I'm the mapping officer for our local VFD, and anything combining mapping and fishing REALLY catches my interest. So I sent my $10 sign-up donation to Carl W. at:
[url=http://flyfishers-atlas.com/:195a6]http://flyfishers-atlas.com/[/url:195a6]
I heard about it at The Fly Fishing Show a couple months ago in Denver.

Flyfishers Atlas is a Google Earth and NASA World Wind add-on. Mail in your $10 donation, and they mail you the data. The website shows sample views and info. If you like maps and have a fairly fast internet connection, Google Earth is incredible, and it's a free download for Mac and Windows--same with the NASA software. It gives you 3-D, color satellite pictures of the entire world. You can adjust your viewing angle, and turn on different layers, and complile and save your own map info. When you click a new location, beware of getting airsick -- it's like taking a ride on a rocketship as it zooms in on the river or lake you clicked. Once you arrive and the streaming graphics catch up, you can view everything from any angle you choose, in 3D and living color. You can easily print the maps.

Bascially what Carl has done is compile a whole bunch of world-class USA fishing locations and water/hatch/fishing data into these packages, and adding submissions from other users. Most locations are in Colorado and Wyoming, since he's located in Arvada, CO, but there are super locations included all over the US, and they want more submissions. Users contribute to the fishing database regularly.

Turn on the 'roads' layer to see all roads that are on Google Maps appear, no matter what your viewing angle (hint -- looking straight down from above is BORING for Google Earth). Click "ATMs" to show all cash machines in your field of view, when you spent your last bill at the fly shop and need lunch. My favorite layer trick is to look out north over the entire North Platte drainage from 20,000 ft. and click "bars and lounges" to show every cocktail lounge in south central wyoming as a tiny martini glass.

It's a user-driven site, too -- all data submitted by users (including location photos) is compiled into periodic updates that are emailed to everyone who donated. I rencently submitted the reservoir where my recent FAOL Lighter Side story "The Last Voyage of FDD-333" [url=http://flyanglersonline.com/lighterside/part367.html:195a6]http://flyanglersonline.com/lighterside/part367.html[/url:195a6] happened, and it's in the database now.

Anyway, I have no affiliation with flyfishers-atlas.com, I just bit at it recently, loved it, and immediately spent about 6 hours flying around to my favorite fishing spots, plus many I've never fished but want to. All while I was supposed to be working! The $10 donation is NOT a monthly fee or anything like that -- it means you get every new update by email, and pays for keeping the website up and all the new data added in. Since I do mapping as a volunteer and know how much time it takes, I'm pretty sure he's not in it for the money.

If you like maps and flyfishing and have a fast internet connection, you might really enjoy [url=http://flyfishers-atlas.com/:195a6]http://flyfishers-atlas.com/[/url:195a6] .

DANBOB




[This message has been edited by danbob (edited 21 March 2006).]