I was dead wrong about GPS dredging systems, here's why I changed my mind

For years I swore by the old school method of running lines off fixed points on the bank. Thought those GPS tracking systems were just a crutch for guys who never learned proper surveying. Then we got a job on Lake Cumberland last spring where the bottom was nothing but rolling hills and old creek channels. My usual tape measure and buoy system was taking forever and I was still missing spots. The foreman let me sit next to him for a shift on the new Trimble setup and I watched the cross section fill in real time on the screen. After three tries I was pulling consistent depth readings that matched exactly what the sonar showed. Now I run both systems together just to double check, but I'll admit that GPS saved me about four hours of guesswork on a single day. Has anyone else fought against new tech only to find out it actually works better?

2 comments

2 Comments

bencampbell15d ago

...and the thing that got me was how it handled the old river channel on my home lake. I had been dredging that same bend for three seasons, thinking I had the best spot pegged from shore markers. First time I ran a GPS system over it, the screen showed I was missing the deepest part by about eight feet to the left. My buoy line looked straight from the bank but the current had pulled them off without me noticing. Now I lay down my initial marks the old way and then let the GPS confirm before I even start the pump. The time savings alone paid for the unit in maybe two months of weekend work.

caseyc3015d ago

Eight feet is a bigger gap than most folks realize until they see it on a screen. I had a similar problem on a lake I worked for years, where I thought I knew every dropoff by heart. Turns out the channel had shifted a couple feet after a big flood, and my old markers were useless. Now I do the same thing you do, drop buoys by eye then fire up the GPS for a reality check. It is a humbling tool, that is for sure. But the confidence you get from knowing you are on target is worth the wait.