we are just about there...
Check out this terrian following down rigger unit, it can control up to six downriggers...THIS is a good idea!
http://www.bottomlinefishfinders.com...cn_mag20dt.htm
This company also makes side-scan sonars for fisherman.
http://www.bottomlinefishfinders.com...bl_ncc6500.htm
I love the idea of scanning the coast for bass movement.
OK, imagine....so you are trolling 6 mag-powered downriggers that know where the bottom is and can adjust for it thru the control unit. Kick them in search mode and they cycle up and down until one gets a hit...then the others zoom in on that target depth. No hits in a selected period of time....units go back into search mode.
Your forward looking side-scan suddenly picks up some fish at 11:00 and 1200 ft ahead and directs the auto pilot to head that way. Meanwhile, the side scan unit kicks in to profile mode to estimate volume of feeding school, mean depth of school, direction and speed of school travel and even trys to target the biggest fish then commands downriggers to that depth and redirects autopilot so that the baits intersect with the largest fish in the school. Updating every 2 seconds should the fish change direction. ( All this data is being save to soild state memory for playback this eveing on your standard home HTDV wide screen)
Should any unit fail, a complex network of backup devices can auto-magically keep the system up.
Suddenly, a radar picks up a 65' Viking traveling at 35 knots in an intended course that will pass over the school of feeding fish you are targeting, the command unit signals the boat but the captain makes no changes to his course, contol unit predicts he will spook the school and prceeds to arm and then lauches a small sidewinder missle to intercept the yacht. Yacht taken out cleanly, suddenly, 3 of the 6 downriggers get hits...electric reels handle the load and 3 trophies are landed and place into the auto cleaning hold which perfectly fillets, vacume packs and ices your catch.
When the boat returns via autopilot your catch is ready for the grill and your dining pleasure as you replay the days events. Should you desire to go out fishing tomorrow for a repeat performance you can even tag and release a fish with a custom GPS tracking tag that can instruct the control unit to hunt down the same school up to 100 miles away.
Not a bad day on the water eh? And you want to fish the bottom with squid?
Brings new meaning to the "armchair fisherman" eh?
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