06_2025_REELLIFE_digital - Flipbook - Page 30
GPS
GPS serves many useful
functions. One of the best
is showing accurate boat
speed. (The little paddle
wheel on the fish finder
is unreliable and next to
useless.) If you are targeting
a speed of 1.4 MPH, you will
be able to know when you
are going 1.4 MPH. You will
also be able to know when
you are NOT going 1.4 MPH.
GPS will display a track of
where you have been, and
the memory will store those
tracks until you erase them.
I have had these tracks for
years on the same device,
showing both where I
have been and also where
my favorite and most
successful areas have been.
Another fabulous feature
is the cartography, which
shows the contour depths
of the lake you are on. You
can either purchase the SD
card, or many now come
with the cartography preinstalled. My SD card covers
all the lakes in the western
US. You can get these cards
to cover your region as
well. Knowing the depth
contours is a tremendous
help. For example, it will
allow you to stay on course
within a former river
channel. It will show points
of land that are underwater
and which could be a
problem in navigation
when the downriggers are
out.
TEMPERATURE AT DEPTH
One of the very best
recent developments in
technology is the ability
to accurately measure
the temperature of the
water at depth. While the
temperature function
on your fish finder only
tells you the surface
temperature, the simplest
device for measuring
water temperature at
depth is from FishHawk
Electronics. This little device
is called the FishHawk TD.
It is easy to use by simply
attaching the device to
your fishing line, pressing
START, waiting for READY,
then lowering it into the
water. I send it down
deep, then retrieve it, then
press view, and it shows
the water temperature in
5-foot increments down
the water column as far
as you have lowered the
probe. This is extremely
useful, particularly when
looking for that 54-degree
temperature depth in
kokanee season.
I have also used the device
to understand what was
going on underwater.
During one early
September outing on a
high mountain lake, I could
see on the fish finder a few
scattered kokanee at 40
feet, and a whole bunch of
kokanee at 60 feet.
