iPad Fishing Tool

[Fishton]

What can an iPad do for You, the fisherman?

Would you like an on-board device that :-

1.    has a 9.7” screen?
2.    has a 10 hour battery life?
3.    has a Dual Core A5 processor?
4.    can hold up to 32GB of data, music, video, apps?
5.    has Bluetooth and WiFi?
6.    can power up in under 2 seconds?
7.    has a HD (720p) video camera?
8.    has 3G connectivity? (3g models only)
9.    has a built in GPS accurate to a couple of feet? (3G models only)
10.    is less that 1cm thick?
11.    weighs a mere 0.6kg’s?

And that is just the hardware.

This means that you can now play music, videos, podcasts, YouTube clips, games, browse the internet, update your social network status, check mail, and dozens of other applications that have become part of your average day.  Except that now you can do it from anywhere while on the move, even while fishing.

But who really wants to do all these things while fishing?

So how does this tool form part of my fishing tackle?

First of all there is the planning of your trip, things like:-

1.    Location (new venue), best route and launch sites / slip weighs etc.

While driving use the GPS

2.    Accommodation – Find, book and pay

3.    Weather forecast

4.    Recent fishing reports and detailed info on dam

5.    Solunar Fishing Calendar for best fishing times

Then once you get on the water:-

1.    See your current position and heading on a satellite image to familiarize yourself with the area / layout of the dam.

2.    Overlay the sediment chart for that area to get a detailed layout of the dam’s topography / bathymetry and zoom in for shocking detail and accuracy. (FishTec charts)

3.    Overlay depth and bottom type data for actual depth values and bottom hardness (FishTec charts)

4.    Overlay SideScan data for bottom detail such as rocks, standing timber, laydowns, brushpiles, small ledges, and all man-made objects such as sunken boats, cars, planes, tyres, old buildings, roads, paths, plantations, vehicle tracks etc.

5.    And Zoom in for even finer detail of structure and cover

6.    While monitoring your fishfinder to see if the cover is actually holding fish or not

7.    And when you catch fish, you can log these catches and the details for future reference

8.    And when you are fishing the same venue with one or more mates, you can use Squawk to not only see where your mates are, but where they have been.  You can also send instant messages to each other via this app.

9.    You can also Web Cast your progress on the internet via your social network page or email all your mates that are stuck in the office while you take a mid-week break.

And while you are having a break from the mid-day sun, you can catch up on the live game, news or cartoons for the kids if they are bored, by using DSTV’s drifter to get live TV channels to your iPad.

1.    Or monitor major sporting events with current feed.

 

[AYOBA!]

any 3G Android handset/tablet can do this as well...

 

[Fishton]

Wow, that's great news AYOBA!

Please can you show us.

Thanks.

 

[Fishton]

Please list the Android Apps that will do all of the above.

 

[Fishton]

Please list the Android tablets that have a GPS receiver chip built in, and not just 'Position from Towers'.

 

[landshark]

Hiya Fishton,

I have to agree the iPad is an awesome device but like it's little brother the iPhone not that keen on water.

I'm sure by now one will be able to buy a waterproof case / bag for it yet it always worries me when I take a relatively expensive piece of equipment into an environment it was not built for.

 

[Fishton]

100% Landshark.

 

[MRA1001]

What happened to just going fishing?

 

[TimJan]

Where do you get the sediment and sidescan charts

 

[Fishton]

MRA1001 wrote:

What happened to just going fishing?

I understand where you are coming from, and many are thinking exactly the same thing.

But for some of us, we want to see how 'long the proverbial string' is.

Then there would be no FishTec, just Fish     :f1shy

 

[Fishton]

TimJan wrote:

Where do you get the sediment and sidescan charts

The sediment charts are available From DWAF.  I do however have most for KZN and Clanwilliam in the Cape.

The sidescan charts can be done yourself using your SideScan sonar.  Or if you fish Albert Falls, Inanda or Midmar, you can buy them from me

 

[Little Green Fish]

I wanted the iPad2 like you cannot believe and actually tried in three diffirent Chinese cities five times of which I was in Hong Kong on three occasions in less than a month, NO STOCK, so I had to settle for the iPhone4.

Now I have some of those apps installed like fishing calender and a weather app that gives to the minute updates of all waether including barometric pressure, the question I have is will the other apps like the charts and so on work on the iPhone4 or haven't you guys tried it yet (my thinking(hope) is that perhaps the apps would work on the iPhone too as they are both Apples, both 3g etc etc, storage capacity etc etc) just curious about the compatibility of the chart apps in specific?

 

[Little Green Fish]

MRA1001 wrote:

What happened to just going fishing?

I asked this question many a time but here's the nasty reality, the GP BETT and bet your bottom dollar the GP cast 4 Cash and the Mpumalanga one will all both be won by the same guy that won the BETT, so what, yes the bloke can fish, give him credit, but the electronics on his boat is out of this world, the latest and greatest and this is the nasty reality, not everyone can afford this kinda equipment so no matter how you try and explain it, the playing field is and can never be even.

The American BASS Master Tournament series is currently (if it hasn't been brought into effect already) looking at banning and or limiting the electronics that may be allowed during competitions in an attempt to even the playing field, sort of unfair to the bloke that has the money but where would the sport go if one bloke (as a result of wealth, being able to procure the latest and best electronics) keeps on winning each and every comp.

The other reality is that technology will never take the back seat in anything for long (at times it does, but that is always just a temporary thing) so, sooner rather than later everybody will be forced (if you want to be competitive at any level) to get the electronics to become better and there's a school of thought that claims electronics doesn't make you a better fisherman, to this I place the question, then why is the winners of comp always the blokes with the best electronics? and further to that, why are the BASS Master comps looking at implementing the restrictions on electronics?

Yes, when I go out for social fishing, I don't bother with electronics (other than using it for a depth gaugeas not to scratch the hull and dislodge the trawl-motor), anyhows, when fishing comps, things like temp and structure becomes a far more important use of electronics and no we don't even have decent entry level electronics on the boats we fish with.

 

[Fishton]

Yes, it works on a iPhone LGF. Your only restriction is the obvious - screen size.

Restriction of electronics in Tournaments:- I have also heard many a rumour regarding this. But the reality is that when it comes to technology, the 'damage' is done weeks / months BEFORE the tournament. (data collection)

Come tournament day, all you will need is a little R3k fishfinder just to confirm if there are actually fish on your pre-located spots which you can easily navigate to using only a R1k handheld GPS - or your iPhone.

I have a number of customers that have gone from a single entry unit and no GPS, to a bow unit, two at the console, structurescan, DrDepth mapping and a dozen other gadgets - and they have never fished a tournament in their lives, and have no ambition to do so either.

They, like me, just love exploring and finding new structure that has never been fished by others. It is a wonderful facet of fishing.

Beware, it might just grab you some day.

 

[Little Green Fish]

Fishton wrote:

Yes, it works on a iPhone LGF. Your only restriction is the obvious - screen size.

Restriction of electronics in Tournaments:- I have also heard many a rumour regarding this. But the reality is that when it comes to technology, the 'damage' is done weeks / months BEFORE the tournament. (data collection)

Come tournament day, all you will need is a little R3k fishfinder just to confirm if there are actually fish on your pre-located spots which you can easily navigate to using only a R1k handheld GPS - or your iPhone.

I have a number of customers that have gone from a single entry unit and no GPS, to a bow unit, two at the console, structurescan, DrDepth mapping and a dozen other gadgets - and they have never fished a tournament in their lives, and have no ambition to do so either.

They, like me, just love exploring and finding new structure that has never been fished by others. It is a wonderful facet of fishing.

Beware, it might just grab you some day.

Fishton, thanx man, do you know where I can get the chart apps for the iPhone4 and here's the thing, the tech thingy got me some months ago already, it's just the restrictions the Bank has on me that is keeping from rigging some serious electronics to anything that floats, hahahaha, seriously now, my issue is I always fish the shallows as I've never had the opportunity to learn how to read even the simplest fishfinder and to make sense of what I saw on the screen, so I used mine as a depth finder/indicator and nothing more? I recently got a slighty better model fishfinder and seriously want to start exploring the deeper waters as opposed to always dissappear into the reeds close to the banks, and yes money (at this stage ) is kinda hard to come by, last three armed robberies was foiled by the three stooges I call gang memebers hahahahaha so the only way forward for me curently is to hopefully get the chart/depth apps and try and do the overlaying as explained, I just wanna haul one MUDDA of a rockpile or submerged tree in something deeper than 4ft of H2O.