Ive had it for a few days now. The first place I used it was Capp Smith because its easy to get to and I know a lot about that lake already. The sonar (depth and bottom contours) and water temperature readings seem accurate based on my knowledge.
Then I took it to the Colleyville Nature Center. I was surprised to see depths of 12-18 feet. It shows the banks drop off quick. My eyes and poking around with a stick confirm this. But 12-18 feet deep in the middle of those ponds? Can anyone confirm?
The fish marker feature seems optimistic. I dont expect it knows the difference between a turtle and a fish. Thats understandable. Maybe there are a lot of bluegill in one of those nature center ponds. I fished along side the Deeper with bass lures. Nothing. I had never fished these ponds before, so consider that. This feature can be turned off. Seems it marks the arcs that usually mean fish on traditional fish finders as fish. This may not be necessary as I become familiar with the device.
As I used it, it pulled down my phone battery about 75% over about two hours on a Samsung Galaxy 7. I think the Deeper itself will go for about three, as I used it. There are some battery saving settings on my phone I could tweak. I was also running the Deeper in onshore with GPS mode, wide scan, at 100% sensitivity with the sonar and GPS maps open on my phone, and the fish marker on with sound. Thats a lot of the features maxed out. I imagine its going to use a lot of battery that way.
Deeper says you can, and should, use it in wi-fi only with your phone data turned off. They say the batteries in both will last longer per session and connectivity between the two will be best in wi-fi only. This will also save on your data plan. I had a few issues with losing connection and having difficulty regaining it early on the first day in wi-fi only and in wi-fi with data. Ive mostly been using it in wi-fi with data mode since, and connectivity has been perfect. The Deeper begins sending data to the phone instantly. The app and phone connect to satellites for GPS within seconds.
You need a user name and password for both the Deeper app and the Lake Book website, and they must be the same. Learned that on my own and lost some test scans. No biggie. They were only tests.
Deeper and their Lake Book uses Goggle Maps. So far, I am seeing 2018 on the Lake Book maps. They must be late spring to early summer of 2018 based on the greenery. The scans overlay on Lake Book is a little offset. Sometimes it looks like Ive cast the Deeper onto the shore when actually I was just close to shore. Its not off by much. Not enough to be bothered by, but enough to notice.
The Deeper will read too shallow or too deep in about one meter (~3.2 feet) of water. And you do need to learn meters. The app will show in meters or feet depending on user selection, but Lake Book shows in meters. Maybe theres a setting I havent found. Temperature is in Fahrenheit F.
The Deeper only comes with a USB to micro USB charging cable. Charging it on my PC works fine. I dont know what rating charger it would need, but I imagine that matters like it does for other rechargeable devices.
The unit comes with two metal (brass or heat treated) screw in fittings to attach the Deeper to a fishing line or boat mount. Ive only used the bottom hole for bank fishing so far, but I do have the boat mount. I attached the fitting once and it has stayed tight, but I do check it every cast. They say you can tie right onto it, but I use a barrel swivel clasp.
So far, Im happy with the Deeper Pro Plus. Ill update as I use it more and when I take it on the kayak.
Here's a screenshot, with my notes done in MS Paint in red, of Capp Smith. This Google Map looks like it could be the day I did the scan. The grass is brown and all but the live oaks have lost their leaves.
Following. We picked one up for Christmas along with a Mini iPad that We plan to use it instead of our phones. Weather cooperating, we hope to get it all connected and try in out in a few days. We do a lot of Marina fishing and are looking forward to getting better looks at depths and brush piles. Hopefully, we will contibuting here with some good reports.
Following as well. I picked one up Christmas before last, and a $15 Amazon Fire refurb tablet for the display. Reconfigured the Fire to use the google play store instead of Amazon as the Deeper app wasn't available on Amazon. I am new to fish finders, so I'm seeking all info I can find on this. Crappie are my goal. I need some schooling here. Thanks in advance for any info.
