Hand Held, or not to be Hand Held
 

GPS,,,,,that is??

my family sent me with my brother, and a fistfull of B-Day cash to Cabella's near Reading, PA over the weekend. there are GPS' there that will give you a contour map of every submerged rock and ALL structure from where you are standing, when you crank it up. there is a software program that must be purchased to make it work but it would be amazing at places like the AVES, the Ditch, among MANY!!! it also marks spots and stores them for you.

which brings us to the ethics committee question,,,,,,,,,,

i didn't go for it, but aren't i a prop and a locator away from being a boat guy if i do?? my bro almost had me get one, and now the bride likes the idea from a safety standpoint. MOST TEMPTING and i was just wondering~~~

if you could get one, would you? and is it one step closer to the dark side, if i do?? :grins: :grins: :grins:

and along comes the DARK side.....

you will never be the same

what has your family DONE ??? :confused:

A big happy Birthday wish Bassdawg :wave:

Critical on a boat
A waste of money from shore unless you are fishing woods
The accuracy of underwater features, particularly near shore rocks, is worse than horrible on the best marine GPS map programs (which cost several hundred dollars extra by the way)
Hard to see why you'd need a GPS to find your fishing spots from shore where there is no shortage of landmarks
If your wife is worried about your safety, get a personal locator beacon instead.

:wave: THANKS, me Bruddah!!! :wave:


Tuesday will only be made extra specially nifty,
Iffin i can go to the surf and land me a 50!!
~~~a BIG GURL, a COW, a TROPHY, sum LAHHHHGE~~~
That matches my years and sets me season awf right.
ALL HAIL ~reels that scream, rods that bend, lines that TIGHT!!

i am very grateful to be even seeing the big Five-OH!!!
thanks be to God also for family, friends, health, and the ability to
worship and praise Him~~~ by His Grace that is His Son and by His Strength which is His Spirit.
shore hope we get to wet a line this year, perhaps you'll attend one of the Cookouts?? Peace, my friend!!

that's what i was thinking,,,,,,,,,sort of.

thanks for shedding the LIGHT on the viability of them from shore. it IS half the reason i was not interested. by the time you added in the software,,,,,,,,,,,,,,it was approaching 3 to 4 bills!!! definitely NOT worth it, unless i am getting data that would "sketch" the bottom for me.

besides, i truly do prefer "reading" the bottom by feel. it gets burned into the cerebrum much better that way. i do like the concept though, it's a shame that the mapping software hasn't advanced itself for places like the Ditch~ which would seem to be relatively constant! thanks again, George. as always, i appreciate your direct and wise responses.

food for thought...we used h.h gps on the beach for a few years...dead of nite..pee soup fog...couldn't see your feet....x marks the spot[hole] .. using your brain and landmarks as to where you were are fine, but not on nites where the lights went out....like on the end of bars with the tide coming in that brings fog with it..or flats that go out for a half mile.... your life is worth more then a few bucks if you plain on fishing places like this.

Night time flats fishing in the fog you would absolutely need one. It's not always a straight line back. Last week one night in very dense fog, a long way out, no wind reference without the garmin only bad things would have happened.

Buy lots of life insurance before you entrust your life to an electronic device while fishing. Good electronics make you feel more secure than you really are, and take risks you shouldn't take. Ask yourself first what you will do when it fails....because eventually it will. Count on it.

My fishing partner invested in one back in 94 for fishing the Back beaches. Run in the dark on a moonless night, with fog and try and find the hole between the Mission Bell and Laura's*. Not without having marked that hole on the GPS during the day.

* I don't thnk anyone on this board would know where laura's was except Makai and Back Beach.

Isn't that why you carry two? Good thing it worked last summer...:eek:

Hopefully you mean by beach buggy. Running a boat in the dark AND dense fog by GPS is a big risk. I've done it more than I'd like to admit, but only to get back when caught somewhere unexpectedly. Making a decision to head out into those conditions without radar (which also can fail you) is a big gamble. Hitting a bouy or other boat is a real possibility, and losing someone (who has trusted you with their safety) overboard at night in fog isn't likely to end well.

what say you, Mike? do you own one/two, and
are they worthwhile for anywheres else besides a
Back Beaches application??? thanks in advance~~~
:grins: :grins: :grins:

yes, beach buggy!!! I don't even run in my boat in the daylight in fog. Too many nitwits who run without GPS, Radar, radio, compass but with a cooler full of beer.

This is why when I do any kind of fishing that has me walking a ways into the water (or out kayaking), I have a reliable compass on me. I have an older GPS (very generous hand down) - always bring spare batteries - but if the unit fails, I know roughly the heading I need to get towards shore safely. At the very least, I won't be heading further into the ocean.

With navigation systems for cars, it's interesting how inept many people have become at simply reading a map. Electronics make our lives easier, but I can't bring myself to completely depend on them since they all fail eventually.

I don't have one, but I know a lot of boaters utilize both a dash mount and also a hand held just in case one or the other fails.

I did have one on my 17' center console for navigating the back side holes via boat at night, fog, and otherwise. Got into some real hairy situations even with the unit working properly.

Like Numbskull stated, when someone entrusts you with their safety you don't want it to end badly. I used to take many unnecessary risks at the expense of catching a few more bass. I put friends, loved ones, and myself in danger countless times simply due to my own recklessness and need to catch fish at any cost.

In fact, I probably took elevated risk every time my boat went into the water simply due to the fact I was either running out of Nauset inlet or launching directly off the beach. Problem was most people did it by day while I was doing it almost strictly at night....

happy birthday.A compass and someone who can use it is priceless.I thought about gps for yak fishing but see no real need in the areas I get skunked.

I use my Garmin handheld for everything. I use it shed hunting, hiking, cycling and running, snowmobiling in the winter and so on. I love the stats it gives on speed, mileage, moving time etc. I also used it on Cutty this past weekend. For sure not a fool proof method of navigation but it is a great tool to have.

Wearing a wetsuit, a compass, and carrying a submersible handheld that also has gps numbers takes some of the angst away.
But last year one of our group decides to leave early without telling anyone. We were in a panic looking for him. Get to the beach his truck is empty, I am ripping the kayak off my truck to go look for him as he stumbles up the beach. He got disoriented and came in a mile up the beach. Now no one goes in the water without strict rules, compass,red LED clip on lights, constant chirping between everybody, no pre drinking. Constant accountability, I always keep telling anyone without gps the the compass direction back in as we move around. . . . . still not perfect.

I use a lead line and drop peas in my path.

Without the Shepherd, the flock would be lost.