Fishing is said to be one of our most therapeutic pastimes and an estimated 60 million people participate. Many people are happy to just sit back and see what happens, patiently waiting for the next fish. However, some people are more serious about the pastime, which is estimated to make a significant contribution to the economy, by the way. When people are looking to be productive, they often turn to a GPS fish finder for help.

A GPS fish finder uses modern day technology to pinpoint the location of shoals of fish. There are quite a range and variety of products on the market, catering to all levels of expertise. Some may find a more basic model suitable for their limited needs whilst professionals will often choose a top of the range model. There are significant differences between these products.

Three things are very important when you are setting out to hunt for fish. Make sure that your GPS fish finder gives you information on distance, speed and temperature.

Certain fish have different spawning habits and are likely to populate water with a certain temperature. Often they won't spawn unless the temperature is within a certain range and it therefore follows that if you can determine the temperature you have a better chance of successfully fishing. Most of the better GPS fish finder models come complete with a temperature gauge.

One of the major advantages of a GPS fish finder is that it can accurately triangulate your position. GPS technology works of course by analyzing the transmission of radio frequency waves between your location and satellites in Earth orbit. At the least, this can be a great safety aid for you as you always know where you are with a high degree of accuracy.

To give yourself the best chance of success when trolling for fish, you will need to maintain a certain speed. The GPS fish finder will help to give you accurate information so you can be sure that your day on the open water is a productive one.

If you have some experience at fishing, you will have a good idea where the best places are. The GPS fish finder allows you to register these places in your device's memory. It can give accurate distance measurements between your home port and the great locations, so you could pull up the data and set off on your journey.

The higher end GPS fish finder includes definitive chart plotting capabilities as well as sonar. Highly accurate maps of the coastline and inland lakes and rivers can be displayed on specially designed color screens which can be viewed in bright sunlight. These devices are compatible with many other onboard navigational, safety and fishing aids. They can be mounted on the dash, or on the transom to suit you best.