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boating and travel · intermediate · 3 min

GPS and marking spots

Waypoints, routes, tracks, nautical charts, and how to save and share fishing spots without losing secrecy or safety.

waypoint, route and track

Three different tools. Used together, they take you to the spot and bring you back safely.

tips

  • Waypoint: a saved point with coordinates. Give it a name and icon, and note depth, structure, species, date, tide or river level.
  • Route: a planned sequence of waypoints that the device follows, with heading and distance for each leg.
  • Track: the path you actually took, recorded automatically. Useful for retracing the same channel at night or in fog, and for repeating a drift that produced fish.
  • In unfamiliar waters, always leave track recording on.

coordinates and accuracy

A typical GPS is off by a few meters (usually 3 to 5 m with good signal). A rock or a snag can end up outside the mark. When you return, approach slowly and confirm on the sonar.

tips

  • Formats: decimal degrees (-22.9068), degrees and minutes (22°54.408' S) or degrees, minutes and seconds (22°54'24" S). They're the same point. When swapping coordinates, check the format: the right number in the wrong format sends you kilometers away.
  • Datum: use WGS84, the GPS standard and practically the same as SIRGAS 2000, Brazil's official datum. Old points and charts in SAD69 or Córrego Alegre can be tens of meters off.
  • Mark the spot with the boat stopped over the target, or use the cursor over the target in side imaging.
  • On a large boat, the GPS antenna and the transducer sit in different places. Keep that in mind.

common mistakes

  • Sending coordinates in a message without stating the format.

nautical charts and maps

Brazil's official nautical charts are published by the Navy. They show depths, hazards, buoyage and navigable channels.

tips

  • Electronic charts, on a chartplotter or in an app, help a lot, but they don't replace attention. Rivers change, sandbars move and a reservoir map can be out of date.
  • Chart depths are measured from a low-tide reference level. Add the tide height at that moment.
  • In new waters, navigate by day and slowly, preferably following the track of someone who knows the area.

using the app's map

The app's map brings together your spots, your catches and each day's conditions. The more you log, the more it teaches you.

  1. Before you head out, download the regional map for offline use. Rivers and the sea almost never have signal.
  2. Mark each catch and each structure, with species, lure, time and conditions.
  3. Choose each spot's privacy setting when you save it.
  4. Record the day's track to review where the boat went and where you caught fish.
  5. After a few trips, review your spots by species, month and conditions to spot patterns.

sharing spots safely

A fishing spot has value and sometimes fragility. Share with discretion.

tips

  • Share only with people you trust, preferably in private groups.
  • Phone photos can store location data. Before posting, turn off location in the camera or remove the photo's data.
  • Don't publicize a spot where fish are concentrated in the dry season, spawning, or in a fragile area. Within a few days it's cleaned out.
  • For your own safety, do the opposite: share your live location and route with someone on shore during the trip.
  • Before going to a new spot, check that it's not inside a conservation unit, an Indigenous land or an area with fishing restrictions.

checklist

Check off what's ready. Saved on this device.

sources and references

  1. official GPS.gov (governo dos EUA) — GPS AccuracyPhone GPS: about 4.9 m radius under open sky.
  2. official IBGE — SIRGASIBGE page on the SIRGAS geodetic reference system and the project to change the reference system in Brazil.
  3. official Marinha do Brasil/Centro de Hidrografia da Marinha (CHM) — Cartas náuticasOfficial website of the Brazilian Navy.

keep reading

gear

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How to read down imaging, side imaging and live sonar to find structure, confirm fish and get back to the right spot.

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