Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Hits & Misses - Compilation #1

We had to fish tough waters lately and below is the compilation of hits and misses from our latest outing.



Friday, February 20, 2015

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Live Target Koppers Frog with Deeper Smart Sonar

We had the opportunity last weekend to get our gear out for another field test. This time, we brought along the Deeper smart sonar and Live Target's Koppers Frog.

Locating fish is made very easy with the Deeper as in my previous entry. But enticing the fish to take the bait is another story altogether. Even though we know that there are fishes in the area, we can't really tell what species of fish they are. All is comes down to is guesswork (with a little common sense).

We won't bore you with how to use the Deeper as that topic has already been covered. As you know, we located fishes in the area and we were sure that they were of the Channa family so we took out our top water lure - this time its the Live Target Koppers Frog in Tan/Yellow colour. This lure took many hits before but the hookup ratio is low. We made one improvement to the hooks - we bent them outwards just a little and we got hookups!

Although this time round, we couldn't find big fishes, the little ones kept us busy. Enjoy the pictures below.

















Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Deeper Field Test

IN THIS FIELD TEST, WE FISHED FROM SHORE AT A FRESHWATER POND.

We got to work as soon as we received the Deeper fishfinder sonar unit. And we had the chance to use it at our newly found pond.

Opening the box, there are:

1 x Deeper sonar unit
3 x Attachment loops
1 x Car charger
1 x Wall charger
1 x USB cable
1 x Quick start guide
1 x Soft carrying case






There is no user manual as it is already in soft copy and can be accessed when you open the Deeper app on your mobile device.

We already downloaded and installed the Deeper app prior to getting the Deeper sonar unit so everything was ready. (You can find the Deeper app on iTunes & Play Store free to download). Deeper on Play Store.

All of the items are nicely and securely packed in the box.

For compatibility listing for Android & iOS devices, please click here.

Back to the field testing article.
For our outing, we had brought along the evergreen soft plastic worm (rigged texas style), rubber frogs, buzz baits

It was late in the morning when we arrived on site and it was certainly a hot sunny day. Blazing hot.


Field test location



Deeper's carrying case



Two fishing sets were brought along, one baitcasting outfit and one spinning.
The spinning set is to be used for casting the Deeper.

We used one of the supplied attachment loop and screwed it into the middle hole of the sonar unit. Please remember to be extra careful to not let the attachment loop fall on the ground while you are doing this. Losing the attachment loop will rapidly decrease your fishing excitement. Making sure that the Deeper sonar unit is screwed on securely as the orange seal is to keep water out from the insides of the unit, the Deeper sonar unit was quickly but securely tied to a monofilament line of 15lb strength (this is our mistake, please use at least 40lb braid line). Our spinning rod was medium heavy and it bent under the load.
The weight of the sonar unit was a little heavy for the rod and we carefully casted the sonar unit very lightly towards the water. It certainly made a distinctive splash.



The Deeper transducer.


Rod bent a bit with the weight of the Deeper


Just remember that the sonar unit cannot withstand shocks (just little shocks) so please be careful when carrying and using it. Also as mentioned earlier, the top of the sonar unit needs to be securely tightened before casting it into the water, if you don't, there is the risk of water damage to the internals of the sonar unit.

NOTE: The Deeper sonar unit needs to be paired with your device when the unit is being charged or when it is on water.

We opened the Deeper app on our mobile phone and it took a few seconds for the sonar unit to be connected. And once it did, it showed depth, water temperature, bottom structure and of course fish.


Screenshot taken from mobile device showing the structure, water temperature, depth and fish.


You can configure the unit to use either narrow beam or wide beam. The narrow beam is used for accuracy and the latter is for mainly locating the general area for fish. Once you find fish, you can change to narrow beam if you want. We just left it at the default setting.
The app will scroll from right to left as it scans the area directly below the sonar unit at intervals. Same concept as 'pinging'.
Once a fish is detected, the app will beep (this is the default setting, you can turn off the sound if you want). If a fish is detected, your screen will show a fish icon with a number next to it. The number denotes the depth of which the fish is at.

IMPORTANT: Don't hold your Android or iOS device near the bank and water as the risk of the device falling into water is there.

There have been reports by other users that the sonar unit can last up to 4 hours when used continously. For our test, we just used the device to locate fish at a certain spot and then retrieved it back when we find them. Using it this way, we can prolong our fishing time with the Deeper. In our outing of 5 hours, we had 70% of battery left when we headed home.

Finding it a bit too heavy for our rod, we simply amended our approach in using the sonar. We used a roll of 40lb braid line and casted the Deeper sonar by hand (same method as in using handline). This method works just as well. Just remember to securely tie the Deeper using a strong knot and make sure that the attachment loop is secure.
When there is a wave that goes on top of the sonar unit, you might loose your Bluetooth connection momentarily but don't worry as it will resume automatically when it has sufficient 
coverage.


Hand lining the Deeper sonar.






There are certain settings in the app that you can change for example the "Detailed" or "Basic" mode. Now, the "Detailed" mode shows lines and curves that people that are used to fish finders can interpret. We used the "Basic" mode because its much more user friendly because it shows things in a more layman's way.


Basic Mode


Detailed Mode



We did find fish and the app will show the fish icon according to fish size. The bigger fish gets the bigger icon. And we did find one which did not want to take any of our baits - spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, soft plastics and topwater frogs. It would be a bonus if we caught that biggie in this field test.


The big fish didn't take our bait



It was midday by now and the sun was scorching hot, burnt through our sunscreen. Had to rest and call it a day but testing will resume the next day since we are on a long weekend due to public holidays.



Serenity.







Started early morning to beat the midday heat later in the day. Quickly set up our gear and first one in the water is the Deeper. Located fish in the 3 - 5 feet region and we put on our Live Target Koppers Frog to try and bring them up to the surface. Varied our retrieves, pauses and twitches to find out the pattern of the day.


It took a while and once we did find the correct cadence, we got hits and misses. While fishing, we put our mobile in our packs and had the Deeper app running. We had no problems in knowing when fishes were in the area as the beeps were loud enough to alert us.



Koppers Frog finally hooked one after so many misses.



Hooked.










After locating fish on wide beam, we turned to narrow beam to pin point its location. We got one huge miss on Koppers Frog this time. We wished we had borrowed a GoPro to get it on video. Another sleepless night.


Other Features:

Notes
You can type notes about your fishing.

Calender
You can check the calender for best fishing times.

Camera
Take pictures without leaving the app.

Maps
Mark your fishing spots.

Weather
Check the weather at your current location.

Sharing
Share your notes and location on Facebook.


(For most of the features above, you might need to have a data plan on your mobile as it connects to the internet)





We are impressed with the capabilities and it sure does have potential for our fishing needs. But as with other sonar devices, you must understand the limitations. The sonar can definitely tell if there are fishes in the area but it cannot tell you what species. And it won't guarantee that the fish will take your bait as in our field test example.

This sonar is a valuable tool for recreational fishermen and especially for those who operate small fishing charters at freshwater locations with fibreglass boats as customers can have peace of mind that you are leading them to places where there are fishes. It is portable and works wirelessly with your existing mobile phones or tablets.
In our opinion, we would definitely use this sonar for freshwater fishing. Look out for more fishing reports on our blog featuring the Deeper.






Deeper official video clip





It's time to use technology to your advantage. Fish smarter.