mpon

Hmmmm .. an extremely polarizing topic ... I hope I haven't ticked anyone off too much ... What I have discovered in continuing with some of the comments here and putting together a test .GBD file with a few waypoints in it ... I don't know how to attach a file here, so if anyone wants to see a sample, PM me with your e-mail ... - The data I've seen online isn't as accurate as I would like it to be. You've all read the stories about people who trust the GPS directions so much they end up in the middle of a lake .. Well, I'd rather send them to the parking lot. - The data I have in a number of maps and other books isn't the data I need. While they may show where the lake is and how to find it, there aren't GPS coordinates to a boat launch or parking lot. - The regs are still a good idea (and I'm willing to put in the time to collect and collate), but the issues with that are: - For the data to be on a GPS, there is a limitation as to the amount of data that can be attached to a waypoint, and it's not very much. While the data can be entered on the computer side, the unit itself chops it to about 25 characters. - The amount of data to be collected and VERIFIED cannot be done by myself. The key word here is VERIFIED. A lot of what I've seen on the 'net is unverifiable by me without actually going out to site. Not just regs data, but even coordinate data. Something that can't be done by one person. I mention Beaver Lake because Ive been there and seen the signs. If I recall correctly, the signs at the lake are even more detailed than what's in the regs. Bottom line on this ... anything I do for this now will mostly be for personal use ... Ming ...

Hawgstoppah: like your idea ... but don't have time (something called work gets in the way) myself to verify regs on specific lakes ... Many Thanx to all for your input ... I just found it an interesting project when I started looking at the different systems, maps, computer resources, GPS .... and being kind of anal in accuracy, and knowing there was no way I could verify all the data ... I was thinking that others could help in just grabbing a coordinate while they were at the site. GPS coordinates are much easier to understand these days for most people. So I think I'll call this a personal issue/challenge for me to collect all this data for my GPS (without the desired accuracy) ... just to prove it can be done .... Again, thanx to all .... Ming ...

Issues with public area maps: - Incomplete - many will be a subset of the total available - There are many good public lakes that are off the beaten path (Beaver lake is a trophy lake, I only found out about it 3 weeks ago) - No directions as to how to get there .. a generic map will get you to the general area, but once you're there, they don't go into specifics of where you might be able to park (a GPS will get you hopefully get one to the parking lot) - Facilities (outhouses for kids?) Camping if it's family outing - Notes as to how the fishing might actually be (if I recommend a site for kids, I like to know there's actually a chance they'll catch something outside of a cold) I suppose the biggest thing really is that I can put it all in waypoint format ... so a family can pick up the GPS, look at the user notes, program the destination and go ... I'm starting with all the stocked ponds, but I can't verify them all myself ... for example, I can't find the Airdrie pond on google earth ... I'll probably have to drive out there to get a firm GPS location myself. Ming ...

Not asking for anyone's secret locations ... just what I would define as common knowledge ... Policeman's, McKinnon, etc aren't any great secret ... What brought all this about is the number of posts I've seen where people are asking where where thay can take kids/families/just to try a new location, etc. Ming ...

Hi All: Don't know if this is a good idea or not, or whether or not I can manage to get enough participants to make this worthwhile ... But .... What I am trying to do is to generate a Garmin compatible waypoint list consisting of lakes/access points for fishermen. The goal of this is to have a handy fishing locations reference that people can use to find fishing spots by just entering a destination on their GPS's. I have started with the stocked ponds list, converting all the ALS coordinates to lat/long. I have now started to put this information into google earth to verify that there actually is a body of water where they say there is. For those that don't know, the ALS system isn't very accurate ... After that, I have taken some test locations and moved the infomation into Garmin MapSource as a waypoint under a Fishing category. I don't know what people have for GPS units .. myself I have a garmin nuvi 775 and a Rino 530HCX .. although it's not widely done with the nuvi, both are capable of recording travel logs and are capable of having waypoints uploaded/downloaded via Garmin Mapsource. My Rino unit permits me to set a waypoint entry to a location while I'm at the location. To my knowledge, I can't do that with my nuvi. What I'm asking for participation: - If you go to any ponds/lakes/whatever .. get the GPS location of the body of water or parking lot. Whatever format you can get, I can convert from there. If you can't get the GPS coordinates, then if you get a log (just turn on your GPS unit while you drive/walk out to site) and forward the log to me, I can extract the information from your log. If you don't know how to get the log, I may be able to generate a set of instructions. it's kind of a long drawn out process at the start and could be confusing for the computer challenged. examples: - Elbow Lake - Kananaskis - GPS location of the parking lot - Add notes: - Hike up a short steep trail to the lake - campsite and outhouses there - small rainbows - Sibbald Meadows Pond - GPS location of pond (or parking lot) - Add notes: - Stocked - On north side of Hwy 68 - Great for kids - Rainbow, Cutthroat, Brook - Policeman's Flats - GPS location of parking lot - Add notes: - On Bow river, south of Calgary - boat launch - Off Dunbow road, take road north at west edge of golf course (Bow Bottom Trail?) - only include this if the road is too small to be shown on maps - Highwood River - GPS location of parking - Add notes: - By Nature's Hideaway Camping - Follow trail The big question: Is this a worthwhile pursuit? Will this be useful to the average person? Many Thanx Ming ...