# Smart phones on your boat & bottom fishing - How do you handle it?



## Mullethead (Oct 4, 2007)

I have asked at least one new guest to turn off their phone after I saw them turn it on and mentioned that he wanted to mark the spot we we fishing on.!?! Since then I ask new folks to please turn their phones off.

These phones with GPS and tracking apps can trace a whole days worth of fishing - just turned on in some one's pocket .

Thought about asking folks to show me the turned off phone and stow it below decks.

Even been an issue with any of you all ?


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## fishboy (Oct 6, 2007)

Dont take people you dont trust on your boat. Thats always been my take on the situation. Theres always going to be the other boat that runs by 1/4 mile off your bow and marks the spot via radar or just marks and notes where your at. But I'll have to see how this works and try it out with my phone next time on the water, I didn't know you could mark your location.


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## Mullethead (Oct 4, 2007)

I have an app. Gps tracker that plots a position every few seconds. All you have to do is find the spots in the trace where position changes very little with time. Scary easy


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## Ultralite (Oct 1, 2007)

Yep...

my phone (not smart) always stays in the dry box on offshore adventures...

I'm fishing and somewhere in the GOM south of the pass and I want to enjoy the experience...not take calls or track where I am...that's for the Capt. to deal with...


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## MillerTime (Jul 6, 2011)

Never had a problem with this before but then again i dont really fish/dive any truly private spots. I have had people kindly ask not to bring anything to be able to mark a spot though. I didn't mind that at all since i was a guest on their boat. Most of the time my phone is turned off since there is no service that far out and to conserve the battery.


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## Prince Caspian (Jun 13, 2011)

To borrow a line from Doc on Back to the Future: Where we're going we don't need any phones!


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## jaster (Oct 7, 2007)

I am no charter for hire. But if i were asked to turn my phone off on a trip? I would be a little preturbed! Only reason being is that most new phones, including mine have a bettet picture than the ole digital camera i have does. I have people who may need to get hold of me as well. I would agree with previous poster, dont take people you cant trust! This is only my opnion and view in it. But if i were to go on an inshore charter and wanted pictures. My phone would be out and on! When i go offshore i just put it in airplane mode so it doesnt constantly search for a signal. I have no time for apps let alone figuring how to track or mark a spot! Heck, without my phone, i would only check PFF once a week, if then, lol


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## MULLET HUNTER (Oct 3, 2007)

I don't see it being an issue whatsoever. Fishing spots are a dime a dozen these days and are nowhere near as sacred as they used to be.


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## Catchin Hell (Oct 9, 2007)

I think data is good for only a few miles offshore... As far as I know, the smart phones only use phone towers for positioning, so once you're comfortably offshore a few miles, smart phones shouldn't be an issue. I've never tried to use mine for GPS offshore, but I can't get radar images to download fast enough to be worth using past about 5 miles offshore.


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

Cell phones need an assist from cell towers to get a GPS position, But there are very small GPS antenna out there that can take their place and communicate to the phone via bluetooth.

I may have seen this work on a trip between the continental US and Europe.

Jim


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## baldona523 (Mar 2, 2008)

I know a friend who took a bunch of younger guys fishing one day of a long weekend, and the next day the friend was out fishing again and pull up to a spot and sure enough here's all these younger guys fishing their spot. Sure enough they had smart phones and marked the spots. 

As said, don't take guys you don't trust fishing. If you have to worry about them marking or stealing your spot it is not worth taking them IMO. Honestly if I was the captain I'd have no issues telling them at the dock to turn them off if you were going to spots you were worried about. If they had issues with that tell them to fish with you or stay at the dock, it is their choice.

You gotta be a real jerk to steal someone else's spots. Make friends or fish until you find them yourself. Geez.


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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

Your boat, your rules. Period. Don't like it don't go.


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## MaxP (Jan 31, 2008)

Smart phones do not need cell towers to get a position, only data.


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## Deeplines (Sep 28, 2007)

agree with jspooney and MaxP.


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## Mullethead (Oct 4, 2007)

I think of a smart phone just like a hand held gps...

How would you react if someone whipped out a garmin 76 and powered it up when nice snowy or yellow edge hits the deck?


Trust my regular crew ... but I am lery of new folks, and of I am jerk for saying no phones out for newcomers 
.... then guilty as charged.

I do bring a digital camera and email pictures....


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## oxbeast1210 (Jun 21, 2010)

If you tell them before the trip ur not being jerk.. if they dont like it too bad.


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## FISHBOXFULL (May 9, 2008)

just let it be known in the trip planning phase instead of at the dock, same principal but then its not .. turn off your phone or get off my boat..... just sounds a little nicer to me.


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## billyk (Nov 15, 2007)

I have no problem with being asked to turn of GPS devices while onboard anybodies boat, and it a very common practice with the charter fleet ( both private charter and head boats )

Now here is the ringer...what about personal tracking devices such as Spot trackers ? 

http://www.findmespot.com/en/

I have yet to fall of a boat while out on the water ( fell off of a couple at dock, and even have managed to fall off a dock or two ) But I bet it gets real lonely, real quick when you fall off the back of a moving boat, and nobody notices you for a minute or two.

I carry a Spot personal tracker when I fish off shore, and I could go back to the website and look at where I had multiple hits in the same area, and have a pretty good idea of a person's personal set of numbers out on the GOM.

I don't buy the "safety" argument for cell phones, and I turn mine off as soon as we hit the water, or at least put it in "airplane mode" so I can still use features such as camera, and music files, but with out sucking a battery dry as my phone searched continuously for a signal. I would think twice about getting on any boat for an off shore trip with out my Spot tracker, I think the "safety" argument is sound for this device.

Thoughts ?


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

billyk said:


> I I would think twice about getting on any boat for an off shore trip with out my Spot tracker, I think the "safety" argument is sound for this device.
> 
> Thoughts ?


I take my SPOT out with me on my boat and other people's boats. I always inform the boat capt that I have a SPOT and let him know it will stay off and I will ask when it's OK to hit the OK button to send a message back to my wife. It's usually when we are moving between spots. Then it's turned off and stored.

The thing is also with the SPOT, you can subscribe to the tracking option where it will send your location every few minutes while on etc... I don't subscribe to that, but it can be a possibility. 

Just make everything know upfront before everyone gets to the dock about what you expect.


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## Yakavelli (Mar 17, 2010)

Man, I sure am glad charter boats don't fish freshwater. "Hey! That's my stump!" "Those are MY lily pads!" Holy crap! Do inshore guides force their paying customers to wear blindfolds so they can't see any landmarks? Nobody owns a damn thing out there. Is your business really going to hurt that bad if a couple rec guys fish "your" spots every now and then? Jeez, we can't keep more than a few fish on any given fishing trip anyways. You charter guys crack me up.


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## Contender (Apr 4, 2012)

The phone doesn't use Sat data for GPS like your chartplotter, as others have said it gets position data based on cell towers. Get close enough to an oil rig and you might hit their tower. If the phone is not in airplane mode and you are out of cell range then it will be a dead phone pretty quick as looking for signal uses the crap out of battery.

A non issue for me.


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## oxbeast1210 (Jun 21, 2010)

Contender said:


> The phone doesn't use Sat data for GPS like your chartplotter, as others have said it gets position data based on cell towers. Get close enough to an oil rig and you might hit their tower. If the phone is not in airplane mode and you are out of cell range then it will be a dead phone pretty quick as looking for signal uses the crap out of battery.
> 
> A non issue for me.


Most smart phones do use Sat for position... it will also use towers and wifi to make it even more accurate and faster but they do not rely on the towers for positioning.


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## bamagun (Apr 28, 2008)

Newer phones like Iphones and phones with Android software do in fact have "internal gps's"!! In fact, there is a function where you can either turn the gps off and use cell towers for location or you can only use gps for location. I keep my phone to where it only uses gps for the location device because I have found that it is more accurate than a cell tower especially when driving long trips when I use my cell for navigation...


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## oxbeast1210 (Jun 21, 2010)

bamagun said:


> Newer phones like Iphones and phones with Android software do in fact have "internal gps's"!! In fact, there is a function where you can either turn the gps off and use cell towers for location or you can only use gps for location. I keep my phone to where it only uses gps for the location device because I have found that it is more accurate than a cell tower especially when driving long trips when I use my cell for navigation...


yep I do the same to where it just uses gps.

It can get confusing cause most navigation services require data to be able to load the current maps you need but the Gps will still have your position. Some applications like copilot actually download all the maps so data isnt required for navigation.


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## SouthAlabamaSlayer (Oct 13, 2011)

Yakavelli said:


> Man, I sure am glad charter boats don't fish freshwater. "Hey! That's my stump!" "Those are MY lily pads!" Holy crap! Do inshore guides force their paying customers to wear blindfolds so they can't see any landmarks? Nobody owns a damn thing out there. Is your business really going to hurt that bad if a couple rec guys fish "your" spots every now and then? Jeez, we can't keep more than a few fish on any given fishing trip anyways. You charter guys crack me up.


Well technically if they pay for a private reef, they do "own a damn thing out there." If you pay for a reef deployment and then have someone come fish it out while you aren't there, then yeah it does hurt you. No point to pay for that stuff if others are going to fish it. I don't think they're talking about public reefs, anyone can get the coordinates for those. When it comes to privates, hell yeah it matters.


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## Randy M (Jul 8, 2012)

Also, some newer 35mm DSLR's also use GPS. They are able to Geotag a photo with co-ordinates. All you have to do is take an image while on a reef (or anywhere else) and the meta-data shows the co-ordinates.


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## oxbeast1210 (Jun 21, 2010)

SouthAlabamaSlayer said:


> Well technically if they pay for a private reef, they do "own a damn thing out there." If you pay for a reef deployment and then have someone come fish it out while you aren't there, then yeah it does hurt you. No point to pay for that stuff if others are going to fish it. I don't think they're talking about public reefs, anyone can get the coordinates for those. When it comes to privates, hell yeah it matters.



Just courious 
If you were to stumble on something out thier with your bottom machine you wouldnt fish it? 
How is one to know if its something "private" or not. .. If something good comes up on my machine I dont think I could resist not fishing it.

Dont get me wrong I know they are paid for and not cheap from what I hear, but once its in the ocean its no longer private...


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## SouthAlabamaSlayer (Oct 13, 2011)

oxbeast1210 said:


> Just courious
> If you were to stumble on something out thier with your bottom machine you wouldnt fish it?
> How is one to know if its something "private" or not. .. If something good comes up on my machine I dont think I could resist not fishing it.
> 
> Dont get me wrong I know they are paid for and not cheap from what I hear, but once its in the ocean its no longer private...


Yes I would fish it. There is a HUGE difference between finding it and cheaply stealing it from someone with a GPS. If the guy that payed for it found me fishing it and could prove that he owned it I would have no problem not fishing that reef if he asked.


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

I wouldn't let it bother me, but I only fish with friends to whom I would just give my GPS chip with all of my numbers on it if they asked me for it. 

I might try out the phone GPS stuff. Sounds really interesting, especially as a back up.


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## markw4321 (Oct 4, 2007)

Quote:
Originally Posted by *Yakavelli*  
_Man, I sure am glad charter boats don't fish freshwater. "Hey! That's my stump!" "Those are MY lily pads!" Holy crap! Do inshore guides force their paying customers to wear blindfolds so they can't see any landmarks? Nobody owns a damn thing out there. Is your business really going to hurt that bad if a couple rec guys fish "your" spots every now and then? Jeez, we can't keep more than a few fish on any given fishing trip anyways. You charter guys crack me up._


Let's ask the question this way.

If you all placed a reef in the gulf and it cost you $500.00 to do so how would you feel, if a friend of yours copied the numbers without you knowing on a phone and then the next time you went fishing you found your friend and another friend of his in a boat fishing it?


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

markw4321 said:


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Yakavelli*
> _Man, I sure am glad charter boats don't fish freshwater. "Hey! That's my stump!" "Those are MY lily pads!" Holy crap! Do inshore guides force their paying customers to wear blindfolds so they can't see any landmarks? Nobody owns a damn thing out there. Is your business really going to hurt that bad if a couple rec guys fish "your" spots every now and then? Jeez, we can't keep more than a few fish on any given fishing trip anyways. You charter guys crack me up._
> 
> ...


Can you buy a private reef for only $500? Serious question.


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## Yakavelli (Mar 17, 2010)

oxbeast1210 said:


> Just courious
> If you were to stumble on something out thier with your bottom machine you wouldnt fish it?
> How is one to know if its something "private" or not. .. If something good comes up on my machine I dont think I could resist not fishing it.
> 
> Dont get me wrong I know they are paid for and not cheap from what I hear, but once its in the ocean its no longer private...


This has happened before with me. When I was young, Dad and I were trolling a few miles SE of the freighter and stumbled onto a small "something" on bottom. We marked it, fished it, and caught fish. We remembered the spot and went back several times that year. One day, we were anchored up on it, catchin fish, having a good ole time. Here comes big ole fat-daddy charter boat being rude as hell, trying to run us off. He was such an ass, his customers were even giving him dirty looks. He went waaay out of his way to ruin our fishing trip to say the least. We never went back. I was twelve at the time and have ever since been a little biased against charter boats (a few more experiences have added to it). Sorry guys, I know you're not all bad but hey, it is what it is.


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## markw4321 (Oct 4, 2007)

aroundthehorn said:


> Can you buy a private reef for only $500? Serious question.


Circa 2008 there was a guy in the pensacola area placing chicken coops (two together) for around $500. not sure if he is still operating. Since then I have a assisted a friend who built a barge out of an old pontoon boat to place some permitted reefs, (reefs not for sale though).


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

markw4321 said:


> Circa 2008 there was a guy in the pensacola area placing chicken coops (two together) for around $500. not sure if he is still operating. Since then I have a assisted a friend who built a barge out of an old pontoon boat to place some permitted reefs, (reefs not for sale though).
> 
> View attachment 55898



Ha, that's cool.

To answer your other hypothetical, I wouldn't let it phase me even though I don't have anybody who fishes with me who would do that.


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## SouthAlabamaSlayer (Oct 13, 2011)

aroundthehorn said:


> Can you buy a private reef for only $500? Serious question.


"capt mike" on this forum sinks two coops with the permit for 650.


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## markw4321 (Oct 4, 2007)

aroundthehorn said:


> Ha, that's cool.
> 
> To answer your other hypothetical, I wouldn't let it phase me even though I don't have anybody who fishes with me who would do that.


 
Ok then. Would you then take that same "friend" to a new different spot you put down for $500 so he could do it again?


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## bamagun (Apr 28, 2008)

aroundthehorn said:


> I wouldn't let it bother me, but I only fish with friends to whom I would just give my GPS chip with all of my numbers on it if they asked me for it.
> 
> I might try out the phone GPS stuff. Sounds really interesting, especially as a back up.


 
I use my phone everywhere I go for navigation.. I dont use any paid for apps, I just use the preloaded "google maps" app that is loaded on your phone when you buy it. All you have to do is open the app search for a business or put in the address and hit "navigate" and then hit "directions from current location" and it gives you a route from where you currently are.. Also, when you search for a business it also gives you the option to call them with a single touch on the screen or if they have a website, you can also hit the URL and it pulls it up on your browser. A cool thing that I use it for is for navigation where I hunt. There is no cell service at my club, so on my way to the camp I zoom in as close as possible and roam the map all over the club land and it saves the sattelite image and when Im walking around from spot to spot in the woods, I can use my phone to know exaclty where I am on the property and how far I am from other stand locations/people.. Im sure alot of yall use google earth as a huge scouting tool and this is the exact same thing.. If I hunted public land that I wasnt too familiar with, having a charged smart phone with preloaded sattelite imagery would be one of the first things on my checklist when walking in the woods.. I also use it to store "MY OWN FISHING SPOTS" just in case my gps on my boat fails for any reason (but in order to store spots, you need to have a special application for that)..

It is incredible what some of these phones do these days..


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## drifterfisher (Oct 9, 2009)

I have to ask,you place something in a public area and "expect" people to leave it alone? Really? I have no way of going offshore,but if my bottom machine showed something I would fish it. Kinda like saying thats my stump,when in the river,or thats my flats for flounder.When you leave it there it becomes part of the publics property,not yours exclusively. Kinda like a tree stand in the state forest,you leave it dont get mad if someone else is in it.


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## markw4321 (Oct 4, 2007)

drifterfisher said:


> I have to ask,you place something in a public area and "expect" people to leave it alone? Really? I have no way of going offshore,but if my bottom machine showed something I would fish it. Kinda like saying thats my stump,when in the river,or thats my flats for flounder.When you leave it there it becomes part of the publics property,not yours exclusively. Kinda like a tree stand in the state forest,you leave it dont get mad if someone else is in it.


No i don't expect someone who ran over it and found it on their bottom machine to leave it alone. That would be silly.


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## oxbeast1210 (Jun 21, 2010)

markw4321 said:


> No i don't expect someone who ran over it and found it on their bottom machine to leave it alone. That would be silly.


glad you think it would be silly some still get furious.. 

Honestly if I could buy something like that couold really be private I would buy one! Im guessing the prices would be insane though.


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## Outside9 (Apr 30, 2008)

The days of having private spots are pretty much gone. With the new electronics it's just a matter of time before it is located by another boat.

I had what I thought was private (small coups) only to find a charter boat on them one day.


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## markw4321 (Oct 4, 2007)

Outside9 said:


> The days of having private spots are pretty much gone. With the new electronics it's just a matter of time before it is located by another boat.
> 
> I had what I thought was private (small coups) only to find a charter boat on them one day.


That's when you put a team of divers down and attach large float bags to your reef to get it light on the bottom and put a line on it and pulll it a 1/4 mile away. 

The red snapper swim along behind it while the reef is being pulled like a pack of hounds following a bone...Lol


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

markw4321 said:


> Ok then. Would you then take that same "friend" to a new different spot you put down for $500 so he could do it again?


No, I wouldn't care, to be honest. Putting out a reef, which I might do in the next year, is like putting up a jungle gym in a public park.


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## markw4321 (Oct 4, 2007)

aroundthehorn said:


> No, I wouldn't care, to be honest. Putting out a reef, which I might do in the next year, is like putting up a jungle gym in a public park.


Can I be your friend?


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## markw4321 (Oct 4, 2007)

markw4321 said:


> Can I be your friend?


Just kidding with above. Next snapper season ( if we have one and you care too) if you have not ever fished on a private reef that no one has the numbers too except you and the guy who helped you deploy it ,let me know and I will take you to one. 

Think you will be amazed if you have never fished a private reef on the quality of the fish. Think we live near each other anyway I live at 14th and Lloyd in the "hill".

No iPhones allowed though..lol


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## Slayerdog (Jul 14, 2012)

Let me start by saying I think charter captains have the right to keep there numbers private. This being said there are apps out there that use GPS and yes they work 80 miles off shore. One app for instance is Navionics. It saves the map of the area or region onto the smart phone. Then while you are no where near cell signal range it just uses your GPS to locate you. This app was designed for maritime navigation. I use it all the time to navigate at night. It has all the same features as a plotter has. MOB feature, course. Coordinates, and so on.... a little pricey app but well worth it. It also has a community layer on it so whatever I input into the app it gets redistributed to anyone who has this app. for example....good fishing spots. hangs, submerged pilings, etc.....


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

markw4321 said:


> Just kidding with above. Next snapper season ( if we have one and you care too) if you have not ever fished on a private reef that no one has the numbers too except you and the guy who helped you deploy it ,let me know and I will take you to one.
> 
> Think you will be amazed if you have never fished a private reef on the quality of the fish. Think we live near each other anyway I live at 14th and Lloyd in the "hill".
> 
> No iPhones allowed though..lol


Sounds good. I need to read more about these iPhone apps. Would really be a nice back-up device. Actually, it would probably be easier to use than my gps. I try and keep a good perspective about fishing and spending money on boat/fishing stuff. You only live once, so I have a no-stress attitude about it.


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## SteveFL (Aug 2, 2010)

Outside9 said:


> The days of having private spots are pretty much gone. With the new electronics it's just a matter of time before it is located by another boat.
> 
> I had what I thought was private (small coups) only to find a charter boat on them one day.


That's a fact. My low tech radar has the capability to mark other vessels within a few miles; I have not done so and will not but I'm betting you won't even physically see higher end radar users as they mark your spots from many miles away. With an updated fishin' chip, you can even see them drift off the waypoints. There will be very few if any private spots within a few years. I hate it but that's where we are today. Technology is good and bad.

IMHO, the only way to keep good spots is far offshore and deep.


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## bamagun (Apr 28, 2008)

There are so many ways for folks to mark fishing spots out there it isnt even funny... One way yall havent mentioned yet is a good ole compass and range finder.. If folks wanted "your" spots bad enough all they have to do is ride around on the gulf one day and use a range finder (range your boat from theirs) and a compass (write the heading down) and mark "their" position on their chart plotter and just do the math when they get home.. I wont lie, I have THOUGHT about doing that a time or two when folks were fishing relatively close to some of the spots I have marked in my unit, but I have never personally done it, but Im sure it happens all the time...BUT, like the gentleman a few posts ago stated, its no different than a bass fisherman working one side of a river and he notices you catching a few nice fish on the other side of the river quite a ways off the bank and goes to fish the same spot the next day.. I have never heard of too many disputes on lakes or rivers, but it seems the Saltwater guys are always fighting over "their spots"


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

markw4321 said:


> That's when you put a team of divers down and attach large float bags to your reef to get it light on the bottom and put a line on it and pulll it a 1/4 mile away.
> 
> The red snapper swim along behind it while the reef is being pulled like a pack of hounds following a bone...Lol


That's what sidescan sonar is for... Just kiddin. I have never purposefully locked on someone elses site, but I have found plenty of unknown stuff on my sidescan and marked it. I dont think I have ever used any of them though. Too many good public sites where I fish, to worry about a single rock or a chicken coop. Something that small is too hard to get anchored on for me. 

and as for the charter captains pushing you off sites... I go to the gulf for one week of the year. Of which I get 4 or 5 fishable days, if the weather cooperates... Of those 4 or 5days, I get pushed off PUBLIC reefs 2 or 3 times, EVERY year. I had a dive boat actually hit me last year. Tossed his anchor about 50ft from me and drifted right into me... No damage to me, but put a nice black stripe on his pretty white E-Tec. About 15 minures later, my anchor let go... after being hung for 2 or 3 hours... hhmmm....  Funny how that crap happens...


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## RockB (Oct 11, 2007)

markw4321 said:


> That's when you put a team of divers down and attach large float bags to your reef to get it light on the bottom and put a line on it and pulll it a 1/4 mile away.
> 
> The red snapper swim along behind it while the reef is being pulled like a pack of hounds following a bone...Lol


This does work. Been there done that.


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## Contender (Apr 4, 2012)

Did a little research on smart phone / cell phone GPS. Some probably most use aGPS which is "assisted" uses cell data, last location and other non Sat information to "spool" up faster for the initial position fix. This feature allows the device to fix your position even when the signal is weak or fractured. Some phones don't process the position data on the phone but dump it off on the server which therefore requires a connection either network or internet. This is why, i am guessing, i didn't get a fix offshore with my previous phone. 

Haven't tried the current phone mostly because the previous one didn't work and this one will use up a battery very quickly when I get out of cell range.

As many have mentioned there are a lot ways besides and perhaps better to mark locations than a smart phone. For me I don't set out to find someone "spot" lots of public numbers out there and I almost every trip spot something while drifting or trolling. These I mark and sometimes fish sometimes not. 

Big Gulf small spots.


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## Slamdancer (Aug 6, 2008)

Private spots - no such thing once you let them sunk to the bottom.

Two things are for sure, if you sink it the fish will come & someone will find it.

Years ago a contractor out of Mobile, got upset when he found someone anchored on "his spot", ended up costing him a bunch of money. USCG criminal charges, I believe piracy, civil suit by victims, and removal of reef as it was unpermitted & outside the permitted zone.

I have thought about having some spots sunk, but the money is probably better spent on upgraded electronics.


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## markw4321 (Oct 4, 2007)

Slamdancer said:


> Private spots
> 
> I have thought about having some spots sunk, but the money is probably better spent on upgraded electronics.


why upgrade?


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## southern yakker (Jun 25, 2012)

markw4321 said:


> why upgrade?


So he can gind other people private reefs of course.


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## Slamdancer (Aug 6, 2008)

To better find materials abandoned by others on the gulf floor. I hear that there is good fishing around the dump sites.

Seriiously, my electronics are dated and with a 2 fish short season, at least I can use the electronics year around.


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## kahala boy (Oct 1, 2007)

Only way to have a private reef is to put it where noone can go over it and find it. If it's in 150' or shallower, it WILL be found. Chances are better the deeper it is. Only because of less traffic. But not practical...


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## Sea-r-cy (Oct 3, 2007)

oxbeast1210 said:


> Just courious
> If you were to stumble on something out thier with your bottom machine you wouldnt fish it?
> How is one to know if its something "private" or not. .. If something good comes up on my machine I dont think I could resist not fishing it.
> 
> Dont get me wrong I know they are paid for and not cheap from what I hear, but once its in the ocean its no longer private...


If you find it, it is yours to fish and share. I find artificial reefs often. I fish them tenderly, like it was one of my own. Stealing the numbers is quite another thing.

If I think that a "friend" fishing with me is likely to steal a number, he will have a nice list of public/not very good spots. Probably won't catch much either. Be assured he won't be invited to fish with me again. Sea-r-cy


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## Captain Rog' (Apr 3, 2008)

wow! Great topic.
Spot steeling is every captains concern. I tell everyone to turn off their phones. I dont make a big deal about it, just go fishing. Note to the thief, when you hire a plumber do you steel his tools too?


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## knot @ Work (Apr 18, 2012)

Guys I have been fishin the gulf since the LORAN days and gps has made it easier to find and reeturn to any spot once found.

That said my GPS died in May and I Have not replaced yet. I can find most of my favoriites by dead reckoning Time distance heading then looking for other boats fishing the same spots.. works most of the time..


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## Mudigger (Aug 5, 2011)

My boat, my rules. Your boat, your rules. My body and I will wear my offshore auto inflatable life jacket and personal gps locator or I won't get on your boat. Fair enough.


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