Fish'n Nerds Rejoice!

[Ed Carlson]

Just when ya think ya have all the "Stuff" ya need....they do it to ya again.

LakeMaster has released a new PC mapping program that is to say the least, sweet....so Fish'n Tech Nerds...rejoice.

It's called the Contour Elite series. And ya...it's preaty darn Kewl.

Currently available in Contour Elite for Minnesota, and Contour Elite for Wisconsin. I hoping the ND/SD, and LOTW Rainy is next.

I'm very impressed at the wide range of units it will interface with, and grown with...it is smart...the more you use it, the more refined your mapping becomes....very sweet.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Somebody's birthday is coming up.

[Northlander]

Ed can we use this on our Birds? Do they have the St. Louis River by me? Thats very cool and I see it in my future.

[Ed Carlson]

Yup... Da Birds are on the list too. I think the tracks and routs option may not be available for them yet..not sure..need to check the list to be sure, but the rest of the key features are. The complete list of units compatible and features comparability is up on the site.

The list of all lakes and rivers included on each program is up too.

[JohnMickish]

I get the 3D part (but any skilled map reading eye can see that in their brain), but what else will this software do that the old version wont?

[LMITOUT]

Looks like they've been watching what Dr. Depth has been doing with their software.

[Esox_Magnum]

Hope its better than my Lakemaster chip is, got a brand new 2010 chip for my MN trip and my old 07 Navionics is way better.... Anyone wanna trade a Navionics North for a used 2 hours 2010 MN Lakemaster??

[Ed Carlson]

Looks like they've been watching what Dr. Depth has been doing with their software.

Similar, but with an advanced topo base map set to build from, the LakeMaster Pro Maps. The price is about half of others once you consider that point into it.

The key feature with these "Smart Mapping systems", is it is as good as you make it.

The more info you "feed it" on the waters your fishing, the smarter and more refined it becomes. Every trip it gets a bit smarter. It's a "Frankenmap".

Before ya know it....your LakeMaster Elite PC Mapping program will be talking to you late at night when your asleep..."Psssst....Pssssst....FEED ME"...Pssst..Eddy wake up...FEED ME..."FEED ME"!

I think I hear it call'n me now?

[Ed Carlson]

I get the 3D part (but any skilled map reading eye can see that in their brain), but what else will this software do that the old version wont?

90% OF THE FISH ARE IN 10% OF THE LAKE

You know that fish are not spread out evenly in a lake. You've spent hours hunting them down. They're grouped together in certain areas with specific characteristics. The layout of the lake bottom, the depth, the degree of slope, exposure to sunlight, water currents, available cover such as vegetation, stumps or cribs, and bottom substrate such as rocks or sand are all determining factors.

You also know that a fish's location will change based on biological urges, seasonal behaviors, or reactions to environmental conditions such as weather and sunlight exposure.

Planning your fishing trip can be time consuming. Even with experience on a lake, the factors can change in a moment's notice. Without the most sophisticated tools at your disposal, you may be at a disadvantage. Well, not any more.

Export search results to your GPS device. Import successful coordinates back to Contour Elite to find similar areas.

There's nothing like it on the market today. Contour Elite helps you spend less time searching for your spot and more time fishing it.

Combining the most accurate lake data available today, a powerful search engine, and fish species behavioral patterns, Contour Elite quickly searches millions of data points to find the most productive areas of the lake. Search by species or build your own advanced search based on your experience. Tour the lake in 3D to get a sense of the most promising locations. Transfer search results to your GPS. Capture your experiences in our advanced fishing log, and use the system to automatically find similar areas to your most successful spots.

Contour Elite Product Features

3D VIEWER:

Click on any area of the lake to open a 3D viewer that lets you navigate through or around bottom structure.

FISH SPECIES SEARCH:

Perform a fish species search using built-in criteria

* Enter target species, time of year, time of day, and other environmental conditions and potential locations are identified based on known seasonal/daily movement patterns and reactions to environmental factors. For example, a search for fall walleye would identify deeper, steeper main-lake points and inside turns.

* A printable fishing tip is provided including bait/lure and presentation suggestions based on the entered criteria.

CUSTOM SEARCH:

Perform custom searches across multiple criteria simultaneously. Possible criteria and examples include:

* Lake region (ex: main-lake region and inlets for summer walleye)

* Depth range (ex: areas between 8 and 14 feet deep)

* Structure (ex: points, inside bends, ledges, and bases of drop-offs)

* Spot-on-the-spot (areas of structure with the most distinct curvature or where two different structure types overlap such as a point on a ledge)

* Slope (ex: sharply sloped areas for late fall bass)

* Aspect (cardinal direction the slope faces)(ex: on a day with southwesterly winds, areas with a southwest aspect are exposed directly to the wind and therefore may be more productive)

* Sun exposure (ex: most shaded areas on a summer afternoon)

* Proximity (areas within a certain distance of shoreline, inlets, coves, weeds, boat ramps, deep/shallow water, or structure types)

* Combining criteria, one could search for locations such as: gradually or moderately sloped main-lake points in 8-14 feet of water within 100 meters of the shoreline and shaded from the sun on a summer morning.

FIND SIMILAR AREAS:

Identifies all areas of the lake with similar characteristics as the area just clicked with the info tool or the coordinate entered into the zoom to coordinate feature. Very useful when you’ve found a productive pattern and want to identify similar areas to fish.

GPS FILE EXPORT:

* Export search results and fishing log entries to most major brands of GPS devices including Lowrance, Humminbird, and Garmin.

* Export files compatible with Google Maps and load onto GPS-enabled smart phones for on-the-water navigation.

GPS FILE IMPORT:

Import waypoints into fishing log from most major brands of GPS devices including Lowrance, Humminbird, and Garmin.

FISHING LOG:

* Store important information about fishing trips including GPS coordinates, date/time, target species, success rate, weather conditions, water temperature, cover, and lure/bait/presentation used.

* Log entries automatically populated with information about depth, slope, aspect, and structure based on GPS coordinate.

* Upload a photo from the fishing trip to share with friends.

* If using laptop out on the water, do an “on the spot” entry and the GPS coordinates are automatically pulled in from the GPS receiver.

* Perform an automatic search of the fishing log across multiple criteria to search for productive areas. Export these entries to most major brands of GPS devices. Find similar areas to successful fishing log entries to expand potential fishing locations.

REAL TIME GPS TRACKING:

Turn your laptop into a GPS device by connecting it to a handheld GPS unit or in-expensive GPS receiver. Quickly and easily add fishing log entries while you’re “on the spot”. No need to write down information or import waypoints.

MAP NAVIGATION:

Full set of navigation tools to explore the map including: zoom in/out, zoom to specific location, panning in various directions, dragging the map, and resetting to original view.

MAP DISPLAY:

Map display includes depth contours, depth coloring, weeds, rocks, boat ramps, fish cribs, wing dams, roads, rivers, surrounding lakes, lat/long coordinates, and overview map.

INFO TOOL:

Click on any area of the lake to populate the information area with GPS coordinates, depth, degree of slope, aspect, and structure type.

ZOOM TO COORDINATE:

Enter a coordinate and the map will zoom to that coordinate and the information area will be populated with depth, degree of slope, aspect, and structure type.

MEASURE TOOL:

Measure precise distances on the map.

PRINT CUSTOM MAP:

Print custom map with depth contours and coloration, highlighted search results and table of corresponding user comments, fishing log waypoints and table of corresponding fishing log information, and more. A useful resource for executing your plan of attack out on the water.

Smartphone mobile GPS application interface:

*Many smartphones today are GPS-enabled. With a GPS-enabled smartphone with an installed mobile GPS application, it is possible to export GPS files from Contour Elite and display them on your smartphone for on-the-water navigation.

Contour Elite is able to export GPS data in several different formats. A couple universal formats that can be used by many smartphone GPS applications are "GPX" and "KML" formats.

One smartphone mobile GPS application that is available is Google Maps for mobile which can be found at: http://www.google.com/mobile/maps/index.html This application can be used by many smartphones including Android, Blackberry, and Nokia.