GPS Waypoints Intentionally Erased ?

[A-Jay]

For those who use them, and with the exception of Hazards to navigation, has anyone purposely deleted fishing waypoints ?

At the end of this season, I'm considering dumping the 989 wps I've accumulated over the past 3 years. I'm thinking this will force me to "start fresh" next year. Hopefully make me fish the moment, if you will, instead of "fishing memories".

Am I nuts ?

A-Jay

[BASSclary]

Yes, you are nuts.

[Nibbles]

See if you can transfer them onto a computer so you can back them up. Then delete them. This way you can enjoy fishing the moment, but still have the knowledge of honey holes that you can share with friends and new anglers so that they might become more hooked on bass fishing.

One whackfest is all it takes. 

[Glenn]

Yes, I've deleted them.  Many times I'll waypoint stuff as I'm learning new areas of a lake or river.  But over time, I rely less on them as I gain more experience on those bodies of water.  So I delete the waypoints I no longer need.

[A-Jay]

Thanks - I bet there will be occasions when I wished I had kept them, but I'm leaning heavily toward "delete All".

A-Jay

[Dwight Hottle]

Nuts? A clean slate could be a good thing. Are you waypointing structure only or do you use waypoints for fish strikes as well? When trolling or drifting we often put in waypoints for fish bites so we can return to the same spot.

[A-Jay]

Nuts? A clean slate could be a good thing. Are you waypointing structure only or do you use waypoints for fish strikes as well? When trolling or drifting we often put in waypoints for fish bites so we can return to the same spot.

Both - I've been learning many new lakes, like Glenn talked about, so I've marked allot of points of interest; ie fish catches, points, ledges, drop off, grass/weed lines and deep wood etc. I do quite a bit of night fishing when the weather allows and the wps help to get on deep structure. There are just too many wps on each water way now, it's cluttered. I've got to clean house . . . . . Thanks for the support

A-Jay

[Randall]

I am considering the same or selling the gps to the highest bidder and buying a new one. ;D Over the past five years I have a ton of way points but the ones I actually use alot I have spent so much time in the spot that I only use the way point to get on the spot faster with a clean slate I could just go back and mark the sweet spots. I am sort of a hoarder of waypoints but hate the clutter that comes with it.

[J Francho]

I've got some spots that look like a spray chart.  I mark fish, rocks, break lines, and even spots where to position the boat to fish the spots, LOL.

[Lund Explorer]

Thanks - I bet there will be occasions when I wished I had kept them, but I'm leaning heavily toward "delete All".

A-Jay

Maybe we should just trade units!   ;D

[WRB]

Save the hard to find way points and delete those you can return to without a way point.

If you have "paper" maps, note the way points on the map for future reference. I guarantee you will wish you didn't purposely "delete all".

WRB

[A-Jay]

Save the hard to find way points and delete those you can return to without a way point.

If you have "paper" maps, note the way points on the map for future reference. I guarantee you will wish you didn't purposely "delete all".

WRB

WRB - You're right . . . . saving "some" is a fairly pain staking process and clearing them all is one button. But it's a Long winter in the North Woods so I'll mark the keepers and break out the manual.

A-Jay

[A-Jay]

Thanks - I bet there will be occasions when I wished I had kept them, but I'm leaning heavily toward "delete All".

A-Jay

Maybe we should just trade units! ;D

You Sir, are a Funny Man.

I did lol on that one.

A-Jay

[Carrington]

yes, i use my side imagining and will mark alot but then whenever i get around to fishing the spots.  the ones that dont produce get deleted.  also i have a rule, for a spot to get a waypoint mark i must have atleast caught a 2 lber on that spot more then once.

[fishfordollars]

I clean up my units fairly often. I have the ones I want saved to my computer and try to keep a book of each lake. when i plan a trip or have a tournament on a specific lake i just reload the ones i want.

[Mr Mojo]

just keep your most productive ones where u have consistantly caught fish.

[Lund Explorer]

Thanks - I bet there will be occasions when I wished I had kept them, but I'm leaning heavily toward "delete All".

A-Jay

Maybe we should just trade units! ;D

You Sir, are a Funny Man.

I did lol on that one.

A-Jay

So much for the trade as I don't think you'll be the only one erasing waypoints.

I drove past the 45th headed north this afternoon headed for the kids place up near Cheboygan.  I had no more than parked the truck, and the kid comes out to punch in some news waypoints he had supposedly found earlier with another of his friends for Burt/Mullett Lakes.

First number goes in N 44, blah blah blah W 034 blah blah blah and then saves the waypoint.  Punched a half dozen in before he looks at the map.... And no new waypoints on the map?

Of course they were there, just look at the numbers.

Have you ever caught a bass in the middle of the NORTH ATLANTIC?   

Kids!

[RoLo]

Most of my waypoints are topographical in nature, which is to say,

they pinpoint spots of most rapid depth change.

I take great pains in establishing each waypoint, which usually

involves tossing marker buoys and averaging several onsite saves.

Topographical coordinates are generally good for life

because bottom gradient is not subject to appreciable change.

(the exception being sand bottoms in strong tidal flow).

I may tweak the coordinates over the years for greater accuracy,

but rarely would I delete a waypoint (unless I stumble onto a better grade nearby).

Waypoints that mark "cover" are a different matter entirely

because soft waypoints are far more disposable.

Particularly in fertile natural lakes, weed-lines, growth patterns,

and mergers of different plants are all subject to change from year-to-year.

Roger

[Dam Yankee]

I thought about deleting mine also but, instead I saved them to a memory card first and occasionally put the card into the unit for reference later. The best of both worlds. I deleted them but, can still put em in whenever I want to.

[Jig Man]

A-Jay it sounds like you have them all in one file.  I got tired of lots of clutter and decided to organize my wpts into lake files.  It was some work but it has been a good thing.

I delete wpts before I go to a different lake so that I can mark spots during a trip then look at them when I get home.  If I want to keep them I save the new file over the old one which is on my puter, if not then I just delete them from my units.

[RoLo]

A-Jay it sounds like you have them all in one file. I got tired of lots of clutter and decided to organize my wpts into lake files. It was some work but it has been a good thing.

I delete wpts before I go to a different lake so that I can mark spots during a trip then look at them when I get home. If I want to keep them I save the new file over the old one which is on my puter, if not then I just delete them from my units.

Excellent advice!

I've been doing this for so many years that I forgot to clarify that point.

In fact, purging the GPS unit is part of my routine Prep" list prior to hitching:

> "Apply Sunscreen"

> "Check Winds"

> "Reinstall Camera Card"

> "Erase / Load Waypoints".

I've created a separate file for every lake I've ever fished from Florida to Canada.

Even so, each waypoint is prefixed by a two-letter lake-code, in case the waypoints

ever get jumbled and so the same names can be used on different lakes.

For example: Ro_NE-410 is a waypoint on Lake Rosalie that pinpoints

the best 4 to 10 ft compression in the lake's northeast section.

To Erase / Load waypoints, the Garmin GPS unit is plugged into a USB

computer port, and all existing waypoints are erased in an instant.

The lake or lakes I wish to fish that day are then downloaded into the GPS unit.

Under the "Transfer" tab, select "Send to device". Since my maps are already loaded

onto the unit, I uncheck "Maps", "Tracks" and "Routes".

Only the "Waypoints" checkbox has a check, which jump into the GPS device

in less than a second.

Roger