ICAST Coverage Special Report - There's more to the story...
 

Introduction: Three weeks after ICAST and the team is still pouring through all the information and exciting products and solutions highlighted at the show. This year the team focused on reels, rods, and lures, but there were plenty of other attention-grabbing solutions that we caught a glimpse of at the show. In the final chapter to our ICAST 2005 coverage we take a peek at some new-fangled electronics, optics, watercraft, and a few enthusiast supertuning upgrades.

Garmin: Garmin had a whole bunch of next generation electronics to display this year at ICAST. Their new electronics provide crucial information for anglers trying to reach their destination on the road and on the water, live weather condition feeds, and sounders that process faster and are more accurate.

Quest 2: This new little mobile electronic unit is every outdoorsman’s dream, especially anglers, even though its intent wasn’t designed to target the marine sector in particular. Why is this unit so hot? On the road the Quest 2 will get you to your destination via the preloaded detailed maps of all the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. This feature will first get you to your fishing destination without getting lost or missing a turn thanks to the auto-routable, turn-by-turn, voice-prompted navigation with automatic off-route and detour recalculation. It also holds about six million points of interest such as ATMs, hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and much more.

Once you reach the water you can then take this waterproof unit off its cradle, attach it to your boat, and head out to your favorite fishing hole. Though this unit comes preloaded with road maps an angler can opt purchase Garmin’s MapSource cartography like U.S. Topo, U.S. recreational Lakes with Fishing Hot spots, and Garmin’s BlueChart. Now you have full capabilities of reaching your exact destination on the water with clear visibilities of the lakes, depths, and much more information that comes with these detailed mapping software. The Quest 2 is now widely available and retails for $749.99.

GPSMAP 376C: The Garmin GPSMAP 376C is yet another portable and versatile electronic that provides an enormous amount of data for boaters and anglers. Not only is the 376C like the Quest 2 where it is preloaded with road maps and have the capability to use Garmin’s fishing and marine software, but with the included GXM 30 Smart Antenna it can also graphically display XM WX Satellite Weather data directly on the unit’s TFT screen. This provides boaters and anglers with up-to-date weather information on the water or on the road. The GXM 30 receives all the information, does the processing, and then relays it to the display with such information like NEXRAD radar, storm cells, wind speeds, surface temperatures, forecasts, and more than a dozen other weather attributes. The weather data is the same leading site-specific, analytical weather technology and data that is provided to professional meteorologists across the United States.

In addition to receiving weather information the Garmin 376C will also have the option of receiving XM Satellite Radio’s 150+ channels of commercial-free music, sports, news, talk, and entertainment programming. The unit includes an audio output jack that allows users to wire XM audio and turn-by-turn navigational voice prompts directly into their audio system. And to take it even further you can also receive sonar data through Garmin’s “black box” sounder, the GSD 20. Now you have a full system that covers the road and water navigation, live up-to-date weather station, and the ability to see what’s below with the fish finder. Garmin’s GPSMAP376C will be available to anglers in August 2005 with an estimated retail price of $999.99.