GPS fishing guide to Pa.

[JVenezia]

Has anyone got this for their android? What do you think? Likes / Dislikes?

 

[Stagger_Lee]

I haven't got the droid version but I know a few gents who have the iphone version and they are very happy with it.

 

[lv2nymph]

Give Mike a call and talk to him about it. He won't "BS" you. He'll tell you the ups and downs if there even is any. I have it on my I phone and love it.

 

[laszlo]

I've got the android version and haven't had any issues. I don't use it a lot though.

 

[Gorosaurus]

It's great if you want a quick reference to a new area. For instance- you find yourself in Cumberland Valley one day and have a few hours to kill. Instead of storing a bunch of books and maps in your car, this'll tell you what streams are stocked/wild and how to get to them.

It's not perfect- I more than once ended up at a dead end or private property with fairly angry signage, but more times than not it's been closer to a Godsend. Get it-it's the price of a book, and worth it.

 

[pcray1231]

Yeah, it's good, and worth it.

Disklikes. Hmm. That it pulls all maps up in satellite view first. For instance, if you want it in, say, terrain (topo) view, you can do that. But it'll load all the satellite maps and then switch. Scroll to a new area, and it does the same all over again. That's not a big deal at home on wifi. But for something that's being used in places with sometimes poor cell phone coverage, it's a whole lot of extra data.

I also wish it had streams with natural repro in the data. But they are colored on the map, so that's good. You just can't click on them and get the info like you can on the PFBC maps.

All in all, I'm nitpicking. It's a good app and worth having for any serious fisherman.

 

[JVenezia]

Pcray.... I plan to use it for mostly back hills brookie fishing... The boonies... did you see your data plan sky rocket due to this?

 

[UFMGuy]

I'll be at the Newbie Jam this Saturday and will have my Android with the GPS Fishing Guide installed if you'd like to take a look.

While the app does use data, it is not data intensive. As the developer, I probably use the app more than anyone. I have a 2Gb data plan and even when I'm field testing both Android and iOS versions of multiple apps in the field, I've never come close to my limit.

If you are worried, you can download the maps for the area you plan to fish ahead of time while you have wifi. The topo and fishing data stores on your phone as you browse. Also, If you typically use your phone's navigation for driving, you won't notice any difference as the data demands are virtually the same.

Mike

 

[dubthethorax]

I beta tested it last year and it was pretty sweet. Found a few bugs though which they fixed before final release.

 

[pcray1231]

Pcray.... I plan to use it for mostly back hills brookie fishing... The boonies... did you see your data plan sky rocket due to this?

Ha, no. We have 1 GB/month, combined for my wife and I, and we have never used even half of it. Wifi most places we use data intensive stuff on our phones.

My complaint has more to do with timing. If you gotta download maps on the fly, with a sketchy connection, it can take a while. Then you scroll, and it takes a while again. Annoying.

When at home I do my pre-planning on a laptop. When on stream, I don't use my phone as a GPS device. If I need a GPS, I take a real GPS device, the Garmin handheld type with topo maps and the like. More often I just have the rough map memorized in my head or I already know the stream. Depends on the situation. But I'd never depend on a cell phone to get myself around.

When the app gets used is usually in the car or otherwise on the go. When you aren't expecting to fish but find yourself with a few hours to kill and need to make a plan on the fly. Or when plan A crashes and burns and you need to come up with a plan B quickly. i.e. you're in an area with time to fish and you don't got a plan, or a laptop, or a wifi signal. But you got a phone, and can scan around your area and identify some options.

Last summer, for instance, I took a camping trip with the fam. Threw the fishing gear in the car but didn't really expect to fish. Didn't do any research or make any plans, didn't have any lists along, or computers. But the kid took a nap, wife wanted to do so as well, and she told me I could kill a few hours fishing. Pulled out the phone, found the nearest natural repro stream (red line), jumped in the car and went. To me, the app paid for itself right there. I didn't even know the name of the stream until after I got home a few days later. But I caught fish and was happy.

 

[salmo]

I have the version for my Garmin and think it does a fair job. I am concerned about getting the version for my phone because the phone service in the north central part of the State is so spotty. You cannot use a GPS on your phone if you do not have phone service!!

 

[UFMGuy]

Actually, You can use the GPS on your phone without service. The GPS Receiver works independently from cellular service.

Also, the topo and fishing map layers in the app can be used without service. The trick is to scan around the area while you have service to download the maps of the area you plan to fish. Then when you lose service, the maps are still shown on your phone and the GPS tracks you on those maps. You won't have access to the satellite or roadmaps from Apple or Google nor can you do searches but the maps will still guide you and you can store waypoints which will also be available without service so you can find multiple locations.

For car navigation, both Apple and Google Maps save the route when you hit the start button. As long as you don't close the navigation, you will get turn-by-turn directions even through areas without phone service as long as you started the navigation with service.

The app is not meant to be the "be-all, end-all" solution but rather another tool in your toolbox. I actually use it to plan but transfer GPS coordinates to my car Garmin for road navigation. I then watch the phone map track me as I travel to see other fishing opportunities as I drive.

 

[Fishinmagician]

That sounds pretty good, I will have to check out this app for my iPhone ,

 

[shakey]

wasn't there a garmin app?

 

[UFMGuy]

As of 2014, Gogal Publishing is no longer selling the Garmin version of the GPS Fishing Guide to Pennsylvania. We are focusing our efforts on smartphone development technology.

 

[k-bob]

meet the developer yesterday at the newbie thing, just bought app for android.

I agree with pat above: the phone app seems very helpful for finding streams when you're out bombing around and want to try new places... maybe after your first choice isn't so great or is posted, or in an area you don't know too well. still, for critical "know your location" info, I will always carry phone and dedicated garmin etrex.

as pat said, find a few new streams with the phone application and it's a good deal THANKS

 

[shakey]

UFMGuy wrote:
As of 2014, Gogal Publishing is no longer selling the Garmin version of the GPS Fishing Guide to Pennsylvania. We are focusing our efforts on smartphone development technology.

oh drat!!! i was hoping to get the garmin version!!!