Iowa DNR maintains a catalog of habitat structures installed in Iowa lakes, as well as other important features. This data is available via a downloadable GPX file.
How to download and use the fishing structure file for GPS units (Windows 10)
- Left click on the “Catalog of Habitat Structures” icon.
- Open File Explorer using the menu bar on the Windows Desktop. Make sure you see a file named “FishingStructures” in the download folder in File Explorer.
- Open the software your GPS unit uses. For example, if you are using a Hummingbird depth finder, you need to open the Hummingbird PC software to open the “FishingStructures” file.
- Open the “FishingStructures” file from the download folder using the GPS software and save to an SD card.
- Insert the SD card into the GPS unit or upload the “FishingStructure” file as showed in the instructional manual of the GPS unit.
Catalog of Habitat Structures - Download as GPX
The saved file "FishingStructures.gpx" should be universally useable on most GPS units.