I'm asking for GPS use reccomendations!

I had some questions r/e GPS use on the water.  I have been kayak fishing for over 10 years and have 100+ trips on the water under my belt.  I tend to go minimalist ( I got rid of my fish finder) and am thinking of getting a GPS.  I was thinking it would be handy to find productive reefs, as I curently find them through triangulation of shore features (i.e. aligning this kelp bed with this clump of trees on the shore)

Are GPSs helpful for re-finding hotspots in your opinion?

Do you punch it whenever you get a decent fish, and then keep going back to those spots? Is that how it works best?

I am thankful for all of the great expertise on this site!

Tight lines!

The gps is a very useful tool for marking and finding marked spots , retracing steps , or getting back home. When coupled with a fishfinder it is very powerful. On a recent trip staying on top of the pinnacles (where the fish were) and fishing the downhill side(to prevent snags) were made easy with gps-ff combo. Retracing your tracks on a foggy day could also save your butt.

if you are minimalist, I would not get one.  a bunch of stupid button pushing
that will take the fun out of your triangulation approach.

I started with no electronics but now I have a sonar unit and a gps and
VHF, but don't always use them.

I do love exploring with the sonar unit. going to spots I have fished before
without it and finding out why some spots work well (structure!).

the sonar unit is also good for trying different fishing techniques like bottom bounce trolling.

When I do use the GPS, it is for monitoring trolling speed in freshwater. I have a hard time
going that slow with no wind. and when the wind comes up, it's even harder to gauge speed.

In salt, I do sometimes waypoint the launch spot and use the 'goto' feature so
I know how far away it is and how long it will take to get there at my current speed.
I have a compass for backup, but also tend to read the swell for directions.

basically the sonar and GPS are great for any new spots, but once you know the spot,
they aren't so necessary.

sounds like you know all your spots, it would just take the 'soul' out of it for you.

J

For the most part I use the triangulation method, but a GPS could be handy for places where such landmarks aren't readily available or in low visibility conditions.

Other uses for a GPS include ..

1.) monitoring your speed (good for trolling or just seeing how fast you can go).
2.) tracking how far you actually went
3.) safety, for example if a thick fog suddenly rolls in and you need to get back to your launch.

I would Have to agree with pretty much all the posts.  I have a little hand held one that I mainly use for what most have stated here. seeing how far I am from the launch, speed and I have used it a couple of times in heavy fog.  I also bought the cuda 250 gps ff combo which is nice because if I feel I found a good structure spot or reef I can just mark the waypoint while the ff screen is up. but I do not punch it every time I get a decent fish Because, IMHO the gps are nice but only accurate to so many feet.  sometimes only to about 20-40 ft which can be a pretty big area, not exactly pinpoint,depending on the satelite coverage, cloud cover etc.  I have gone back to a spot marked as a waypoint that was a nice rock and had to search for a little bit to find it again because of the margin of error in accuracy for exact points. I think they are a usefull tool but like Jmairey said sometimes I don't even use it.