This was a strange winter, to say the least. Someone told me recently that this is only the fourth time in 100 years that we have had such a mild winter up here in the Northeast. Doesn't really surprise me.  I have been saying that we had a prolonged Fall which seems to have bumped into an early Spring. Don't know where winter went, but it sure didn't come to our neck of the woods this year!

We heard from several folks from around the country who wanted to go  ice fishing with their GPS fishfinder combo, but not from around here. Well, not much anyways. Fishfinder GPS works great for ice fishing, but you need plenty of ice for that to work safely. It's pretty slick! You can even use the same GPS fishfinder combination unit to watch more than one hole at once with the included ice transducers which will let you fish two holes simultaneously. There is an ATV bracket which lets you attach your GPS fishfinder combo to an ATV or snowmobile for easy lake navigation. Again, you need some serious ice to be safe driving around on it, but that's just me. I have this thing about breaking through the ice. No falling through the ice and ending up swimming in freezing water which is over my head for me! Thanks anyway. I guess I'm a little jealous of the folks who actually had some seriously cold weather this year, that is to say those folks who actually had winter this year. After all, ice fishing can be a lot of fun.

I do remember one particularly cold winter when we actually had a small fire on the ice - it was that thick - and cooked hot dogs and marshmallows with our young son. Those are the things memories are made of.

Whether fishing is your profession, you pursue fishing as pure fun and relaxation or even if you compete in fishing tournaments with your local fishing club, you'll want to make this activity more productive as well as safe with a GPS fishfinder combo. The use of this system makes fishing easier in many ways and at the same time makes it safer so you can enjoy a bigger haul and a hassle free fishing trip. If safety is a concern for you, then your answer lies in marine GPS technology.

These devices steer you safely back to your starting point in case you hit upon rain, fog or darkness. As soon as you start, you can mark your location by longitude and latitude, and your system keeps a record of your travel route. This allows you to return safely to your home point, in case of any confusion due to bad weather or visibility.

Also, if you are part of a fishing event where you work in a group you can send the coordinates of your location to your friends if you like. You can also use this system to increase your catch. In all probability, you will end up with a bigger haul than the next guy. Your GPS fishfinder will help you locate the fish easily. Once you catch fish at some particular spot you can mark the spot in the GPS device and collect locations of such points in the device. Use these coordinates for your next trip. You could also mark a circle using the point in the middle as center for deciding your fishing zone for future trips as there is maximum probability of catching fish in this zone.

So what are you waiting for? Invest a nominal amount on a GPS fishfinder combination and get a lot in return.

We got a call recently from someone wondering whether he would be able to use the existing transducer that came with his boat with new GPS fishfinder combination.  That opened a conversation about compatibility.  Not all brands of ducers will be compatible with all brands of GPS fishfinder combination.  You really want to do your homework on that one to be sure that you have the correct match.  Normally the manufacturer tech support will be able to help with this, or contact a local boat service company for assistence.

Also, his old fishfinder was set into his boat, permanently affixed; and he wanted to be able to drop his new model into the same slot.  We did the homework and found the GPS fishfinders that would meet all his criteria.  That was an interesting exploration, but we found some great options that would fit perfectly.  During that search it brought out the fact that, although some GPS fishfinders will work permanently affixed to the boat, some will actually get much better reception and give you better screen visibility if they are on a swivel mount which gives clearance all around.  These are all important things to consider when shopping for a replacement GPS fishfinder combo for your boat to give you the best fishing possible.  Happy fishing, and I hope you catch the Big One!