I Phones Just Got Better (FF1)

It seems that just about everyone has a smart phone or a tablet computer. With that hardware you have the ability to add Applications to the system and there are Apps for everything you can imagine. A person can use his smartphone or tablet for, well, you name it and there’s an App for it. I’m happy about technological advances especially those that pertain to the outdoors. It can take a long time for the outdoor industry to catch up to technology, but they have figured out Apps. Two that I have incorporated into my program recently are the Navionics Charts App and Vexilar’s Sonar Phone. With these two Apps and some hardware a person can head out in his boat or fish from the shore and know exactly what’s going on with the resources they are tapping. The Navionics shows your exact position and the bottom contours where you’re fishing and the Sonar Phone shows you actual depth and fish position in the water column. The Navionics is the first step to being in the right spot. The App reveals position on a body of water that is mapped out to show bottom contours. Finding structure or straining a break line is easy with a graphic on the screen that lets you visualize exactly where you are in relation to a bottom shape. Once you are on a potential hotspot, then you fire up the Sonar Phone and link it to a transducer. There are a couple different transducer options. One is the T-Pod – an independent floating unit that you can cast on a rod and reel, pull on a canoe or kayak, or tow around with a remote-controlled boat. This is the perfect unit for the shore angler or small craft fisherman. Boaters who like to anchor can use a T-Pod for searching surrounding water without having to raise the anchor. What about cost? Depending on the Sonar Phone system you buy, prices range from $129 to slightly under a couple hundred dollars for the hardware. The Sonar Phone App is free. The Navionics App is $15, so the price is right to have GPS mapping and sonar capabilities for under $200 with a smartphone or tablet and a couple of Apps. Just amazing.