake I made when I first started using a GPS was to bring up the "Save Waypoint" screen when I got close to the spot I wanted to mark and then hitting the "OK" or "Enter" key to actually save the waypoint to memory when I was right over the spot. But I soon found out that the position your GPS is in when you bring up the "Save Waypoint" screen is where the saved waypoint will be and not the position the GPS is in when you actually save it by hitting the "OK" or "Enter" key.

Also for best accuracy you want your GPS to have a "clear view of the sky" for several seconds before you save a waypoint so it will have an accurate position reading. In other words don't have your GPS lying in your lap with your head and body blocking the signal from several satellites. Also, don't keep it in your pocket and pull it out just when you're ready to save a waypoint or you won't get an accurate waypoint.

Having a RAM mount for your GPS mounted at least a foot away from anything that may block the radio signal coming from the satellites is a big plus. The WAAS satellites, which give a GPS its most accurate reading are over the equator so you for sure don't want anything between your GPS unit and the south. If you're close to a high south bank with thick tall trees your GPS won't have near the accuracy it does out in the open.