Thread: Waypoint names? What do you use?

I have names for each area i fish so i just use those

I put the lake initials and something like bp for brush pile and then number, For instance on Lake Murray it would be LMBP1, 2 etc, You usually can remember what type of fishing you were doing in a specific spot when you see the landmarks on your DF. I also mark under water humps. like LMhump1 etc, and other contour features.

I still use the number system, but I take a screenshot with every mark. This allows me to see what I actually marked, rather then naming it stump #45. I make a file for each lake I fish, that way when I'm going to fish Lake XYZ, I'm going to know which waypoints I want to hit. Depending on time of year, I may only look at waypoints deeper than 10', other's I may only look shallower than 8'.

Originally Posted by filletfetish

I still use the number system, but I take a screenshot with every mark. This allows me to see what I actually marked, rather then naming it stump #45. I make a file for each lake I fish, that way when I'm going to fish Lake XYZ, I'm going to know which waypoints I want to hit. Depending on time of year, I may only look at waypoints deeper than 10', other's I may only look shallower than 8'.

Sounds like the system I am after.
Screenshot with every mark.
File for each lake.
Depth.

Could you walk me through how you do this?

I run Lowrance 10's and I use the number with the symbol system. I set up a code for each symbol . Honey holes have a heart symbol and stake beds have a gate symbol and so forth. I have over 5,000 waypoints that I know what most are. I talked to Lowrance several times about a file system and still no deal. I use Oziexplorer for my home lakes (Ky. & Barkley) and it has a description category and I print the maps out with description. My lakes fluctuate depth so keeping that info so far has not worked out. Someone had a depth program a while ago and it might have been Dr. Depth which was bought by Hummingbird. Tried Navionics NavPlanner 2 and that program sucks. Keeping track of all these waypoints has been a big issue for me over the years and I have all mine saved on 2 disks in a deposit box. 40 years of crappie fishing adds up.

I use Magellan GPS. It 'allows for a name and a number. Once I put out matts in the lake, I go to google earth and put them numerically in the most efficient order to fish them. My number system may be something like HC001, for Harry's Creek 001 for the 1st matt, etc. I name certain areas of the lake that is the same depth of water. Some names I use are baseball teams, birds, flowers, cartoons, cars, soda pops, colors, trees, books of the bible, space names, etc. I don't know the number of any of the matts. But by name I can tell you pretty close to where any of the 800 I have put out are located.

A low tech way is to use a journal. Record the number and add details (lake, latitude/longgtude, structure type, depth, water temp, date, etc etc.) You could always put these into a searchable database - Excel etc.

I have Birds.

First I setup each individual lake as it's own group. Some bigger lakes with multiple launches I setup as separate groups.
Then where ever I am fishing I set the corresponding lake/group as the "default".
Now when I mark a way point it goes into that group/lake.
Then I name the individual way points as follows:
Launch = boat launch site, Icon = boat ramp
Marina = marina, Icon = anchor
Inlet (if applicable) = channel or entrance into the lake, Icon = buoy
F XX (for month) = concentration of fish marked (not caught), Icon = blue fish
S, W, B, R, P, or ?? XX-XXX (stands for type of fish, month of year-depth caught at) = fish caught, Icon = yellow fish
Structure = area of sunken or deep/special structure could be just bottom, trees or whatever, Icon = bulls eye
Sunk = area of raised special structure (usually under water type island), Icon = mountain

Each time I launch I check to make sure I have the correct group for the area set as default.

Maybe a little goofy but it works for me.