Two-way communication, weather reports, social media updates, emergency response – no matter where you are on the planet. Add to that the ability to preload waypoints and routes, and you have not only an indispensable piece of safety equipment, but one heck of an addition to your fishing arsenal!
You might have read my earlier review of the Delorme inReach SE with it’s accompanying video. When I did that review I highlighted many great features, including two-way texting from anywhere on the planet, emergency SOS that will send GPS coordinates to first responders, weather reports, social media updates, and more. The one thing that was missing from that particular unit was the ability to preload routes and waypoints when fishing new water, or to log launch sites, such as shore lunch locations, etc.
After talking to the folks at inReach Canada, I traded in my SE for the Explorer so that I could see if the additional features were worth it, and boy are they. Two specific occasions where it came in handy were on recent trips to the French River and to the Bayfield Inlet. For the French River, I was fishing it for the very first time, and knew that I was in for some challenges when it came to directions, launch locations, hazards and shore lunches. You can read about that trip here, but suffice it to say that I relied heavily on the locations I had preloaded to help make the most sense out of over 15km of boating. The video below shows me in the motel the night before getting my bearings. I logged onto the www.inreachcanada.com site to use the web based mapping, to mark the waypoints that I planned to use the following day. I then synced the device and had the new coordinates on both my unit, and my mobile phone using the app.
I don’t hit the water without my Delorme inReach Explorer, and for good reason. When I went more recently to the Bayfield Inlet, I was fishing some familiar and some unfamiliar water. I was able to preload a number of waypoints and a route, to be sure that I was able to get to where I was going, but also to find my way back. On a few occasions that day, the GPS in my on board Humminbird unit lost GPS signal, so my mapping was not reliable. With my Delorme though, I didn’t miss a beat. That was just proof to me that it didn’t matter where I was, the unit was indispensable. Over the last few months I’ve spoken to anglers, folks who snowmobile, hikers and campers, and all them agree that this type of equipment is a mus- have. Check out my additional review of the Delorme inReach Explorer below. And as always, don’t forget, to sign up and have my most recent post sent right to you!