garmin gps unit

[Sutsgold]

Has anyone ever used a garmin e trex legend gps unit in northwestern ontario? What has been your experience with the unit? Thanks in advance

[Nimstug]

Sut,

I use the Garmin E-Trex Legend on the north arm of Rainy Lake. I have the Mapsource Central States disk which includes Rainy, Lake of the Woods and Eagle. Other lakes just show a blank body of water-no contours, navigation markers, etc. I think they may have discountinued the Central States V5 that I use.

It's a great unit, easy to use in either hand. No problem ever with reception, whether in Canada or on down to northern Illinois. I've usually leave it on while fishing, set to the screen where you mark waypoints. When the Legend gets it's bearings after being turned on I get a message saying it's error is 16', not using waas. That's fine for me, considering that's about a boat length.

Changed the two AA batteries twice during the week. I don't notice any difference between regular and rechargeables. (Wife's digital camera doesn't seem to like rechargeables.)

This year I used the computer to set routes from the ramp to the lodge, from the lodge around a bunch of islands to a nice looking spot 7 miles out, and a third trip of around ten miles, then downloaded that to the unit. Remember, though, no gps can take the place of a good map and observing what is around you.

I think Bass Pro has it for $99 per a store flyer. It's a steal at that price, even if marked fishing maps aren't avaiable for where you fish.

I hope this is of some help, Sut. If you have any specific question, post them, and if I don't have an answer I will be happy to make something up.

Nimstug

I have had a garmin for a number of years and it has been worth every penny. Being so small it easily fits right into any tackle box or fishing vest. Very waterproof so no worries when the skies open up.

I have used my Legend all over Ontario and could not be more happy. On large bodies of water I easily mark great holes to come back to later on in my trip. I have even marked hot spots and used them 3 years later! No way would I have remembered them, or if I had written them down who knows where I would have placed my notes. The Garmin let's me get back to EXACTLY where I was many years ago. Another great use is to mark water hazards. Marking submerged rocks or logs makes me feel much safer as I fish throughout the trip.

The other nice feature is route tracking. You can turn this feature on and it will track exactly where you have been for the day, for example. This has come in handy many times. For example when you find a good trolling 'lane' and want to go back to it. On another occasion I found a great little inlet on a HUGE lake. I marked the track from the inlet to the dock just to make sure I knew where it was. Sure enough, the next morning at 5 AM it was so foggy you culdn't see more than 10 feet in any one direction. Very nerve racking. Well, I sparked up my Garmin, put it on the gunwhale in front of me and puttered along for 20 minutes, having no clue where I was, except for the track I saw on my screen. Sure enough I ended up exactly where I wanted to go, which I never would have been able to do without it as there several islands I had to go around and a large point (e.g. it was not a straight line).

On the same trip tracking also saved my behind. I travelled around 8 miles to the end of the large lake (which had many large islands, points, etc.). Then a huge storm came up reducing visability to nothing, with no signs of letting up. My bowman turned on the unit, and we followed the track on the screen all the way back to camp. The other boat on the water got stuck somewhere on the lake for 6 hours as they had no clue how to get back (couldn't see).

Gotta love technology.