Free GPS Guidance

According to Gant Team on March 12, 2012, this year attendees of the Central PA Outdoor & Sport Show will discover freshwater fishing has entered the Smartphone age. Gogal Publishing Company of Warrington, Pa. will be on hand to demonstrate their Fish PA – GPS Guide for iPhone, iPad and Android phones along with their GPS Fishing Guide to Pennsylvania app for Garmin GPS units. These unique fishing apps give anglers access to almost 5,000 searchable fishing and boating destinations and then provide exact turn-by-turn driving directions to each location saving both planning time and travel costs.

“It works just like searching for the nearest restaurant or gas station on your GPS or Smartphone” says company President Mike Gogal, “…but in this case you find public access places to fish or launch your boat and then get efficient turn-by-turn driving directions right to those spots.” Each destination includes everything an angler needs to know including available species, fishing regulations, tackle restrictions, along with fishing seasons, size and creel limits plus boaters can find details on the many boat launches across the state.

With the GPS Fishing Guide apps, trout anglers can easily drive the most efficient route from any starting point to every stream, lake, and pond stocked with trout by the PFBC or to any of the designated “Class A” and “Wilderness” trout waters throughout Pennsylvania. Steelhead fishing is included with directions to the many public parking and access points on Erie’s streams and there are advanced search capabilities allowing fishermen to zero in on any type of specially regulated water such as Catch and Release Fly Fishing, Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures, etc. All trout regulations can be individually searched using the simple menu structure.

Bass and other warmwater species anglers will find the many public access fishing points on rivers, lakes, and streams confirmed by fisheries’ biologists to hold quality fish populations of bass, muskie, pike, pickerel, walleye, stripers, catfish, crappies and more. Each species is individually searchable and every destination includes the current fishing regulations, boating regulations, seasons, size and creel limits, along with general information including nearest town and county associated with that navigation point.

For boaters, the apps allow lake searches based on the size and type of motor as well as the ability to zero in on the many public access boat launches on Pennsylvania’s major rivers and streams. Each launch points includes details like, access names, ramp type, parking information, marinas, and docking where applicable.

More information can be found at www.ultimatefishingmaps.com

Of course, these are not GPS fishfinder combos, but they certainly would help you decide where to launch your boat to use your GPS fishfinders and narrow down the search much more efficiently. After all, why not find out where the best locations are currently thought to be before setting out for a day of fishing and be even more certain of a respectable catch of the day. Don’t go home with a lot of “fish stories” – go home with your share of fish! The app tells you where to start looking, and the GPS fishfinder combination actually finds where those fish are hanging out. Sounds like a Win-Win to me!

Peter Ottesen, Record Correspondent reported March 14, 2012 that striped bass continue to build in the Sacramento River as the spring run begins to take shape. The full moon and large tides caused the water to cloud up, preventing anglers from hooking too many on the troll. Find clean water and your chances improve.

“With this good-sized storm predicted, all bets are off,” said guide Barry Canevaro of Isleton. “Trolling was good on the Sacramento River at the Old Dairy and West Bank until the water got dirty. If conditions stay murky, I’ll continue to fish for sturgeon.”

Canevaro said eel is the “top bait” for sturgeon, worked in combination with grass or ghost shrimp or pile worms. He hooked sturgeon, some within the 46- to 66-inch slot and some oversized in the shallows of Grizzly Bay, Suisun Cut, Middlegrounds and between Roe and Ryer islands.

Others tout sturgeon above Rio Vista in Cache, Prospect, Shag and Steamboat sloughs.

On the San Joaquin River side, school-sized stripers to 8 pounds are found in the Mokelumne River, Peacocks, Santa Clara Shoals and Prisoner’s Point. The trick is to locate a school and stay with it. Flies, lures and jigs will score if a concentrated school is discovered.

Of course, the best way to fish in murky water is with a GPS fishfinder combo. GPS fishfinders will help you find that school of fish and stay with it as Peter suggested is the best way to get a really good haul while out fishing. After all, a simple GPS fishfinder combination doesn’t need clear water so that you can see to the bottom of the river, lake or other body of water. It will help you figure out where the shoals are and which items are the fish and which are the debris or the contour of the lake or river bottom. Anyway, now that the weather is really turning nice you want to maximize your fishing opportunities. Why let a storm stirring up the silt on the bottom ruin your day? Get out your GPS fishfinder combo and have one of your best fishing days ever!