Naming Numbers....

[gogators27]

Most GPS systems give you a limited amount of charactors to name a spot....

Do yall have a system for naming numbers to keep them organized?

Do you try to describe them in the name, if so what do you describe, how do you describe it and why?

Do you name them somthing only you would understand or somthing that everyone would understand?

What do yall do with the limited charactors you have to name yours spots in your GPS?

[CaptainLeo]

I usually name it something that is pertinent to that spot or something that I feel describes how the spot is. If that makes any sense.

[greg1]

I know some commercial guys that name them by grid. But they might have 1,000s of numbers.

i.e. Draw a grid over the water you fish/dive and assign a letter to each cell.

For instance....if you head out the pass anywhere between a 155 heading and a 165 heading and stop between 80' and 100'....all the spots in that area start with "A". A101, A102, A103, etc. etc.

Same heading, but between 100' and 120' is "B". B101, B102, B103, etc. etc.

Pattern your names by both direction/heading and depth.

And on and on.

However, if you only have 20 or 30 spots then you can assign them a name from something that reminds you what the spot is. Flounder, Pinky, BigTrig, Turtle, Cobia, etc. etc.

The good thing about using an organized system like the grid is that it helps you identify patterns.

Identify what areas hold fish certain times of year, or what areas have poor visibility after a hard rain.

[greg1]

Of course....don't overcomplicate it. Your grid doesn't need to be exact. Your cells don't have to be perfect. I just think a patterned system is a good way to go.

And of course, as you dive spots and develop favorites you can always rename them within the system. Instead of just having L111 and L109 and L126. You can name them Lrock, Lscamp, Lhump...etc .etc. Something that identifies them for easy identification.

[anchorman]

We use all kinds of weird stuff to name holes.

Some of ours:
Beggers Canyon
Wayne Hole
Go left <---because if you go right it sucks
Grouper Heaven
1/2 tank hog

Sure we could use some fancy numbering system but where is the fun in that?

[chili]

When I pioneer new numbers, I will start out giving them a letter an a number. The letter represents the area and the number is a sequential number for each spot I want to check... Once we fish it or dive it, I will then give it an arbitrary name...

I keep a ring binder with all of my known producers and all of my new "let check it out" numbers. I keep this up to date and have seperate pages to make notes on. Over the years this has proved very helpful in developing patterns...

[sharpshooter]

I give the spot a name. Lost knife,red pouch,fire truck,gag revenge,lost gun,etc.. I can look at any of those names and tell you what the place looks like. A notebook with the names,location,ledge size (2'-4',250' long),runs E.-W.. Also comments 03/31/08 2 gags,1hog,3 goes. After awhile you'll know which times of year what spot will generally hold fish.

[kmoose]

What kind of plotter are you using? I use multipule icons and my plotter offers tons of room for notes and names in the discription line.

[gogators27]

What kind of plotter are you using? I use multipule icons and my plotter offers tons of room for notes and names in the discription line.

Humminbird 987 side scan....
it has room for 11 charactors to name your spots, and you do have additional room for notes on the machine, but it takes forever to punch stuff in.... on the computer software that goes with the machine it does not allow you to add notes:mad: It does have multple icons.... how do you utilize different icons?

[SoCalScot]

I just use some type of abbreviation that makes sense to me. Something that when I read the abbreviation will remind me what the spot was that I marked. Or why I marked it.

As long as it makes sense to you thats all that matters.