Although tour pros are plugged into high-end electronics and mapping technology (and now even marine radar in some cases), it's a little hard to picture pros like Tommy Biffle or Kelly Jordon working their apps or thumbing texts on a smartphone. Think again. Both pros use their iPhones as fishing tools, and both love the FishMate Pro app that delivers up-to-the-minute weather reports, weather radar, peak feeding times, moon phases and more. Neither pro is sponsored by app creator Connected LLC, but both told BassFan how much they use and enjoy the technology.
Biffle said: "I use FishMate Pro and I like it. I go a lot by the solar tables and lunar tables on it. It's pretty handy. It's just really nice to have it all right there in your hand. I have an iPhone and I bought an iPad the day it came out. The FishMate app is really good, and I've got the hunting app (HuntMate) and the saltwater app (FirstMate). In fact, the tide charts on (FirstMate) all worked real well at the Louisiana Delta for me at the Classic. They're just really handy and affordable."
Jordon noted: "I was one of the first guys that had it. It's got some good stuff – a lot of info that's really important for fishing, like the solunar tables, sunrise and sunset. What it does is it takes all the really pertinent information for fishermen and puts it all in one application, so you can look at it and check it real quick. I travel around and it takes your current location and displays all the data, so I don't have to check 10 different places for it. It's very handy."
FishMate (and HuntMate and FirstMate) are available for both iPhones and Android phones. FishMate Pro is a premium version that includes:
> Color weather radar (updated every 15 minutes)
> Barometric-pressure chart (updated every 6 minutes)
> Recorded GPS coordinates and map display for catch input
> Geotracking via Google Maps
For more about the apps, or to download, click here.
