Incorporating GPS into your bass fishing arsenal

[Skipper]

I remember when this gizmo came out, I thought, how dorky.  I mean, I fish these highland reservoirs in Tennessee and Kentucky.  Your never more than 4 good casts to the bank, what do you think, your gonna get lost?  Not likely.  Maybe its you can't find your fishin hole.  Not likely either seeing as how I know the lakes I fish pretty well.  Where then is the advantage of this costly gadget.

That's when I got schooled.  We were in Florida on Okechobee, and the whole country was fogged in.  We had been fishing in the Monkey Box all week, but there wan't a prayer of finding it in the fog.  We had almost settled into fishing the Northwest Wall when one of our group mentioned he had the gadget on his rig.  In behind him we fell and rode out to where we had been catching fish.  Now I passed off on this incident.  After all, we only get on that big water once a year, and generally when we go, that group is there, and 2 of them had GPS, so why buy one.  

Fast forward to last fall.  Dale Hollow, last night tournament of the year.  Blast off was at 7:30 dark at 8 except that it was pouring the rain just before blast off, and the sky was cloudy.  We did get to our first hole.  After it failed, I turned around to tell my partner we were moving, except I couldn't see him.  The fog had rolled in big time.  We started easing down the lake, but spent hours trying to figure out where we were.  Had no idea what we were fishing, where we were, even how close to the bank we were.  After our 3rd idle around an island, one of our buddies somewhat oriented us.  I heard the VHF crack, picked up and he used his GPS to tell me where I was.

The new units are a far cry from the first generation models.  Maps that scroll with you and indicate contour on the lake.  Now were talking usable box.  I haven't purchased my own yet, but plan to in the next 2 months.  Are any of you using GPS with your bass fishing?

Skipper

[TheOpticZone]

Hey Skipper,  I use a Humminbird NS 25 GSP when I fish in our local bass club.  I try to do some pre-fishing and mark the hot spots.

[rockbilly]

Skipper,
     As I said in another post, "the lake here in West Texas ain't got much water."  many of them are 35-40 feet down, thats a lot when you consider most of the lakes are only about 60 feet at the deepest point.

     Back in the late 70s we had a drought, while the lakes were down a freind and I took cameras and maps and went to the lake.  We marked locations on the map with numbers, took photographs and put the same number on them, they were filed in document protectors with the map.  When we went back to the lake, we could refer to the photos and map and locate structure that otherwise would be hard to find.  It helped, I won several tournaments by going to these locations.

     Now to the GPS.  Several years ago, I started marking specific GPS readings on lake maps so I could back to the exact location I had caught fish.  When you fish tournaments at 75-100 diffrent lakes, it helps to have an edge in locating holes you know will pay off.  

     Pray for rain in West Texas........now just ground soaking showers, but big rains so we can get some run-off.  Otherwise all of them big ole Flordia bass gonna dry up and die. (Not braging, but there are some good ones here.)

[Skipper]

I like to make it a point to visit places on our lakes in the winter when they are drawn down for the same purpose.  I make a lot of notes when I do.  My paper maps with their markings are pretty valuable to me.  That's one advantage here, you will eventually get to see what you will be fishing in the spring.  Who knows, there may be a herd of cattle standing on it.  

On those flatland lakes, 35 feet would be a lot.  I know we fish Weiss in Alabama some, and it can't stand to loose more than 20 feet and still be there.  I sure hope you get some water out there.  These weather patterns the last few years have been extremely wild, even up here.  We've had somewhat warmer winters and somewhat cooler summers.  Last summer we didn't have vary many days above 90 even though it was dry. That's unusual.  Even here, you normally expect 30 + days over 90 in the summer, and a few over 100, but its been about 8 years since we have had that hot of weather.

Skipper

[Siskiyou]

Skipper;

You are right-on regarding gps fishing.  In-laws had a place down in Baja and a boat down there.  We caught fish, but there are those days when you do not catch fish. or you want some fish with nice white meat for dinner.  Friend told us to go out so far and anchor, with some error we ended up finding a good spot and used an handheld compass to shoot a couple of peaks so we would also have the correct distance from shore.  But after being up North for months and returning it was tough being sure on peak two.  Peak one was very high and easy but peak two had a twin.  Made it rough if I shoot the wrong one.  Water gets rough down there when the wind blows.

A gps would make a world of differnence.

Now that I have gps I am going to try it in freshwater lakes for Koke's.

Siskiyou