Thread: Managing Way Points

I carry a small notebook and put details in it while on the water, so I just save by the default number when I mark one on the water. When I have time, I go through them and give them names that help me identify them on the unit.

For example, I might mark a brush pile in 12ft of water that tops out at 7ft and the unit saves it as 053. I'll write a little note saying"

053 Brush B12 T7 --Big tree laying down edge of creek.


A few more spots might be less descriptive:

054-059 Small brush in 12-15ft of water

060 3ft stump on submerged point

At the top of the page I'll have the date and water level.

If I find a new spot and have a decent catch off of it, I'll usually go ahead and write that down too.

When I get home and have the time, I might write more about the spot, and I usually rename them and save the information in Excel. It might go like BR053 to indicate the brushpile, ST060 to indicate the stump. I use EP to indicate End Point so I might have EP054A and EP054B to indicate a long piece of structure or cover like a ledge or a string of attractors. I also use WTH as part of the name if I don't know what it is or CIO for "Check It Out" if I don't have time on the water to fish it when I find it.

When I rename them, I like to use the first two digits of the new name to designate the lake; for example, lake fork would be LF, then whatever other data I want, but usually just a 3 number sequence, like "LF001". I keep a notebook too to tell me what's there, but I usually don't need it because I remember the spot. I use the lake designation because I have lots of waypoints for many different lakes and this helps sort them for loading and unloading in the software I use.

Good info. Thanks guys.

Chuck

I do like fishedout, the first two letters is the river or lakes initials. If i put my curser on the waypoint and hit the check it shows me the depth of water of the waypoint. My hummingbird has symbols you can use, I like to use the tree for laydowns. But mostly use the blue dot for everything else, except the boat ramps, those i use a symbol that looks like a horseshoe with a triangle in the middle

Thanks guys, I do mine similar. I fish mostly on Kentucky and Barkley lakes so I use the first three letters of the bay then a number. This is with a old hand held Lowrance Globemap 100. The thing I need to do is make a hard copy with detals.

I am planning on buying a new HDS-8 and when it's removed from a friends boat, a used HDS-5. I thought I'd see how everyone else was doing theirs.

I don't fool with ir. Too much trouble.

I just use the default then memorize the displayed data , water depth at the present water level, time of day, barometric pressure, wind speed, cover type and wind speed. Of course, I can't remember any of it, but this method seems to be working about as good as any other scheme I've come up with.

I acutally have a set of waypoints labeled - WC-21a-1624-z1- 1 through 16. Got no idea what it means, but I'm pretty sure it's important and fish it every time I'm on the lake. Sooner or later, there will be fish on it and I'll be able to decipher the code. When I do, I'll carve a Roseta stone and mount it next to the Humminbird. Then I'll be unstopable.

Wannabe...

I just posted the same question on another web-forum.
Great answers so far.
I was planning on using one MMC per body of water. That way I dont have to scroll through all those unused waypoints.
I like the coding format for cover bottom depth, top depth, and water level.

What other data do you guys capture?
I also like the log book idea.