Question for Charter Captains...Charting and Catch Data???

[eastcoasttransplant]

During the off season, how much time do you devote to reviewing charts or catch data from the past year?

I just picked up a Navionics Lake Michigan Chart and am now awaiting to recieve their NavPlanner2 program, which will allow me to review chart data on my home computer, thus taking info from the computer and loading it to the chip or from the chip to the computer.

Just curious on how a professional captain handles charting and catch data in preparation for a new season.

Thanks guys.

[adrenalin]

I used to keep a detailed log for alot of years. One thing I learned from it was when during the year a piece of structure would hold fish. It kept pretty consistant from year to year. I don't keep a detailed log anymore, to much to do with customers on the boat. As far as your gps charts or contour maps, I don't sit down and analyze that stuff. I have fished most of the contours between Kenosha and Fox Point and learned what's good and what's not.

[eastcoasttransplant]

Thank you Capt. Russ.

I'm new to Lake Michigan fishing, usually fishng Winthrop Harbor to Kenosha, and think that once I get my charting program I may be able to better identify structures that will hold kings during different times of the year. I hear of offshore structures like the Mesa (no idea where it's located) and some other reefs but feel the time at home looking over the charts may help somewhat.

Thanks again for taking the time to answer.

[Salmon Assassin]

I am by no means a captain of anything but.... If you don't already you should check out the lake Michigan sea grant charts of the Internet. Awesome tool for checking water temps and giving you an idea where to start fishing. Just my two cents though. Do the chips show shipwrecks?

[adrenalin]

Do the chips show shipwrecks?

Yes, some.

[eastcoasttransplant]

The chip I had last year was an older Navionics Hotmaps Premium East Region chip. It covered IL but not WI. So......when I travelled from North Point to Kenosha I lost the extra benefits of the chip.

I picked up a Hotmaps Platnium North Region chip which covers WI inland lakes and also picked up a Marine Platinum Plus chart which solely covers Lake Michigan. The chips show contours, depths, shipwrecks, reefs, dropoffs, etc. and these new chips even have 3 dimentional views to really get a picture of the bottom. Now, couple that with the NavPlanner 2, and I should be able to "scout" productive looking bottom before hitting the water, load those spots onto my chips and then head to them while on the water. It will also allow me to take data from the chip, such as waypoints where I hooked fish, and load that onto the computer for review throughout the season.

All this sounds great in concept but I'll have to see how wll it works once the season begins. I realized last year I was SO happy to hook fish that I nver recorded the waypoints on my chartplotter. I had the trail but not the actual spot where the hits took place. I want to be better this year in keeping records and i hoping this technology will help a bit.

we'll see.

[adrenalin]

does your chip show offshore reefs with contour lines? I never heard of this mesa reef place your talking about. how deep of water is it?

[eastcoasttransplant]

Not really sure yet Russ.

I just received the Lake Michigan chip today and have not received the NavPlanner 2 program yet. I know my older Premium chart showed wrecks and contour lines but offered not 3D imaging and no real clear indication of reefs other than a circular contour line like on your NOAA charts. The Platinum charts are supposed to show greater detail and provide 3D images of the bottom as well.

I should get the PC program sometime next week and then will have to tinker with it and see what it offers.

As for the Mesa.....I think I might be giving up someone's secret spot. One captain told me about it but I couldn't find any reference to it anywhere. I beleive it's somewhere between NP and Kenosha but I'll have to ask him the next time I run into him. I also believe it's in the 100 ft line.

[Priority1]

I use a toughbook laptop as my Chartplotter running a free program called SeaClear. I run it on my boat and PC at home. You can type in as much info as your hard drive can hold virtually unlimited. It works for me. Here is a screen shot of the Racine area. This is a raster chart. I have another program on my Boat's toughbook that runs the vector charts also. The zoom is fantastic and will zoom in and show 2 miles top to bottom left to right. Most everything is accomplished with hot keys. Control Z zooms in Control X zooms out. The GPS is a $37 usb puck that can maintain signal in even in a steel bldg.

http://www.greatlakesfisherman.com/gallery/files/8/7/lake_mi_racine.jpg' alt='lake_mi_racine.jpg'>