Reading GPS

[amateurfishing]

How do I learn to read a gps and translate that to were the fish are or could be?

[not_nuf_time]

Your not going to read where the fish are like on a depth finder, what you need to learn and know is the particular areas and structures that can or will possibly hold fish. Examples are like points coming out into the lake or sunken islands or drops in depth or saddles between depths. These will be indicated by the depth lines on your navionics or lakemaster maps. The tighter the lines the more severe the drop or rise in depth. I'm no expert and I'm sure you will get better ideas but this is a general idea. What you really need to know is the fish tendencies in the lake your fishing, and translate that to using the gps.

[not_nuf_time]

In second thought, if your asking where to get information on how to read and work a gps, the manufactors generally speaking have how to books you can purchase or have web sources to support you.

[BLT100]

I'm in the same situation but I've had luck just going to places that are out of the ordinary for the particular lake. As not_nuf_time said, points or bases of severe drop offs are a good place to start. Also, find a fishing village on a big sport lake and head over there to see what kind of structure everybody else is set up on. It's worked for me.

[Crm7290]

But don't set up right next to them because they will get all offended because they own the lake ;-)

For looking at the GPS, look into reading topographical maps. That will teach you what you are looking at. After that, look for ambush points. Places that are the easiest path of travel for fish. Sure they are swimming in water, but they relate to structure and like any animal take the easiest path. The big fish then ambush at those points. It also helps to know where weed beds are located, which is hard with the ice unless you know the lake really well.

[mixxedbagg]

Need some coordinates to stick in your GPS but you don't have a lakemaster chip thing? Here's an idea I stumbled on:

Go to: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/landview.html

Use the Zoom and Pan controls on the map to find about where your lake is.

Using the layers on the left side, apply the Color or CIR photos and find your lake.

Zoom in as much as you can.

On the photos, you'll be able to see points, bars, sunken islands, and weed edges. If you move your cursor over the image, you'll notice coordinates for the cursor in the lower left in both UTMs and decimal degrees.

If you take your time, you can go to DNR lakefinder, print a copy of the lake contour map, and find about where various depths and structure should be OFF of these visible features and get pretty good coordinates. I usually mark the name of the waypoint on the printed contour map.

It might not be as slick as lakemaster, but it works in a pinch...and I think you get to know the lake, the GPS, and GIS better than with the 'ready-made' product.

[amateurfishing]

so where can i learn to read a topographical map and fish behaviors? thx