Technology Takes Another Big Step

As the world of computers and fish finders have advanced so has the mapping that we have been using to navigate our boats from. Navionics has moved from selling you a chip to put into your depth finder to becoming a complete charting company that has spent millions mapping the bottom of lakes, rivers, reservoirs and off shore ocean bottoms. They have converted their map from 100 foot contour breaks to one foot contours on just about every navigable water way in the country.

As time has advanced our depth finders from seeing the bottom drops and changes to just about having an on-board computer that allows you to create your own map as well as utilize the advanced tools of Navionics. Your chip that you have bought from Navionics when it was just raw information can now be updated with the latest information from thousands of boaters who are contributing on a daily basis by recording their trips and converting them to a public world wide data base of mapping. That抯 right boaters are recording the bottom, dumping their daily charting into a web site that changes every time the bottom moves or silts in from current; and you can update your Navionics chip and be the beneficiary of the updates. How cool is that?

The good news is nothing you are doing as a contributor can be tied back to any of your secret fishing spots, no way points or trails are being recorded. There is just a dump of material from your recordings that moves into a Navionics data base and systematically changes the mapping if there is a change from a topographically stand point. Your best fishing spots are safe and you are just adding to the mapping of the bottom so you can stay updated from all parts of your favorite lake.

If you haven抰 updated your chip, Navionics allows you a way to do it without having to buy their newest map card at a reasonable price.