Bow Hunting: Ice Fish? Have a smart phone? Check out the Navionics app for lake contours!

Navionics Lakes: US North ($13.20 in android app store)

Recently I upgraded my cell phone to a Droid X from Verizon Wireless. Among the thousands and thousands of neat apps in their App store (some free and some cost $) was an app called Navionics Lakes: US North. This app cost $13.20 but gives your phone the capabilities of any GPS with a lake maps chip. After some use I have found that the app works amazingly well and when I use it with a free My Tracks app, I'm set when it comes to finding my spot ice fishing and following my trail back to the access... all done using only my Droid X.

First I will show you the basic layout of the Navionics app. When you first open the app you will see a map of all the lakes in your app. In the upper right corner you will be able to zoom in/out. If you click the menu button on your droid (button farthest to the left of the four on the bottom), the screen you see below will pop up with more options.

This menu now lets you find your exact location by hitting the GPS button. The search option will allow you to search through different tracks or way points you may have stored on your phone. The distance button is a neat tool that allows you to drag a pin across the screen to determine the distance from one point on your map to another. By hitting the Track button you will be able to record a track and save it to your phone. If you hit the settings button you will be presented with more options, including the capability to have a map or satellite overlay, share your info on facebook or twitter, set the safety depth (depth of which will start to show up as white for deeper waters) and allow you to set the units you prefer (shown in three pictures below).

If you just tap a spot on the screen a little menu will pop up (shown below to left). If you click on the expanding arrow you will see a menu (shown below to right) where you can add that point to you phone or find the distance from your GPS. If there is already a saved location you will also get the option to see the details for that too.

My Tracks is a neat little app that will allow you to record your tracks and save them on your phone. You can also share tracks and send them to a friend, email account, or google account.

For each track you can see other information as well as speed, time of travel and the elevation you were traveling at. You can find this information by hitting the side arrows in the middle of the screen.