MAPS and SOFTWARE

Here's something for the local guys.  If you fish Southern California saltwater from your own boat, you'll want this book. If you are a private boater, buy this book and start programming your GPS.  You'll have confidence inspiring experience right at your fingertips while you're on the water this spring.

I was fortunate to meet up with Al Schneider a few years back.  He's what I'd call an expert fisherman when it comes to halibut.  He and his experienced fishing buddy Max Krisher have our local coast down cold, too.  They've meticulously recorded their honey holes, local knowledge spots, and organized them into a very user friendly package.  Better than 70 years experience and 92 pages went into this book, for good effect.  

It's A Keeper covers the coast from Point Conception to the Mexican border.  It covers our water from north to south, and includes all the inshore reefs, islands, inshore and offshore banks and far outside banks.  There are several bonuses included in the book, like their halibut landmark spots for the Santa Monica Bay. Click on the link above right to see a typical page from the book.

Buy	Description	Price
	Al and Max - It's a Keeper	$19.95

Fish-N-Map Co.
Fish-n-Map Company produces a wide range of maps for saltwater and freshwater applications.  I especially like the fact that these products offer some good number (lat/lon) to go with their useful and durable maps.  They're waterproof, easy to fold up and put away for another day.

For local SoCal boaters Fish-n-Map Co. maps cover all our bases, plus they've expanded their coverage to Baja destinations.  They're a good first step for boaters, especially fishermen. 

FISH-N-MAP - Visit the FishFinder Map on the CharkBait! Sportfishing website to see an example of the Pacific Coast chart. The Catalina/Long Beach map provides lat/lon for reefs, highspots, fishing grounds, rockpiles... and more local detail @ $5.95. 

Buy	Description	Price
	FIsh-n-Map Co Catalina/Long Beach, Santa Monica to Dana	$5.95
	FIsh-n-Map Co San Diego - Oceanside, Coronad Island to Dana Pt.	$5.95
	FIsh-n-Map Co Pacific Coast, Outer Waters Pt. Arguello to Mexico	$5.95
	FIsh-n-Map Co So. Cal. Artificial Reefs - plus San Clemente Isl., Cortez and Tanner Banks	$5.95
	FIsh-n-Map Co Baja Coast North, San Diego to Guerrer Negros	$5.95
	FIsh-n-Map Co Baja Coast South, Guerrero Negros to Morgan Bank	$5.95
	FIsh-n-Map Co Sea of Cortez South, Loreto to Cabo	$5.95
	FIsh-n-Map Co Sea of Cortez North, San Felipe to Mulege	$5.95

Would you like to plan your trips from home?  Want to upload and download waypoints from your GPS?  Like the idea of plotting your routes, checking distances, examining contours for potential honey holes of structure oriented fish?  Want to drive your boat with your computer? MapTech software will allow all that, in simple steps, at affordable prices.

We focus on our local charts, but we offer all MapTech products, even those beyond what we've offered here.  If you don't see what you're looking for, please send an e-mail indicating the area of coverage you're most interested in seeing, if I've not listed it below.  I'll get back to you and help you plan the product that best suits your needs.  Map Tech offers products that literally cover the globe.

For 2003 Maptech again simplified things, improved an already great software, and offers even more features for less $ than before. You can build your computer arsenal in steps or all at once.  There are three basic products, Digital Chartkits, Offshore Navigator and 3D Digital Charts. Here's the program:

Digital Chart Kit 2003

The big improvement to the software bundle this year is coverage and functionality.  You don't need to buy any additional software to upload and download info to your handheld GPS (covers most current models).  I use my old Garmin 12 to move waypoints from the computer to my boat.  It's helped me develop a pretty good database of fishing locations.  The maps provide accurate representations of our coast, and well out to sea.  You get dozens of maps, a full collection of Region 12. Priced at $199.

	Official NOAA Digial Charts covering all of Region 12 (Pt. Arena to the Mexican Border)
	Coastal topotraphic maps
	Marine Facilities Locator
	Tides and Currents
	USCG Light list
	Navigation Photos and Aerial Pictures
	Includes Chart Navigator Planning Software

We also stock the Baja Blast Region 165 covering all of Baja California. It's similarly featured as Region 12, but you don't get as much detail or the photo features. If you boat between U.S. and Mexican destinations, this is a must.  It can integrated with any other regions, or also run as a stand-alone. The Baja Blast includes the Chart Navigator viewer.  Priced at $199

West Coast Digital ChartKit OVERVIEW - $199.95   CDR12 - Digital Ckit Southern California Pt Arena to Mexico Contains all NOAA Charts in the title area (Maptech/BSB 3.0 format), Coastal Topo Maps, selected Navigation Photos, Selected Aerial Pictures, Graphical Currents and Tides, Light Lists, Coast Pilot, Facilities Database, Chart Navigator.     Digital ChartKit OVERVIEW - $199.95   CDR165 - Digital Ckit Baja Blast Contains all NOAA Charts in the title area (Maptech/BSB 3.0 format), Coastal Topo Maps, Chart Navigator.

Product Overview   Offshore Navigator is a full-featured PC planning and GPS chartplotting application. It works hand-in-hand with Digital Charts and Contour 3-D Charts (sold separately). If you already have Digital Charts, Offshore Navigator is available by itself. If you're just getting started, we recommend purchasing Marine Navigator which combines all three components in one package.

Seeing is Believing! Contour 3D Charts let you see the structure of the ocean floor in 3D. At home, use it to view your favorite site or find new ones. On the water, Contour 3D will enhance your time spent fishing, diving or navigating. Thousands of private and public sources have contributed sounding data to the Contour 3D database. You benefit by seeing incredibly detailed 3D charts with shipwreck and obstacle locations. Maptech strongly encourages using Contour 3D charts with Offshore Navigator and Digital Charts to get the most out of your experience. Marine Navigator is Maptech's new "all-in-one" product that combines all three components (Contour 3D, Digital Charts and Offshore Navigator) into a single package that saves you almost $200.

West Coast:

Contour 3D OVERVIEW $299.95   Contour Pro 161 Cabo San Lucas Covers the Popular Fishing Grounds of Cabo San Lucas. The chart boundaries are: SW: 22 34 40 N 110 19 56 W NW: 23 14 35 N 110 19 56 W NE: 23 18 59 N 109 09 58 W SE: 22 34 40 N 109 10 28 W     Contour 3D OVERVIEW $299.95   Contour Pro Reg 12 CD Southern California Pt Arena to Mexico Detailed 3-Dimensional Contour charts and software for the titled area. It corresponds to the similar numbered Digital ChartKit region.

Marine Navigator

The Marine Navigator gives you all three above products for an attractive price.  You get the regional charts, real time and simulated computer chart plotting withe the Offshore Navigator, and you also receive the Contour 3D charts.  You've got the ultimate in computer chart plotting, with some excellent fish finding capabilities given the detail.  Priced at $499.

It's simple, powerful and fun to use. And it has everything you've always wanted, together in one box.

Marine Navigator combines Maptech's Digital ChartKit, Contour 3-D Charts, and Offshore Navigator in one package with a value price - you'll save almost $200 compared with buying the three components separately.   The system gives you everything you've always wanted from a chartplotter and a whole lot more. Navigate from 2-D to 3-D charts, to aerial photos, to tides and currents, to seeing your GPS position on a chart with intuitive on-the-fly navigation buttons.