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Naming conventions.
I'm looking for some ideas on naming my waypoints on the GPS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is not descriptive enough for me.
I'm thinking some sort of coded name. Something to do with type of spot being marked.
Type of cover, structure, fish caught on that spot, or try out later, spring, summer, fall spots, etc. etc. etc.
What do you guys do?
I have names for each area i fish so i just use those
I put the lake initials and something like bp for brush pile and then number, For instance on Lake Murray it would be LMBP1, 2 etc, You usually can remember what type of fishing you were doing in a specific spot when you see the landmarks on your DF. I also mark under water humps. like LMhump1 etc, and other contour features.
I still use the number system, but I take a screenshot with every mark. This allows me to see what I actually marked, rather then naming it stump #45. I make a file for each lake I fish, that way when I'm going to fish Lake XYZ, I'm going to know which waypoints I want to hit. Depending on time of year, I may only look at waypoints deeper than 10', other's I may only look shallower than 8'.
Sounds like the system I am after.Quote:
Originally Posted by filletfetish
Screenshot with every mark.
File for each lake.
Depth.
Could you walk me through how you do this?
I run Lowrance 10's and I use the number with the symbol system. I set up a code for each symbol . Honey holes have a heart symbol and stake beds have a gate symbol and so forth. I have over 5,000 waypoints that I know what most are. I talked to Lowrance several times about a file system and still no deal. I use Oziexplorer for my home lakes (Ky. & Barkley) and it has a description category and I print the maps out with description. My lakes fluctuate depth so keeping that info so far has not worked out. Someone had a depth program a while ago and it might have been Dr. Depth which was bought by Hummingbird. Tried Navionics NavPlanner 2 and that program sucks. Keeping track of all these waypoints has been a big issue for me over the years and I have all mine saved on 2 disks in a deposit box. 40 years of crappie fishing adds up.
I use Magellan GPS. It 'allows for a name and a number. Once I put out matts in the lake, I go to google earth and put them numerically in the most efficient order to fish them. My number system may be something like HC001, for Harry's Creek 001 for the 1st matt, etc. I name certain areas of the lake that is the same depth of water. Some names I use are baseball teams, birds, flowers, cartoons, cars, soda pops, colors, trees, books of the bible, space names, etc. I don't know the number of any of the matts. But by name I can tell you pretty close to where any of the 800 I have put out are located.
A low tech way is to use a journal. Record the number and add details (lake, latitude/longgtude, structure type, depth, water temp, date, etc etc.) You could always put these into a searchable database - Excel etc.
I have Birds.
First I setup each individual lake as it's own group. Some bigger lakes with multiple launches I setup as separate groups.
Then where ever I am fishing I set the corresponding lake/group as the "default".
Now when I mark a way point it goes into that group/lake.
Then I name the individual way points as follows:
Launch = boat launch site, Icon = boat ramp
Marina = marina, Icon = anchor
Inlet (if applicable) = channel or entrance into the lake, Icon = buoy
F XX (for month) = concentration of fish marked (not caught), Icon = blue fish
S, W, B, R, P, or ?? XX-XXX (stands for type of fish, month of year-depth caught at) = fish caught, Icon = yellow fish
Structure = area of sunken or deep/special structure could be just bottom, trees or whatever, Icon = bulls eye
Sunk = area of raised special structure (usually under water type island), Icon = mountain
Each time I launch I check to make sure I have the correct group for the area set as default.
Maybe a little goofy but it works for me.
first letter is lake, second letter is creek, then number . thus EWC 1 = ENID LAKE WALLACE CREEK WAYPOINT 1 :twocents
You will want to download the Humminbird PC. Once you leave the lake, upload the waypoints to the SD card, then download to HB PC. Once you download, you will want to create a lake name. Move the new waypoints to the newly created lake folder. This will allow you to see what depths the screenshot was taken, not necessarily the depth of what you are actually trying to mark. You can also overlay the HB PC waypoints on Google Earth. From there, I create a folder on my desktop with the lake name. After I've downloaded the pictures to the PC, just move them to the correct lake. It's a whole new world looking at images on a big screen versus my little 798. I fish 10-15 lakes a year and at different times of year, so good recordkeeping is paramount to my success. While onboard, you will be able to scroll the cursor over your waypoint and the screenshot will also pop up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hanr3
Most of them allow you put in a description that doesn't show up on the map. You can hover overtop of the waypoint (whatever you call it) and the description will popup on the screen. You can make it as long or short as you would like.
Seems like a lot of trouble. When you change lakes, your chart shows the waypoints for just that lake, zoom in and see them.
I know some guys use different color for depth and that makes sense to me. Other than that, way bother?
"It's a whole new world looking at images on a big screen versus my little 798."Quote:
Originally Posted by Okie Bob
I'm also not retired, so for me to prefish every tournament isn't a possibility. I do 95% of my prefishing from the recliner. I study maps, weather, and data from prior trips, in hope that I can have a solid game plan before ever hitting the lake. Also, those screenshots aren't transferable from mfg. to mfg., and I don't like feeling tied to one any more than the other. I'm not too confident that technology will stand still and every new unit will accept older software/images. Do you have any old flasher screenshots? :Doh:
Before I was a Lowrance guy, I was an HB guy, before I was a Lowrance guy! HB has some free software that will convert the two formats. I used it and it worked just fine. Not sure if Lowrance has something similar but, suggest you can find it somewhere.
Sorry, no old flasher screenshots!!! My polorid ran out of film!
I’m lucky to find my way back to the ramp.
:dono
I don't know about Lowrance.
I run HBs. I use to rename and add detail to waypoints names and I would lose the snapshot (created when you MARK a waypoint) along the way; I think they got lost when organizing (HBPC) and sharing to and from differed units... If you have a Lakemaster card, as stated in previous posts, you can change icons , cursor to waypoint (while viewing map) and see a small snapshot and then if you hit the info button you will get detailed waypoint information. Remembering to set lake default is a biggie.
Lowrance touch,use the gps symbols.Blue if I need to check,dinner bell if it looks good,star if I've caught a fish off it,etc.With the touch it's easy,no need to rename for depth a used I can use the preloaded mapping for that
Sent from my SM-S907VL using Tapatalk
There are several video on UTube titled Get the most out of your gps. I can’t copy link for some reason on my new phone maybe someone else can link it here. Might want to take a look. He gives some good ideas and things to consider. Gps data like all data can become overwhelming and keep it in a useable form takes some doing. Just like all things practice makes it easier.
I use a combination of number system, icons and 1-3 letter abbreviations.
for example when I was out the last time. I seen a lay down that I hadn’t fished before. When I came back to it to check it out there were 2 old guys 😀 fishing there. I moved on to some other structures and fished for an hour or so and came back to fish it. I ran by with SI then moved a little closer to run over it with sonar and DI/mark waypoint. I looked up and the two “old guys” trolled back up to where I was so My temporary label will be LD 2 OG.