A Good App To Consider For Kayak Fishing (and any other activity)

[Mr. NiceGuy]

I've been enjoying a GPS app called MotionX-GPS for tracking my fishing trips, time, speed, distance, waypoints, etc.

There are lots of settings options to personalize as you like, including switching out the land maps for NOAA Marine. You can tailor settings for kayaking. You can monitor your heart rate as part of the data.

Easy to save and recall fishing trips. Track your exercise performance. Build your endurance.

There is an option for downloading custom map types.

Maybe someone who is tech savy can figure out how to overlay the map of protected areas and we will be WAY ahead of what Fish Alerts! used to do for us for knowing the boundaries of the MPA's. If someone knows how to do this, please share.

MotionX-GPS
http://gps.motionx.com/

[YakDout]

Does your FF not have GPS? Because all of this except the heart monitoring can be done very easily on a unit with GPS. And to overlay the MLPA’s to your FF is also fairly easy.

[TJones]

I am running a nav card inside a hds. How do I make sure I’m seeing the mlpa. I see some graph lines, but I don’t think it’s the mlpa boundary

[YakDout]

Originally Posted by TJones

I am running a nav card inside a hds. How do I make sure I’m seeing the mlpa. I see some graph lines, but I don’t think it’s the mlpa boundary

Are the lines pretty squared off? Do you notice an boxed in area in south La Jolla, the one by the cove, and the one by the pier? Take a picture of what you see and post here.

[Mr. NiceGuy]

Does your FF not have GPS? Because all of this except the heart monitoring can be done very easily on a unit with GPS. And to overlay the MLPA’s to your FF is also fairly easy.

Thanks Brandon. I'm using a Lowrance Elite 5 Chirp. I don't care about the heart monitoring.

It still gives me a headache because I'm not properly through the learning curve. Using all it's features is not automatic for me without fiddling around with punching through distracting menus getting woozy when I would rather be looking at the water and concentrating on fishing. I'm still not quite sure if I'm looking at debris in the water or something more significant.

Maybe I have a mental block, or at least a minor rebellious attitude problem to overcome

Thanks for the recommendation. You are right, of course. I just need to kick my butt and force myself to learn my way through this to the point of being more FF-literate.

[YakDout]

I would suggest watching some of the better tutorial videos on YouTube. Especially the ones made by lowrance themselves. Read through your entire manual, and play with it in your garage. Yes you need to be on the water to see fish, but you can definitely still familiarize yourself with the unit at home. Before you know it you’ll be making tracks on the water, marking waypoints where you hooked a yellowtail or halibut. (Great for coming back another day for possibly another fish) and taking screenshots of by hitting power and zoom + for your particular unit. Then post the screenshots here so that we can help you interpret the image and confirm you aren’t crazy

[Raskal311]

navionic is good too

[Ljs089]

Originally Posted by Mr. NiceGuy

Thanks Brandon. I'm using a Lowrance Elite 5 Chirp. I don't care about the heart monitoring.

It still gives me a headache because I'm not properly through the learning curve. Using all it's features is not automatic for me without fiddling around with punching through distracting menus getting woozy when I would rather be looking at the water and concentrating on fishing. I'm still not quite sure if I'm looking at debris in the water or something more significant.

Maybe I have a mental block, or at least a minor rebellious attitude problem to overcome

Thanks for the recommendation. You are right, of course. I just need to kick my butt and force myself to learn my way through this to the point of being more FF-literate.

Use fish id, it works for me. It just takes practice, sometimes we are just looking at debris, once you learn the structured areas and your target species you can get a good idea of whether they're fish down there or not based on size and the water column they're swimming at. I also use an Elite 5 chirp. A good app is fishbrain, check it out as a trial and cancel if you don't like it, it's 60 bucks a year membership. I know a lot of people on here work hard to find they're YT and WSB and don't want to give up their spots but honestly you can get a good idea of where everything is at based on that app. On top of that, most youtube videos if you look at the background enough you can mark land marks like specific buildings and get a good idea of where people are at. I'm self taught like the majority, i use google earth for structure, noaa maps for depth, no one will tell you where to find fish but it's not hard to find them either, it's just whether they feel like biting that day or not.

[Mr. NiceGuy]

Good comments, thanks. I like the direction this thread is going.

Happy to trade short-cuts, hacks, tips and tricks.

- kayak fishing
- hot rods and contraptions from the 60's
- flying where the sun shines
- adventure traveling
- brainstorming, building things
- marketing, advertising, product development
- photography
- organizing and executive decisions
- eating, drinking and goofing off
- meeting nice people


Mr. Dumbguy, thirsty to learn.

[YakDout]

Originally Posted by Mr. NiceGuy

Good comments, thanks. I like the direction this thread is going.

Happy to trade short-cuts, hacks, tips and tricks.

- kayak fishing
- hot rods and contraptions from the 60's
- flying where the sun shines
- adventure traveling
- brainstorming, building things
- marketing, advertising, product development
- photography
- organizing and executive decisions
- eating, drinking and goofing off
- meeting nice people


Mr. Dumbguy, thirsty to learn.

You should try to make it down to mako-ville with us sometime. I can guarantee you will see fish on your FF there any day of the year.

[Mr. NiceGuy]

Originally Posted by YakDout

You should try to make it down to mako-ville with us sometime. I can guarantee you will see fish on your FF there any day of the year.

I would love to for the camaraderie and because I like Bob. I have enjoyed traveling to Mexico all my life and have many fond memories. Because of the increasing violence and deteriorating situation in general, I've stopped going.

[YakDout]

Originally Posted by Mr. NiceGuy

I would love to for the camaraderie and because I like Bob. I have enjoyed traveling to Mexico all my life and have many fond memories. Because of the increasing violence and deteriorating situation in general, I've stopped going.

I wouldn’t let that stop you man. A lot of it is media hyped but I understand where you are coming from. But these trips are almost always in big numbers and caravan drive down style trips. I’ve never felt less than confident for my safety in Baja but I have also been going down since I was in diapers.

[Mr. NiceGuy]

Originally Posted by yakdout

I wouldn’t let that stop you man. A lot of it is media hyped but I understand where you are coming from. But these trips are almost always in big numbers and caravan drive down style trips. I’ve never felt less than confident for my safety in Baja but I have also been going down since I was in diapers.

I understand your meaning and I respect your decisions. I've enjoyed a colorful life already and I consider myself fortunate to still be alive and healthy as I creak into my Golden Years. I still take calculated risks all the time by my nature, but it has to be for the right reasons. I try to slip past unnecessary trouble that is out of my control.

Safety in numbers and with a caravan is a smart way to do it. You can all help each other. I wish the best for you and everyone else who enjoys the exquisite paradise of Bob's Makoville. What he shares with his fishing buddies and kindred spirits is kind and generous beyond words.

I had a Cessna Skyhawk (a puddle-jumper) for about 10 years that I've flown to Gonzaga Bay. The natural beauty of Gonzaga Bay and many places around Baja is exhilarating and breathtaking. It's so amazing it makes me drunk with excitement. On my last Cessna trip to Baja, the military honcho who runs the airport next to Cabo San Lucas threatened to detain me and confiscate my airplane if I didn't cough up the "parking fee" (i.e. extortion money) he was demanding. I was simply an easy target of opportunity and the first fish he caught at the crack of dawn that morning. According to my insurance agent, confiscation by foreign government officials is not considered theft, and therefore not covered. I prefer to stay under the radar now and sip my margaritas north of the border

Anyway, if you guys need help maybe our new friend FatAmy will teach us how to do an exfil.