On the cusp of crazy boat control

I’ve been noticing that there is a lot of boat control and information hardware/software available to us these days. Increasingly, these devices are becoming automated or at least able to network with each other. Tech that comes to mind:

Minn Kota auto pilot (and similar)
ProNav
Fish hawk
Fly by wire steering and throttle controls
GPS autopilots for main outboards that can run at trolling speeds, zig-zag, etc.
Auto trim
iTroll throttle controller
Python kicker controller
The host of Garmin, Humminbird, lowrance, etc head units that can display read and display a TON of data.

It seems to me that it’s not going to be long before a manufacturer comes along with wizardry that can network the digital steering and trim in an outboard(s), bow and stern trolling motor, a kicker, and your chart plotters GPS system to where you can draw a track with your finger (or wace a remote, watch, phone, etc.) and have the gadgets compensate for wind, waves, and current to get you on fish. want to drift sideways at .5 mph, just draw a line. want to spot lock the position and orientation of your boat, you can. With power trim on outboards and a smarter vantage and the current Ulterra, it can all auto deploy.

Perhaps you command “go to waypoint XXX” and so long as your butt is in your seat your boat takes you there while you tie a line. Maybe it even watches out for those PWC’s flying around. Maybe you command load/unload and you boar gets on or off the trailer all by itself. Crazy stuff.

Right now, many of these systems don’t talk or are stand alone, But imagine if they did. Food for thought.

As I contemplate downsizing my boat, fishing rivers more, going back to simpler depth finders i also have thought about where tech is going. It’s been crazy the stuff they have done in the last 5-7 years. You almost need to take classes to run today’s stuff to get the full capability out of it.

Lowrance and Garmin both have autopilot and have had them for quite some time.

FishHawk now talks to Birds and Cannon.

Now that Garmin has a trolling motor, I think it’s pretty damn close.

No matter how much connectivity and smart devices you have, there’s always 100 times more variables that a human must decide on each and every minute on the water. No amount of technology is going to be able to make those decisions on the fly needed to be successful.

The human element will never be obsolete.

biggill wrote:

Lowrance and Garmin both have autopilot and have had them for quite some time.

FishHawk now talks to Birds and Cannon.

Now that Garmin has a trolling motor, I think it’s pretty damn close.

No matter how much connectivity and smart devices you have, there’s always 100 times more variables that a human must decide on each and every minute on the water. No amount of technology is going to be able to make those decisions on the fly needed to be successful.

The human element will never be obsolete.

To add to this, the fancy new electronics and whatnot are simply tools. Tools are still only as good as the person behind them. I could spend thousands on snap-on tools and a multi bay shop, but without thousands of hours learning to use them through trial and error and some hands-on education, I’ve just got expensive fancy tools I can brag about.

As technology takes bigger leaps forward the learning curve to master it does as well. The people putting in hundreds of days on the water will still have more success than those with $5000 in graphs that they barely know how to change a few settings in during their every-other Saturday afternoon outings.

buckybadger wrote:

I’ve just got expensive fancy tools I can brag about.

You bring up a good point here. But wouldn’t you think these manufacturers also see your point? I would hope so. The learning curve on these will be greatly reduced in years to come. Couple that with the fact these newer generations of fisherman know how to work electronics a bit better than old timers with their dial turning vexilars.

Boat control is huge for fishing, huge. I can’t tell you how many fisherman I see on a regular basis who have the right baits, the right tactics with crap boat control and can’t stay where the fish are. We have enough shows around showing exactly what to fish and how, if you can couple that with staying on them, we will have huge amounts of more fish harvested.

All you can think of is “Staying Power”!
Ah, never mind,

beads that’s a good one.

I prefer to ying out this yang by being a poor guy (no $ for fancy equipment) and a bad fisherman. Not a lot of harvest here. Heck, the state probably owes me fish after all the licenses and trout stamps considering what I’ve gotten out of it

Deuces wrote:

The learning curve on these will be greatly reduced in years to come. Couple that with the fact these newer generations of fisherman know how to work electronics a bit better than old timers with their dial turning vexilars.

There’s no argument that a guy who’s on the water everyday is going to outfish johnny come lately with a bunch of fancy gear he has no idea how to use. Also, the marine environment is so variable that a captain will always be required. (Resorts won’t be sending out drone boats on LOTW any time soon).

all this gear has a learning curve, and that manufactures are going to make it easier and easier to use. with that, new uses that don’t yet exist are going to come about.

Also, there are more and more fisherman who’s day job has them in front of a computer all day. That’s my case, and why I was thinking about networking all of this equipment.

One particular thing that all this control would be great for is in any trolling or drifting application. Set your speed (relative to ground or to currents) set your path, set your orientation (bow/stern/gunwale to wind) and regardless of pulling a spread on the great lakes or dragging a spinner with drift socks on Mille lacs, you let your electronics figure out the rest. (I’d still own a tiller, but for room more than control at that point.)

It’s going to be spendy and have beta issues to overcome, but man, the tech has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade or so.

Anybody else have hair brained ideas of what might be possible?

Technology is making fishing like going to a pro sporting event, unaffordable! People are now paying north of $2,000 – $3,000 for a fish finder? Boat costs as high as a lot of us paid for a house? I’d like to be the guy that invents the app to control all this stuff.

SuperDave1959 wrote:

Technology is making fishing like going to a pro sporting event, unaffordable! People are now paying north of $2,000 – $3,000 for a fish finder? Boat costs as high as a lot of us paid for a house? I’d like to be the guy that invents the app to control all this stuff.

I can’t find a decent house for the same price as a boat, but if you bought your house in the 70’s or 80’s then yes, valid grievance.

I own a 14′ V hull bench boat that I fish out of. I’d like to buy a new to me early 2000’s 20′ tiller and rig it to the nines but $$$ is an issue. I also refuse to finance a what for me is a toy. If I was a guide it’d be different.

Brady Korwin wrote:

It’s going to be spendy and have beta issues to overcome, but man, the tech has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade or so.

Anybody else have hair brained ideas of what might be possible?

I’d imagine these companies are just fine coasting into new tech. There’s only so good of sonar you can get, then what?

Touch screen finders of course, click on the fish you scan and it will give approximate size, weight, couple species options. Use your finger to draw your line the boat will follow. I’d imagine the transom TMs will eventually have GPS, to coordinate with the bow, boat control really would be impeccable.

I’ll still be in my 14′ john cursing at all of em making wakes

Just wait until you get to within a half mile of the ramp and your truck starts backs the trailer in, boat guides itself on the trailer and pulls your as- out while you never leave the boat seat.

I’m waiting fo the Tesla boat.

biggill wrote:

I’m waiting fo the Tesla boat.

Imagine that hole shot!!!

Take a look at Joystick boat control

does just about everything you can ask for and then some

Fish On……

^ That is NOT where I would place a joystick!

Merc joystick system can now also drift while holding a heading, and they demonstrated “assisted docking” at Miami boat show last year(boat parks itself). The boating world will really change once AIS as adapted to all navigation buoys. Instead of setting multiple waypoints to create your route, you could potentially just tell the boat to drive the navigation channel to a specific location. Then take it to the next level and have have a AIS in every boat so a boats auto pilot can see and then steer around any oncoming boats.

I think manufacturers are happy coasting, but it just takes one to upset the apple cart and make it a race.

Right now I think most joy stick control is intended for dual outboard setups and really just intended for docking.

The system above looks like it’s incorporating a lot of the boat control that I’m imagining is available. I want the main outboard, kicker, bow and stern trolling motors all on the same system. I also want the system to know which ones are in use or perhaps suggest which systems to use base on conditions. (if TM is not enough, suggest use of main motor instead of running down batteries, shift to battery power if outboard is shifting to much)

Who knows, maybe dual motors with a joystick becomes more of a norm on walleye rigs. No more steering wheel? Joystick tiller console like the old Lund Mr. Walleye boats?

Garmin’s live scope is getting close to what I think might be possible with sonar. More processing will allow for better clarity. I could see dual transducers creating a more 3D like image. That might make species ID, weight/length possible. It’ll be a while before you could troll over a school of bait fish and have each fish’s stats pop up. It would also take a fair bit of calibration to make it work correctly.

The DNR might like to have the species data if that became available. Having big brother know what you’re doing in your boat probably isn’t the best for your freedoms though.

With regard to the Tesla, There would be some yahoo riding in his boat down the highway while his Tesla drives. Then we have to start crash testing boats and their prices double overnight.

It might free up the launch if all the vehicles know how to load/unload their boats. I’m sure we’ve all seen somebody with no idea what they’re doing.

Good to know there are other dreamers out there.

Bringing this back from the dead! Yamaha’s Helmaster EX works with single outboards and can talk to Garmin units. I’m feeling like a profit. DEC in a Yam T9.9 and Garmin force trolling motors and voila, we have integration ala Yamaha and Garmin. It’s not there yet, but it could be in the future!

Deuces wrote:

Couple that with the fact these newer generations of fisherman know how to work electronics a bit better than old timers with their dial turning vexilars.

This is me. I have always fished with at least GPS and modern sonar in a boat. It was simply a part of the boat we had growing up and I’ve always had it in my own boat. Operating a vexilar? Nope, completely clueless.

Most of the auto pilots on trolling motors will do a nice job keeping you on a good line if it isn’t windy. In the wind all bets are off. I also hate the GPS controlled auto pilot system. I always switch that to a compass heading. My boat control skills are pretty good in the wind, and I have had a lot of practice due to mostly fishing big water. Now if I knew a little more of how to get the fish to bite, I could be a marginally good fisher person. Does anyone prefer the newer GPS auto pilot setting?

Tech is nearly impossible to keep up with, I’ve quit trying. I’ve got graphs that are worth who knows how much and I can barely turn them on much less use all the features. Gonna hire me somebody who knows this stuff to set it up.

Well, they are testing self driving 80,000 pound semi trucks so I guess anything can happen with boats and locators.

Similar to George Orwell’s “1984” and man named Brian Klatwitter authored a book titled “2022”. In this book he outlines how watercraft, sonar, lures, rods etc. are going to be in the future. He writes about boats the cause no sound or wake. Force shields around boats that you can cast or shoot through, and will shield you from the rain/snow and UV rays, and keep you warm or cold. Really fascinating. Interesting these boats are also eco friendly. They are powered by Hamms and Spam and onion sammwiches. Ask him about all of this. He is reachable by PM here on IDO. And yes, the baitwells on these boats do “sex” your minnows for you. Please share this information with all of your Friends.

Good’in Robby!