waypoints

[fishinJohn]

I just got a handheld GPS (iFinder Expedition C) and I want to fill it up with useful waypoints of my areea but I do not want to pay another $100 for a Lakemaster chip. For those more experieinced than I, is it taboo to share waypoints? I can see if someone spent the summer burning gas running their $2,000 side imaging Hummingbird to find structure, they might not want to share what they found with just anyone but not everyone goes that far. Maybe we can within the FM fam????

[Sonicrunch]

You can buy maps with all of the waypoints you want.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

I dont mean this in a negative way but...Buy the chip! For $100 bucks its a useful tool. Whats the point of buying an Ifinder and then not getting the chip? That is why most do choose the ifinder units over others.

[ozzie]

i agree get the chip and you won't be disapointed......the lake master chip even has the roads listed.....another great tool I am not sure if available without the chip is find places like resteraunts and hotels.....a great feature!!

[Hotspotter]

FishinJohn:

You pose a very good question, and thanks for asking it!

Without pretending to speak for the whole, from what I've seen and speaking personally, folks don't like to part with waypoints, esp. on a public site such as this one. Unfortunately, there are plenty of folks out there that would exploit the resource and turn former hotspots into lakes full of fishermen, yet devoid of fish.

While FishingMinnesota has no official policy regarding this, personally speaking I would discourage the posting/trading of waypoints online. Doing it amongst friends, or even folks you meet here is another story. However, even then, many of us have stories of being burned by folks we thought had good intentions.

GPS ettiquite is something that all friends and fishing pals should have discussions about, as I've been witness to guests that sneakily collect points, on both open water and ice. I've seen people drive right next to ice shacks that are catching fish to collect a point. And I've taken people fishing that mark every single spot I take them to. These are people that I'm very selective about regarding the information I share with them from that point forward.

I would also like to echo the great comments regarding GPS chips from either Navionics or Lakemaster. You can make use of these to find new spots, almost anywhere, rather than relying on past information or a buddies hotspot that he found fish on who knows how long ago. I use the Navionics chip, as it contains many more lakes that I fish all over the state, but much depends upon coverage and where you'll be fishing. You won't be dissappointed!

Keep in mind that there are very few fishing "secrets" out there, but there are many undiscovered and under-utilized places to catch fish and ways to catch them that remain so becuase they're:

1.) Difficult to get to

2.) Seasonal

3.) Time-sensitive/temporary

Getting there is half the fun, and exploring new spots and options is the way that half of those locations are found in the first place.

Again, thanks for asking the question, and in no means do intend to be talking down to or being condescending towards! It's a very good question!

Joel

[fishinJohn]

I posted a similar question on two sites and got pretty much the same answers. I have never experienced the waypoint moochers but it sounds like one more way to be rude on the water. So for the chip owners out there, can you buy the chip, load the map files to a PC, buy a large blank card such as 2GB and load the files from Lakemaster on to the blank? I would like to take advantage of the lakemaps without losing some of my other maps and also play some MP3's but I am not sure if the loaded chips have some type of protection so people are not buying one chip and sharing the files among a group of people.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Quote:

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So for the chip owners out there, can you buy the chip, load the map files to a PC, buy a large blank card such as 2GB and load the files from Lakemaster on to the blank?

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No that is not possible. You can however buy the chip and the pc software. Research the areas you would like to fish on your pc then add the waypoints to your GPS.

[Bobb-o]

if you dont want to spend $100 on the lakemaster chip go to the cabelas bargain cave. I picked one up there for $40 (the old chip)