The second official what I did that was fishing related

[T-Bone]

I saw one of my fishing poles last weekend peeking out at me from behind about 5000 pounds of miscellaneous garage stuffs leftover from summer and autumn ... 

I have started shopping for a new handheld GPS, if that counts; currently looking at the eTrex 20x...

[RHYBAK]

I saw one of my fishing poles last weekend peeking out at me from behind about 5000 pounds of miscellaneous garage stuffs leftover from summer and autumn ... 

I have started shopping for a new handheld GPS, if that counts; currently looking at the eTrex 20x...

You disappoint me T-Bone
I thought you rely on the moon, the stars and the position of the sun.

[NortonJoe]

Bought tickets yesterday to the Cleveland Outdoor Adventure Show at the IX Center.  Not as many outfitters come as used to, but there are still good booths with tackle and other cool stuff to look at!

[RHYBAK]

Thinking of experimenting with a new fishing outfit this year.
Just to prove a point to T-Bone

http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Zebco-Spongebob-Squarepants-Spincast-Combo-30-Light&i=435684

[T-Bone]

You disappoint me T-Bone
I thought you rely on the moon, the stars and the position of the sun.
[/quote]

Well, I'm not big on wasting time when finding fish, so GPS is our key tool of course. As stated before we hit very specific spots and the GPS is money for jumping spot to spot, if necessary, to find fish. I can recall growing up we used to line up land markers on Pigeon Lake..."Get in line with the rocks, brown boat house, and Hurricane Point...then you're on the spot." At best that science put you within about 10 football fields of where you want to be. Now we look at spot about the size of a small garage.

As for that rod/reel combo, Mr. Rhybak, I'm fairly confident that even with that I could jab my full limit of walleyes and satisfy my need to catch...not just fish. I'm guessing that's the set-up you use for ice fishing, eh? 

[Canuckbass]

Live and die with gps for bass, not just the spot... The key is finding the spot on the spot.

If you're mounting a gps puck antenna, mount as close to the bow as possible. Mounting at console is not an accurate read.

[Jay Thomas]

Live and die with gps for bass, not just the spot... The key is finding the spot on the spot.

If you're mounting a gps puck antenna, mount as close to the bow as possible. Mounting at console is not an accurate read.

If you would please, could I have an explanation of the benefits of one location (of the GPS puck) over another. Thanks in advance.

Jay

[Greg]

Great thread!  I had the same question Jay... really curious why PuckMaster, you feel the puck placement is not accurate near the console - is it a bad experience? or is this a manufacturer's installation recommendation?

My old boat had it screwed to the dash right behind the fish finder underneath the windshield, and I always felt the accuracy of the GPS to the navionics map was amazing... and many of the newer GPS enabled fish finders have the GPS receiver built into the fish finder unit itself (which is usually under/close to the windshield).

brrrr... can't wait for spring... -20 degrees celcius here in Ottawa this morning...(with a warning that it feels like -25 with a frost bite advisory).

Greg

[SgtCrabby]

I'm curious too.  I don't have one yet, but maybe someday.

Brrr, -20 C really sounds mighty cold.

[Canuckbass]

Jay and Greg, puck is 99% accurate at console for sure.
All depends on fishing style, if you're a troller console is fine.
I'm a spot on a spot type fishing guy, if fishing a shoal and I mark a rock holding fish I mark it on GPS. I fish from front of boat so when I mark rock I can return and be right back on top of rock.

if fishing from front of boat and puck is at console, on 18 foot boat the puck is 9 feet away from target area.

Hope this makes sense, I used to have my puck at console and a great angler told me the difference and makes a big difference for my style of fishing.

[Greg]

I understand your points and believe you have a solid theory.  I fish both kinds (trolling and still fishing/jigging).

Here is what I remember when I got my first GPS fish finder... When I upgraded my fish finder 7 or 8 years ago on my old boat, and it had the GPS/maps functionality, the marina that installed mine explained to me that "I WANT" the puck in the middle of the boat because GPS technology is accurate to within 2.5 meters.

(http://www.humminbird.com/Category/Technology/GPS/)

Their message is you want your puck centered so that it is never really to far out of reality (if you have the puck at the front and it is reading 6 or 8 feet in front of you, and your boat is 18 feet, that could mislead you a total of 24 to 26 feet).   The told me to generally be-careful and to always give myself 6-8 feet around the boat in any direction. 

Ultimately, there message to me, there is no guarantee that where the GPS signal is reading, so give yourself a "bubble".

[Canuckbass]

You have same concept for sure.
Having puck at console is great for driving. Having puck closest to where you're fishing from is best for fishing. Basically if I come over a rock holding fish I can stop my sonar screen and move curser directly on top of the rock, hit MARK button, so when I'm fishing I'm standing directly above rock and drop down to fish.

New gps systems if used correctly are within a foot of accuracy... Scary but true. Take away boat drifting off target but actual marking gps is almost bang on.

Fish will chase baits, it's the tough days that boat position and presentation make a huge difference of being skunked or stringer full.

Great discussion.

[Dog]

Slowly getting unpacked and settled in the Lonestart state in the vicinity of Sgt Crabby... finally got around to unpacking my fishing poles today and have them leaned up against the wall in the garage. likely won't get a line wet any time soon, but it felt good to feel the the fishing gear again.

Dog

[SgtCrabby]

Dog's not 'just' in my vicinity, he's between where I live and our newest grandson.

Anyway: today I've been rearranging/sorting tackle and getting my wife's brand new rod & reel setup ready for us to maybe take the boat out tomorrow for some local minnow drownings.

[Jay Thomas]

Jay and Greg, puck is 99% accurate at console for sure. All depends on fishing style, if you're a troller console is fine. I'm a spot on a spot type fishing guy, if fishing a shoal and I mark a rock holding fish I mark it on GPS. I fish from front of boat so when I mark rock I can return and be right back on top of rock. if fishing from front of boat and puck is at console, on 18 foot boat the puck is 9 feet away from target area. Hope this makes sense, I used to have my puck at console and a great angler told me the difference and makes a big difference for my style of fishing.

Thanks for your response. I'm a backtroller 90% of the time and I'm always seated near the stern. My transducer is transom mounted.

Jay