Where is the Moose?

[trackerjon]

Has anyone heard from Moose?AM ? Been a long time since he has Posted on this forum. Getting kind of worried about him!

Moose, I have information about that GPS project we were kicking around.

Tight lines and bent rods to all!! (sorry about that)


Jon Hughey
Tracker Jon

[Moose1am]

I am still here!. The GPS project is not moving very fast right now. I just got out of the mood to mess with it as it was getting too complicated. I still have all the work saved and could pick up where I left off though. I would love to see or hear what you have to say that may be of some help. Thanks for thinking about me and the project.

I saw where you answered a post that PatokaLarry started. Larry is the guy that started me on this project. He knows Patoka lake pretty good. I have fished with him a few times and he showed me a few spots and I showed him a spot where the big one roam in the spring.

Looks like he caught a few this week from his last report.
Regards,

Moose1am

[trackerjon]

Moose,

Glad to know that all is well. I hear you about getting bogged down with all the bs on nailing down the gps thing. I kind of bowed under and asked for the Fugawi software for Christmas. I didn't get the pricier version where you can connect a gps unit to a laptop and get real-time navigation showing up on the screen as you move around the lake. I got the Hot Lake version that has 250 lakes around the country, using the Hot Spots lakes as a basis, but with what they claim are accurate gps coordinate readings anywhere you move the cursor. One nice thing is that you can zoon up very very large on something like a bridge or some other feature - then when you mark a waypoint it should be as accurate as the software allows it to be. We will see how close that is. One thing sure, it should be much more accurate than the way we were plotting points off the Hot Spots map. First time I get to Patoka I will give an open forum report for anyone who has interest. I am convinced that spots you just come across and mark out on the lake are pretty much findable trip after trip. We'll see how this approach works. If it is good I will PM you about letting you try it.

Anyone interested in what I am talking about go to http://www.fugawi.com and hit the Hot Spots Lakes link at the top of the page.

Jon Hughey
Tracker Jon

[Moose1am]

Hey Jon:
Thanks for the information. I had a old Topo Map of the Patoka Lake area that was made before the lake was dammed up. I spliced several 7.5 quad paper maps together with scotch tape. I then traced a countour that matched the Patoka Lake summer pool level 536ft. It's falling apart as it got wet one day a long time ago.

The maps that I got from my friend are much more accurate. They are larger and more detailed. The problem with them is that they don't use a map coordinate system that is compatable with my hand held gps. I don't have access to a lap top.

Most of my spots (Waypoints) on my gps are areas that I found with my depth finder and marked while on the water. The best way to find a spot on the lake is to mark it on the GPS when you catch a fish.

I am worried that taking points off a paper map or even a digital copy of a paper map may not have the accuracy that I want. Which is why I am not moving very fast on my digital map.

As you may well know by now the digital maps have to be calibrated. Fugi and OziExplorer digital maps need to have three or more calibration points. The more points used in calibation the better the accuracy should be. So they say.

If you think about trying to find a brush pile in 30ft of water and your depth finder only can see a 10ft circular area of the bottom of the lake it would take a pretty accurate map to put you right over the brush pile or stump. Imagine trying to find a single stump on a break in 30ft of water.

Using the maps helps locate ledges and ditches etc. But it won't show you where the trees are lcoated or what the bottom hardness is like or where the bottom content changes.

Regards,

Moose1am

[MikeAxsom]

Jon-
When I first read the posts on GPS, I assumed you guys were talking about the handheld units. Then I saw your comment about the laptop system. I thought I’d tell you about a system I’ve been using for several work related projects. The software is Topo USA 5.0 and it is available at a fairly low cost. I bought it from Staples. I loaded it in a pretty high end laptop, connected an Earthmate GPS antenna (also available from staples for around $100), and I think it is amazing. It also allows you to switch between hi-res topo maps and aerial photos and satellite images. You get some aerial photos free by using a certificate with the software to download it. Then you can get more at a pretty low cost, online. The photos are not good enough to read license plates or anything, but you can count the cars at the ramp! Actually, the photos of any particular spot might be a couple of years old. You can draw or place symbols on the topo and they also show up on the aerial photo. A really neat feature is that you can also switch to a 3-d function and the data from the topo transfers to the photo view, giving you a 3-D photo of the area you are looking at. Most of the expense is in the laptop, but if you already have that the rest is not a large investment. Thought it might be something you’d like to know about.

[trackerjon]

Mike and Moose,

I agree about the difficulty of trying to take a waypoint off a software map for example and then find it when it is something very small. What I am marking are things like the sharp horseshoe river bends and things like that. When you actually measure a feature like that on my PC it turns out that the entire bend area is something like 50' by maybe 60'. Once there you can look for individual bits of structure or cover that might merit a waypoint of its own. I try to look at an area of contours and see it as it was - land with hills, hollows, bluffs, etc. I found one place along the north side of the lake that is basically a large 15' flat with a 40 ft. wide, 25' deep hollow running into and tight against it. It's the unique piece of structure for hundred of yards around. So what I'm going to be doing when I head for the waypoint is find an area some 40 ft. wide. That should be not too hard.

Mike, I wasn't aware of the software you mentioned. Sounds like that is something that could be really helpful. I know there are several other packages that require a laptop and a GPS unit,either base unit or handheld that has USB port so you can cable up the laptop. Basically you see your track moving on the laptop screen as you navigate around the lake. As cool as that sounds, I think a guy could get so wrapped up with that he could lose sight of the fact that he's supposed to be fishing. In any event my Lowrance 480 doesn't have a USB port on it so I won't be tempted. Assuming that what I'm using will produce waypoints at least accurate to 30-50' or so, the best use for it as I see it, is to have a large number of places to go try once a pattern gets established. For example, if it turns out some morning that the bass are schooling up on or at the edge of flats next to the creek channel, I might have eight or ten such places marked and can go from one to another without a bunch of searching and map reading. That is making full use of the GPS without slowing down the fishing. That sounds real good. Remains to be seen whether my Fugawi software works out. If not you may find me in the middle of the lake some day screaming "Where the Fugawi?!?" LOL

Jon

[Moose1am]

Sure wish I could afford one of them new Humminbird 987c SI Combo Sidescanning depth Finders right about now. That would help anyone find those secrete brush piles and ditches with ease.

I have a Garmin eTrex VISTA GPS unit and I loaded the Patoka Lake Fishing Hot Spots Digital Map in my VISTA's memory. I use the Track Up Feature and Auto Zoom so that I can automatically see where I am located on my map view and also see a waypoint that I am going to. As I approach the waypoint the map view automaticall zooms into a more detailed view. I think that 20ft is the min view size. Sometimes I am fishing and looking for a single small scrub that is in 20ft of water. With my present depth finder I can't see very much of the bottom of the lake in 20ft of water so that makes it hard for me to find that lone tree under the water. My depth finder's cone angle is only 20 deg. Now if I had a multile frequency (cone angles) type depth finder or a side scanner type then I could easily find those small stumps or small single trees. So I need a new tool. LOL
:( only problem is that they cost almost 2 grand.

With my Vista and the FHS map displayed on the map view I can see 10ft contour lines and find the bends in the old river channel. I would not use the map to navigate though the upper river reaches as it full of submerged trees who's tops are right at or right below the water's surface. (depends on the lakes level) I went up to Kings bridge one time with Larry and the lake was at winter pool level of 533 ft and we could see the tops of the trees and find the old river channel and stayed in that channel most of the way. But that old river channel twists and bends around a lot and it was hard to follow it that day. We got out of the channel a few times. You have to really pay attention to the water to find your way though the channel or you will end up in a forest of tree tops.

I did use the digital map to find several bends in the old river channel on the main lake where it's much easier to navigate around. I told Jon about one spot that is a ditch that comes off a big bend in the old river channel and then runs up into a small bay. There are a series of ditches that run out of both side of the bay and then combine into one large ditch that runs all the way into the old river channel. This is a prime hot spot and we have caught fish here numerous times. But this spot is a well know spot and most of the fish are only 8" long. You can see the large ditch and the river bend on the FHS Patoka Lake Paper and Digital maps but these maps won't show you the other smaller ditches. But if you had a side scanning depth finder like the humminbird you may be able to see those ditchs and figure out where the fish are hiding on any particular day. Brush piles and ditches show up as it you took a picture of the landscape. Someday in the future when the price drops you will find that everyone that is a true fishermen will have one of these units if they are not outlawed first. It would almost be like having crystal clear water where you could look into the lake and see the fish and all the bottom in one small section of the lake at a time.

Finding a large flat or river bend on a paper map and then figuring out the long and lat of such a site to use as a waypoint would work.

Do you guys know what the cone angle of your depth finder is? Some cover a lot more of the bottom than others. Most are standard 20deg cone angles but others may cover 40deg or more. Still others have muti cone angles (multifrequency or phased array types) that show much more of the bottom. Some of the humminbird units show a 3d screen view of the lake bottom.

Regards,

Moose1am

[crappie66]

I think I will just go fishing, save the map making to Moose.

By the way all this software is available online for free, if you know where to look.

[parsleap]

>I think I will just go
>fishing, save the map making
>to Moose.
>
>By the way all this software
>is available online for free,
>if you know where to
>look.

Hey Crappie - which software is available online for free? I am curious if you are talking about the FIshing Hotspots Maps or other that I could put on my FishElite 480 - or just general freeware that can go on a laptop (those I've found and played with). Any other helpful hints to get more detailed maps on my fishfinder/gps without shelling out a boatload of cash would be great.

Thanks,
parsleap

[crappie66]

Use a shareware program, one that you download music from. I have always found any software that I have ever looked for. I have gotten AutoCad, Solidworks, Adobe Photoshop, Office Xp, all for free, most come with the registration keys, others have a crack file that will take care of it.

[trackerjon]

Moose,

The skimmer transducer on the transom of my Tracker gives a 60 degrees cone. My unit is a Lowrance 480M. It comes in a 480df model with dual freq. but I passed on that.


Jon