Handheld GPS - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

wiseguy · 04-14-2010, 07:23 PM

thanks for the info on Garmin. I will do a search on here for GPS related discussions.

Lets_Fish · 04-14-2010, 10:01 PM

Being a land survey that uses GPS on an almost daily bases, I would go with a well known company in the purchase of either a GPS or Chartplotter. Make sure that if you are looking at GPS or Chartplotter units to look at the waterproof ones if you plan on using it on the water. Also ask about download compatability with your PC or Mac (USB or SD card type). As for handheld GPS unit loaded with maps, they most likely would only cover "land" areas and not navigation of waterways. A good chartplotter would be loaded or can be loaded with navigation maps for your purpose of collection way points. I would suggest look at the chartplotters for that purpose.

Here's a few links:

http://www.thegpsstore.com/GPS-Fishfinders-C38.aspx

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...key=SiteSearch

PescadorPete · 04-15-2010, 12:30 PM

I use the GPS72 I got about 5 years ago. Its pretty basic. No maps. I use it to store my numbers and navigate back to known spots. It has a decent sized antenna and sensitive receiver and sees lots of satellites at a time. My first GPS was an off-brand. It kept losing lock because the antenna was small and the receiver wasn't very good. I would stick to the big brand names.
Even thought these things are "waterproof", over time, water has seeped into the battery compartment. I've had to fix it a couple of times but I'll probably need to replace it this year. But it did run for a few years so I'm not complaining.

fongman · 04-15-2010, 11:49 PM

I have an older model gpsmap 76s; at that time, they were about $300! If you want charts, you can load it with Garmin's mapsource BlueChart Americas. It shows all of the structures and depth contours you would expect. Here's an example of a map near the Coronado Bridge (SD Bay):

Back in the day before gps/ff combo units were available, you could hook the 76 up to some of the Humminbird Matrix FF's. I don't know if they still have that compatibility, but you may want to find one of those Humminbird cables. It will enable you to run your gps off of the FF battery. Leave a couple of AA batteries in the unit for backup in case your main battery dies.

I've been caught a few times on the water when the fog rolled in. That's when it is really nice having GPS! But do yourself a favor and get a backup compass, just in case your GPS dies. REI has a nice one for $10.00 (Brunton 9030). Just leave it in your seat pocket or pfd. You'll probably never need it, but if you do, you'll be glad you had it!

-scallywag- · 04-16-2010, 10:08 AM

never leave home without a compass....."no gps fix" is not the message you want to see paddling around in pea soup, which is the only time I've seen that message on my FF/gps. On that day, johnny ceviche was my paddling partner and he was looking at me like

, obviously getting the same message on his unit. It was even worse because we both stopped to mess with GPS's which just made us more disorientated. Luckily we both had compasses....and we where still arguing about which way was east, we ended up by the marine room when the gps's started working again...good times!

04-14-2010, 10:01 PM	#2
Lets_Fish Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Wildomar, CA. Posts: 294	GPS vs Chartplotter Being a land survey that uses GPS on an almost daily bases, I would go with a well known company in the purchase of either a GPS or Chartplotter. Make sure that if you are looking at GPS or Chartplotter units to look at the waterproof ones if you plan on using it on the water. Also ask about download compatability with your PC or Mac (USB or SD card type). As for handheld GPS unit loaded with maps, they most likely would only cover "land" areas and not navigation of waterways. A good chartplotter would be loaded or can be loaded with navigation maps for your purpose of collection way points. I would suggest look at the chartplotters for that purpose. Here's a few links: http://www.thegpsstore.com/GPS-Fishfinders-C38.aspx http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...key=SiteSearch

04-15-2010, 11:49 PM	#4
fongman Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 116	I have an older model gpsmap 76s; at that time, they were about $300! If you want charts, you can load it with Garmin's mapsource BlueChart Americas. It shows all of the structures and depth contours you would expect. Here's an example of a map near the Coronado Bridge (SD Bay): Back in the day before gps/ff combo units were available, you could hook the 76 up to some of the Humminbird Matrix FF's. I don't know if they still have that compatibility, but you may want to find one of those Humminbird cables. It will enable you to run your gps off of the FF battery. Leave a couple of AA batteries in the unit for backup in case your main battery dies. I've been caught a few times on the water when the fog rolled in. That's when it is really nice having GPS! But do yourself a favor and get a backup compass, just in case your GPS dies. REI has a nice one for $10.00 (Brunton 9030). Just leave it in your seat pocket or pfd. You'll probably never need it, but if you do, you'll be glad you had it! Last edited by fongman; 04-16-2010 at 09:54 AM. Reason: clarification

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04-14-2010, 07:23 PM	#1
wiseguy Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Long Beach Posts: 427	thanks for the info on Garmin. I will do a search on here for GPS related discussions.

04-15-2010, 12:30 PM	#3
PescadorPete Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Leucadia, CA Posts: 261	I use the GPS72 I got about 5 years ago. Its pretty basic. No maps. I use it to store my numbers and navigate back to known spots. It has a decent sized antenna and sensitive receiver and sees lots of satellites at a time. My first GPS was an off-brand. It kept losing lock because the antenna was small and the receiver wasn't very good. I would stick to the big brand names. Even thought these things are "waterproof", over time, water has seeped into the battery compartment. I've had to fix it a couple of times but I'll probably need to replace it this year. But it did run for a few years so I'm not complaining.

04-16-2010, 10:08 AM	#5
-scallywag- Banned Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: on the road... Posts: 598	never leave home without a compass....."no gps fix" is not the message you want to see paddling around in pea soup, which is the only time I've seen that message on my FF/gps. On that day, johnny ceviche was my paddling partner and he was looking at me like , obviously getting the same message on his unit. It was even worse because we both stopped to mess with GPS's which just made us more disorientated. Luckily we both had compasses....and we where still arguing about which way was east, we ended up by the marine room when the gps's started working again...good times!