Do
you know what you are really looking at or does that $1,500 or more
depth finder/GPS unit just leave you scratching your head at times.
You see all those fish under the boat but can never catch them or
see them on the depth finder; so you turn around to catch them, only
to find out they have vanished. Depth finders or fish finders, as
anglers refer to them can be frustrating to say the least and the
instruction manual, a techno-jargon puzzle, no one person could understand.
If they only had a school that taught anglers how to set up, use,
and understand their sonar or GPS units; no doubt, many bass professionals
would attend that class. Well anglers, class is in session in
the just released DVD, Sonar/GPS 101 by Frazier Marine Group
(www.itainttv.com) with Professor
Wilson Frazier, the instructor teaching the basic of sonar and GPS
units.
Wilson Frazier aka the Professor is an authority when it comes
to sonar/GPS units with over 30 years of being a Lowrance Pro Staffer
and part of the tournament support team. Today, the Professor
spends much of his time providing seminars all over the country to
pros and fishing enthusiasts teaching them how to use their sonar/GPS
units. The Professor is also the president of Frazier Marine
Group Elite Series Products and Fishing Aids including: GPS/Sonar Cleaner-Krystal
Vision, Multi-use cleaner-Shazzam, Eraser Degreaser, Tire Shine, Marker
Buoy System Bac-to-its, Shock Guard Mount Stabilizer, Slick Sides,
Braid-Aid, Cork Magic, and Rod Glo.
The DVD Sonar/GPS 101 has
four sections: sonar 101, GPS 101, tweaking your unit, and testimonials. In sonar 101,
the Professor breaks down how the sonar unit works and what you are
really seeing on the units screen. "While most anglers
believe that it's a fish finder or depth finder, it's not;
your sonar unit is a time and distance measuring machine," he
continued, "the sonar unit is a transceiver which means it transmits
sound and receives sound." He also goes on to explain
how a unit really operates in easy to understand drawings and in straightforward,
uncomplicated terms.
In GPS 101, the Professor explores how the GPS unit works,
how waypoints work, how to go back to a waypoint, icons, zoom rate,
and other functions the GPS has that anglers can take advantage of. "GPS
units like sonar are a distance measuring device," explained
the Professor. Again, the Professor uses drawings and breaks
how the GPS unit operates in easy to understand drawings and in straight
forward, uncomplicated terms.
In tweaking your unit, the Professor reveals how to improve
the performance of your sonar/GPS unit and set your own preferences
for your unit. The Professor also explains how to resize your
windows, how to make changes on the map side of the unit and the sonar
side, overlay data, how to save overlay data, how the page button works,
and the other functions the sonar/GPS unit have that can be tweaked. In
addition, the Professor goes on to explain what ground speed is, how
trip distance works, and how a voltage meter can help with planning
or saving your fishing trip.
The last section is testimonies from the pros including BASSMASTER
Elite Pros Peter T, Terry Scroggins, Byron Velrick, Casey Ashley, and
more. Even Bill Dance joins in with his endorsement of the Professor
when it comes to understanding sonar/GPS units.
In sonar/GPS 101, the Professor gave the student a basic understanding
of how sonar/GPS units work. This will be the building block
for subsequent DVD's to follow, where the Professor will cover
in depth sonar and GPS units. I suspected with all the information
the Professor is giving to his students, I doubt that any will be skipping
class to go fishing.
Brad
Wiegmann is a full time fishing guide on Beaver lake and
Lake SWEPCO in Northwest Arkansas. Brad guides for Largemouth,
Spotted, Smallmouth, Stripers and White Bass. He is also a free-lance
writer who's weekly column "Speaking of Fishing" appears
weekly in several local newspapers. You may also see him doing
seminars, working outdoor shows or featured in outdoor magazines such
as BASSMASTER Magazine, Outdoor life and Arkansas Sportsman. He
also fishes the FLW Tour, Stren and local open tournaments. He
is currently on the Pro staff, promotional staff and guide programs
of numerous tackle manufactures, lure companies, and fishing related
companies. You can contact him at (479) 756-5279, at bwiegmann@cox.net or
visit his website at www.bradwiegmann.com for
more information.
