Fishing using the autopilot

jkidd

jkidd

Active member
I had a great time two weeks ago fishing at Yellowstone using the GPS and the autopilot. I started out putting a waypoint a half a mile or so in front of me and telling the autopilot to goto that. Then I would turn around and goto a second one in the other direction. Then I decided to try putting in a route and following that around part of Frank Island. When I got to the end of the route I would tell it to follow it in reverse. That's a great way to fish let the boat drive itself and just watch for other boats and the poles.

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How did your auto pilot perform in terms of accurateness? my c-80 and st 6000 raymarine would skip to the next way point 400 to 600 ft before I got to the way point I was headed to. who close did yours get you?
 
starcrafttom":2orj9dmi said:
How did your auto pilot perform in terms of accurateness? my c-80 and st 6000 raymarine would skip to the next way point 400 to 600 ft before I got to the way point I was headed to. who close did yours get you?
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Mine was around 50 to 60 feet when it would switch. Speed could play a part in that as well, but I haven't watched that closely. I was reading in the book and I think there was a setting that you could change to adjust that. I also have the Tach input switched off so I can use the big motor or the kicker with the connecting rod.
 
yeah thats a lot better then my older c-80. I did have it set to the lowest setting and it just would not work for me, beyond its abilities. I am sure the newer units perform better.
 
Tom
I'm very happy with the way things worked. From the picture below the bottom track is were I came to the island and fished using the remote to steer. Then I followed the route and then reversed and followed the route back. You have to zoom in real close to tell that there are 2 track lines between the way points.


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Use autopilot for fishing is good idea; it makes it easy and interesting. When boat turns it automatically applies helm to bring the craft back in line with the course for which it has been programmed. Purchase a good autopilot is depending on the size and weight of boat, as well as the type of boat steering system.
 
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