Contents

On line help for Fish Traker 1.0

About Fish Traker

Environment

Fast Start

Creating Water Ways

Speed Keys

Menu Items

Bottom Content Types

Cover and/or Structrure Types

Manmade Structures

Adding Fish Species

Conditions

Requesting Analysis of Waters

Lunar Table Comparisons

Lunar Calendars

Printouts

For Help on Help, Press F1


About Fish Traker

Fish Traker picks up where manuals stop.  With Fish Traker you can enter your specific water way information.  Add to this the bottom content and the types of cover any fish may find, and you have a complete map of an area you are familiar with.  In addition to this, you can define any fish species, define different action activities for each fish in any defined calendar period.  Using this, Fish Traker can indicate, on your map, where the most likely places you may find the requested fish.

Fish Traker even allows you to enter your fishing success into a general data base that Fish Traker will show on a Lunar Table.  Compare your catches against the World Records.  See when the really big ones were caught.  Even display any calendar from 1800 to 2500 to compare lunar periods with, or enter your grand parents BIG FISH stories into the general data base.

All this can be printed out to any graphics printer, in color if printer supported.


The Environment

Some notes to remember when enjoying our natural resources.   The money you spend, when you purchase a fishing license, goes toward preserving our natural resources.  So, in essence, a part of it belongs to you.  You can help to maintain these important resources by caring for them.   Some rules to remember when you are out.

1.  If you change the line in your reel.  Do not leave the old line lying around for some animal to get tangled in and die a slow death.  Pick it up and take it home.

2.  The fish size and catch limits are placed to help the fish maintain a healthy population, so you can enjoy fishing for a long time to come.

3.  Litter, pick it up.  Even if it is not yours.  The environment will appreciate it.

4.  Take someone fishing.  You will be amazed at the people who have not fished and find they really enjoy it.  There is no better way to enjoy the outdoors than an afternoon fishing.

5.  Last, but not least, keep your equipment in top notch shape so when you hook the REALLY BIG one, you will get it.  Now grab that tackle box and lets go fishing.


Fast Start

To see what a standard water way may look like, go to [Locations] and select [Open].  Select the [Oxford Mills] item in the menu.  Note:  When you create and save you own water ways, this is the menu where you will retrieve them.  The Oxford Mills data will appear on the screen.  To zoom to a particular area go to [Options] and select [Zoom].  The mouse cursor will turn into a cross hair.  Put the cross in the upper left corner in the map, you want to be the upper left corner of the screen and hod the left mouse button down and move the cross to the lower right of the map you want to be the lower right of the screen and release the mouse.

To analyze the data. Go to [Fish] and select [Analysis] .  Fill in the Conditions information and press [Ok].  Next [Select ] [Catfish].  The system will tell you at what phase the fish is in and how many spots you might find this fish.  After selecting [Ok] you will see arrows pointing to the spots to try.  Note:  The fish species may vary for your area so you may have to go to the [Fish] menu and select Add/Edit species to tune the species to your area.


Speed Keys

F1	Zoom in 25 % of screen

F2	Zoom out 25 % of screen

F3	Analysis menu

F4	Refresh the screen

F5	Toggles on or off the map names.

F6	Sets screen to 10 sq. mile size

F7	Shows the Analysis result window.

F8	Quits Fish Traker


Menu Items

Location 	Go here to Open, Save, Save As, or Print a Water Way.

Fish	Go here to do an Analysis, Add/Edit Fish Species.

Create	Build your map data here.  Select item to make or add to map.

Delete	Remove selected item from map.

Options	Zoom to specific location on map, set conditions, Lunar Table and Calendar

Help	This file.


Creating Water Ways

To create the water way map, it is best to make a rough sketch of the water way on paper first.  Go to [Options] and select [Zoom]  move the cursor in the middle of the screen and zoom to about 1 grid size.  This will give you a 1 square mile size.  You can press the [F1] key to zoom in further to about 100 feet per grid size.

Now go to [Create] and select [Water Way], the cursor will turn into a pointer.  Move the pointer to a starting point of the water way, press and release the left mouse button.  Notice that a line is connected to the pointer attached to the first place you clicked the mouse.  You may continue clicking the mouse to define the outside edges of your water until you are satisfied then press the [Esc] key.  This will fill in your water way and close up the ending point with the starting point.

Next do the same thing for any depths or channels you wish to place inside the water way.  Continue building and selecting your map items.  When you are done be sure to save water way by going to [Locations] and select [Save].

If you press the [F5] key it will toggle on or off the names of the items you have created.  Keep in mind that the names are placed at the first click point of each object.  So try to start them so the names do not overwrite each other when displayed or printed.


Bottom Content Types

Bottom Content describes what the bottom of the water way is like.  The following are the types that are available.

Boulder	Used to describe a large rock structure of one item.

Rocks	An area that has small to medium size rocks.

Gravel	An area that has very small to small size rocks.

Sand	An area containing sandy bottom.

Mud	An area containing mud bottom, this is the default.

The main difference for the above items is that the Boulder item is for a single boulder where the others define an area of the type of bottom.  A boulder can be a cover or structure type.  It is included in the bottom types because of the rock classification.

Brush	An area of brush that does not constitute a log jam.

Weeds are broken out in to thin cover and thick cover.  Each type defines an area of vegetation.


Cover and/or Structure Types

When defining or updating fish species cover and/or structure types define where the fish can be located.  Under Location Indicators is where the favorable cover and/or structure types is defined.


Manmade Structures

A manmade structure is a user defined item.  It is an area of anything.  When selecting this type you must enter a label or name describing it.  For example the Old.Dam.Foundation in the Oxford Mill file is a structure type.  All structures will default to be gray in color.


Adding Fish Species

To add or edit a fish species you use the [Fish] [Add/Edit Species] menu.  The fish that is currently being edited is displayed in the menus first left name window.  The calendar period being edited is displayed in the second right menu window.  To select a different defined fish, mouse on the fish species and select the fish in question.  The same applies for the calendar period window.

To add a new fish select the [Add] button on the upper left of the menu below the fish species and enter the new fish.  Note that no spaces are allowed and will be replaced by a period.

To add a new calendar period select the [Add] button below the periods window.  Enter a name that best describes the new period.  Note be careful the periods do not over lap each other.

After adding a new fish and or calendar period you mush define the fishs habits that apply to the period.  There are three types that must be defined.

Depth Indicator	This defines what conditions are present and at what depth the fish is usually found at.  These are Water Clarity or at what depths to find the fish for various water clarity levels, Water Temperature or at what depths to find the fish for a surface temperature of , and the Usual Preferred Depth.

Strike Indicator	This defines what conditions the fish is most likely to bite at.  These are Lunar Phases, Times most active, Barometric conditions, Weather fronts, and Water levels.  When requesting an analysis of a fish species the resulting menu will display a window of information.  The more strike indicators you have defined the better.  If you have 6 indicators and you current conditions match 4 of them you have a score of a match of 4 out of 6 or 66.6% level of confidence of the fish biting.

Location Indicator	This defines what cover and bottom contents the fish may locate to.  These are Bottom content, Cover and/or structure, and Water speed or current.

You can add as many of the above items to the period as are needed to best define the activity.  As an example you can say the

Time Most Active is from 22 to 24 and

Time Most Active from 24 to 4 and

Time Most Active from 6 to 8, etc.

Once you have defined a new fish species or tuned the current fish species to be more accurate be sure to [Save] the data!!


Conditions

This menu, under [Options], is where you set the current conditions of the water way.  If you select [Fish] and then [Analysis] this menu will appear.  The analysis will review the date entered into this menu and compare them against the species data and map information.  Be sure to enter the time and date you plan to fish, not the time it is now.

This menu will also appear when you enter your catch history.


Analysis Request

A water way file must be retrieved before an analysis can be done.  An analysis will look at the water way map and at the defined fish species selected and search for the most likely places to find the fish.  When completed arrows will be drawn on the map indicating the places to found.  The [Climate] menu, under [Options], can be used to let Fish Traker know what the present conditions of the water way is, such as clarity, temperature, etc.  You should edit this menu before requesting an analysis.

To execute the analysis just select the fish species to search for and select [Ok].  Fish Traker will show a menu telling what period the fish is in, how many favorable locations have been found and what baits you should use.  If this analysis proves wrong or you wish to add to the variables controlling the search you must edit the fish species menu.


Lunar Tables

This selection will display a Lunar Table Window on the screen.  In the selections are World Record Fresh Water fish and any fish species you have defined.  When you select any of the species items all the fish caught will be placed within the Lunar Table according to the Lunar Phase period it was caught.  After you have entered your catches over a period of time you may notice a pattern of more frequent catch times and use these a flags of when the best time to go out is, or at least the odds are better in catching some fish.  You may even notice the different species are biting at different intervals than other species or biting on different baits.

In this window you can display the weights of the fish, the date caught with the name of the species or all three items.

All the above can be printed out to any graphics printer.


Lunar Calendars

This selection will display a calendar month for any year from 1800 to 2500.  On this calendar you will see the Lunar Phases projected for that month.  You can use this information against the Lunar Table data to select your best fishing times.


Printouts

All data can be printed out to any graphics printer, in color if supported


Depth Indicators

When defining fish species and the periods of activity, you can define at what depths you will usually find such fish.  This indicators are Clarity,  i.e. is the water is clear you may find this fish in about 15 to 25 feet of water. If the Clarity is Muddy you may find this fish in about 5 to 15 feet of water.

Another item is Temperature. i.e. If the temperature is 65 degrees then you may find this fish in about 15 to 20 feet of water.  These options are defined in adding/editing to a fish species.


Strike Indicators

Strike indicators are flags that tell when the fish is more likely to strike.  These include at which Lunar Phase the fish bites most often, if the barometer is rising, falling, or steady.  If the water level is rising, falling, or steady, and if a weather front is coming in, out, or stationary.


Location Indicators

Location Indicators tell where you will find this fish.  These include what bottom content types to look for, what cover and or structure types  and the water speed or current.