Deeper Castable Sonar

[Monkeysaurus]

I’m debating on getting the Deeper Pro+ for my kayak but do have aspirations one day of fishing saltwater and buying a boat. It’s advertised as working in saltwater also, but I’m wondering if I should go ahead and save longer to buy a Hummingbird or Lowrance. The initial thing that turned me on to the Deeper was I can use it from the bank, use it with my phone, and I don’t have to have a battery and wires in my kayak for it to work. Thoughts or suggestions? Anyone that has used it and recommends or condemns it?

[NYWayfarer]

16 hours ago, Monkeysaurus said:

The initial thing that turned me on to the Deeper was I can use it from the bank, use it with my phone, and I don’t have to have a battery and wires in my kayak for it to work. Thoughts or suggestions? Anyone that has used it and recommends or condemns it?

I have the Vexilar T-pod Sonarphone. Basically its the same thing as the Deeper. I like it for all the reasons you mention above. After having it a whole fishing season here are my pros and cons:

 

I rarely use it from a bank. The fear of losing it has made me wary of casting it to places I can't retrieve it if needed.

 

No wires in my kayak, canoe or boat is a plus. The battery on the T-Pod lasts about 4 hours without recharging. I have not had an issue with it going dead from a full charge.

 

Using with a phone can be a headache. It does drain your phone battery faster than normal. I also find having to hold my phone to look at it is annoying. I had to rig a phone holder in my yak. Problem is I have to pull it out of the holder all the time to take pictures. It's more of a minor annoyance than a plus.

 

I used to take a dedicated rod to cast the T-Pod a Med-Hvy rod with 30lb line. Carrying a extra rod with limited space is definitely a con. I have since tied it to my kayak with some paracord and let it drift behind me a little ways when I am using it rather than casting it.

 

In essence I don't use it as much as I thought as I actively have to monitor it rather than a attachable unit like a hummingbird where I can just have it on and glance at it. I would rather spend my time with rod in hand.

 

 

[fishballer06]

Just curious, how much saltwater do you have around Memphis, TN?

[68camaro]

From the bank it works well. I used one in local ponds bank fishing and it really helped on getting depth, structure etc.

 

I use a Lowrance from kayak, the Deeper will work well in Kayak but once you throw it out you need to hold phone to see it and sun is issue, plus if you want to fish while reading screen you really only have one hand, assuming Deeper rod is in rod holder.  Plus if you throw deeper to mid - shallow area it will scare most fish anywhere near the hard splash. For drop-shotting you can have it drag next to yak while slowly moving then once you see something drop bait down.

 

However, it will be good in yak trying to learn bottom, look for structure, schools, dips, etc..I think I'd get Deeper now and save up for fish finder for next year.

 

 

[Monkeysaurus]

9 hours ago, fishballer06 said:

Just curious, how much saltwater do you have around Memphis, TN?

None, but I travel to the Gulf 3-4 times a year.

[LadiMopar]

I have the Deeper Sonar [standard not Pro or Pro+] and used it all last season on my Lure 10. Best investment I made so far for the yak. I use mine with the flex arm mount attached to the frame of my seat. You can get a great deal on the flex arm at Amazon. About half the price of everyone else.

 

I fish a lot of small water here in Massachusetts, which can be really choked out with lily pads and the Deeper just glides on through with very few issues of getting hung up or tangled.  Because I need to be accessible at all times I have chosen to link my sonar to a tablet.  After 4+ hours on the water it was draining the cellphone battery down to nothing  because the brightness of the screen had to be turned up.  The tablet is a refurbished  one that I bought for under $100 and the extra screen size is nice, much easier to read than the cell phone. Also bring a backup battery to keep the tablet charged. I can get about 6 hours on it before needing to recharge.

 

I run mine in boat mode all the time in the yak so I can then have maps of all my local water, many of which have no topo maps available. One of the nice things about this sonar is if you don't cover an entire pond/lake the first time in boat mode the next time your on that same water it maps any new areas you cover and adds it to the original file.

 

If you have any specific questions I can answer for you please feel free to ask, or send a message. Be happy to try and help you.

 

LM

[Monkeysaurus]

5 hours ago, LadiMopar said:

I have the Deeper Sonar [standard not Pro or Pro+] and used it all last season on my Lure 10. Best investment I made so far for the yak. I use mine with the flex arm mount attached to the frame of my seat. You can get a great deal on the flex arm at Amazon. About half the price of everyone else.

 

I fish a lot of small water here in Massachusetts, which can be really choked out with lily pads and the Deeper just glides on through with very few issues of getting hung up or tangled.  Because I need to be accessible at all times I have chosen to link my sonar to a tablet.  After 4+ hours on the water it was draining the cellphone battery down to nothing  because the brightness of the screen had to be turned up.  The tablet is a refurbished  one that I bought for under $100 and the extra screen size is nice, much easier to read than the cell phone. Also bring a backup battery to keep the tablet charged. I can get about 6 hours on it before needing to recharge.

 

I run mine in boat mode all the time in the yak so I can then have maps of all my local water, many of which have no topo maps available. One of the nice things about this sonar is if you don't cover an entire pond/lake the first time in boat mode the next time your on that same water it maps any new areas you cover and adds it to the original file.

 

If you have any specific questions I can answer for you please feel free to ask, or send a message. Be happy to try and help you.

 

LM

You answered pretty much all of my questions, thank you though!