by Adam Townsend •
When the legends at Deeper contacted and asked me if I’d be interested in trying one of their wireless fish finders, I couldn’t reply fast enough with a giant “Yes!”
Spending so much of my time either walking the banks of small freshwater rivers and streams or fishing Copeton or Pindari dams out of my kayak, a device like the Deeper Pro+ could really take my own understanding of the waterways to a new level.
The ability to see, in real time, what was hiding amongst the snags or just how deep certain holes are is something most people would not have access to – particularly in the rivers, which are just too small for someone to put a boat in and map with a traditional hard mounted sounder. Imagine the amount of anglers over the years who have wandered the same tracks as I do casting, without really knowing what laid beneath the surface. I’d now have a big advantage – the Deeper Pro+.
After a few weeks of me harassing the postie each day, the package finally arrived. I couldn’t wait to get out on the water and test its capabilities.
I ended up going fishing the same day it arrived! Even if it was winter and freezing cold, I wanted to catch some cod using my new toy.
With my younger brother tagging along, I headed for a local hole that had produced fish in the past, but we hadn’t really been able to unlock its full potential since we were just guessing where the deeper holes were and fishing only the snags we could see.
Even though the idea of the Deeper was really exciting and the talk about it was so positive, I must say I was a little sceptical on just how much I would use it and how much of a difference it would make, but I can tell you all I was pleasantly surprised.
Getting Connected
Connecting the Deeper unit to my phone was fairly easy and it wasn’t long before they were talking to each other and was ready to show me what lurked beneath the surface. I’m not sure on what kind of a range it has as far as how far I could cast it and have it still work, but the whole time I’ve used it the connection has stayed very strong. This might have been tested if I was casting further.
The Deeper unit turns itself on as soon as it hits the water and you only need a smartphone with WiFi – it doesn’t need an internet or phone signal, and won’t chew your valuable data.
Viewing what’s down there
Once you’re connected, you can change the view settings depending on if you’re fishing day or night, or even just different sunlight periods so you can get the most out of your unit. The classic screen that is default has what Deeper calls a carbon background and shows the best overall colours.
It wasn’t too bad on the battery life of my phone either – I thought it might drain it very quickly, but it was a nice surprise when it lasted for ages.
Turning fish found into fish caught
My brother and I are not the most technical guys in the world, and neither of us have a lot of experience with sounders, but it wasn’t long after the unit was in the water that we got the hang of what was what. We could see the snags, see the fish and were racing each other to get a cast in the right place.
Some of what we thought were fish were probably snags and some of what we thought were snags turned out to be cod, but we weren’t complaining!
Summary
Even after a short time using the Deeper, I could see why some guys I know love theirs and also why it has won so many awards all over the place, including the John Dunphy Award for Innovation from the AFTA Trade Show on the Gold Coast last year.
They’re easy to use, totally portable and most importantly, made it easier for me and my little brother to catch fish.
With Christmas approaching quickly, I’d have no problems recommending the Deeper sounder as a great gift. Anglers are notoriously hard to buy presents for, but this one is a real winner and won’t break the bank.
