How to fish with a drone (and what drones to pick)

If you clicked this you’re definitely somewhat excited by the prospect of fishing with a drone, so here it is, I made a guide on it.

The full guide with a table and everything can be found on my site article with the best fishing drones.

But reading on this page should give you a pretty solid understanding of the basics.

What is drone fishing and how does it work?

Drone fishing is basically used for 2 purposes, scouting potential fishing sites (so basically surveillance to find the perfect spot) and dropping the bait.

If you love both flying drones and angling, this is the ultimate hobby combo for you.

What to look for in a fishing drone

Waterproofing

I wrote another comprehensive article on waterproof drones as well as underwater drones, but I don’t have to go much into details for why having a waterproof drone is a good advantage.

One of the scariest things (especially in off-shore fishing) is having your expensive camera drone fall in the water and ruining it. Of course, this really shouldn’t happen especially with modern powerful and steady GPS drones, but It’s something that gives you peace of mind. Keep in mind that dedicated waterproof drones are usually more expensive and specialized, so you might want not be able to use it for filming weddings and the sorts.

Camera Quality

Another important factor, but only if you use the camera for scouting ahead is a good quality camera that can turn up and down and is stabilized by a 3 axis gimbal.

This makes scouting and taking nice shots of the places you’re at way better than cameras that aren’t stabilized.

Range

Most drones these days have plenty of range to fly the bait really far away, as even cheap $200 ones come with over 1km. But keep in mind that the ones with longer ranges are usually more reliable when it comes to signal strength too.

Battery life

I consider battery life to be even more important than range for fishing drones since you will not feel the pressure of quickly getting your drone back and landing it in time

GPS and return home

All the drones I’ll recommend come with GPS and a few flight modes, so don’t worry, they all come with the return to home function, which is very helpful especially out at the see where you can get a bit lost (btw, this makes the drone return at the initial point it took off from, not where you currently are with the transmitter)

Power

Most drones over $100 have brushless motors, which are quite powerful, but this varies a lot from drone to drone, depending on many factors. You need to make sure the drone is strong enough to carry the bait and keep the fishing line in the air for a while, so I wouldn’t use a drone like the DJI Mini 2 for this purpose, even though it’s a great camera drone. A Phantom or larger Mavic is more suitable.

My top 3 best fishing drones in 2021

Each of the drones below fits a specific role and has its own advantages which you may or may not see fit for your use. I also made sure these are fishing drones for sale, so you don’t have the surprise of being too old of a drone and not finding it anymore.

Splash Drone 3+ (made for fishing)

The Splash drone is made by Swellpro (who only make waterproof drones) and it’s a reliable and versatile quadcopter with a few drone camera accessories that you can buy depending on your needs.

It’s on the higher end of pricing, a little over $1000 for the base package but if you’re going to use it mainly for fishing, it’s going to last more than any other standard one thanks to its protective coatings.

The main thing that stands out for this fishing drone is that it can also float AND takeoff from salt and freshwater. It can also fly in rain and snow. What’s more, it has a power-flip function when floating with the propellers in the water, so it can flip and take off again.

ADVANTAGES

• Waterproof Everything
• Can Float
• Can flip itself in water
• Good 25 min battery life
• Good range 1.6km
• Resistant to salt water corrosion
• Remote controller with bright 5 inch screen
• Good carrying case

DISADVANTAGES

• Doesn’t come with a camera or fishing clip (bought separately)
• Can’t use for cinematography unless you buy the separate 3 axis gimbal

DJI Phantom 4 Pro (professional camera drone)

The Phantom 4 or Phantom 3 series are both just as good for drone fishing, with the edge for the P4 as it has better specs.

It’s suitable as a fishing drone mainly because it can be caught by hand when landing, so it’s suitable for off-shore boat fishing too.

It comes with an incredible 4k 60fps camera and a 1-inch sensor, has a great range of over 3.5miles and with the 30-minute battery life, it trumps even the Splash Drone 3 in terms of specs. The only downside of this is that it doesn’t come with waterproofing and you need to buy a cheap payload clip accessory from amazon.

ADVANTAGES

• Great range between 6km and 10km depending on model

Amazing 4k camera and stabilization included

• 30 min battery ( 27 min in the air)
• Option for a controller with integrated bright 5.5in screen (great for viewing footage directly in the sun)
• Easy to operate
• Easy to catch in hand

DISADVANTAGES

• Not waterproof
• Pretty expensive if you’re not using it for something else also.

Simrex X11 drone( cheapest drone for fishing)

This is the only cheap drone I recommend for fishing and that is because it’s like a smaller version of a phantom and has a really high quality build and specs. It can be easily found on Amazon for a really good price in my opinion.

It comes with powerful brushless motors and landing legs similar to a phantom so you can catch it. Being well under $200 I must say it has some incredible specs, including a 3 axis gimbal (which you don’t really see in this price range).

ADVANTAGES

• Very cheap for what it can do
• Powerful brushless motors
• Return to home (GPS)
• Can hand catch it while on a boat
• Quite portable

DISADVANTAGES

• Doesn’t have a release mechanism as an accessory (you’ll have to make your own)

How to fly and rig a drone for fishing

Here are a few of the FAQs answered quickly if you don’t have the time to read more in depth about everything.

1.Check your drone and weather conditions

Never fly on rain unless your drone is waterproof, and make sure the wind doesn’t blow that strongly. Always have a checklist for before you fly so you make sure everything is in order and the drone flies.

2.Hook the rig to the bait release mechanism

Attach the fishing line to the drones release device (which is usually attached to the landing gear).

One method is to make a loop and attach the rig to the bait release If you’re using tension clips the line diameter is very important so you have to take that into account and test before hand.

There are 3 release mechanisms you could use:

1.Third party tension release mechanism ( drop the line when you lock the reel for the fishing rod. This locking creates high tension in the line and it drops down in the water.

2.Improvised release mechanism — use a clip to mount on the drone, move the drone to the desired position and then lock the reel and move the drone a bit so that the fishing line pulls itself free and falls at that exact point.

3.Third party remote controlled trigger release — a device that attaches to your drone and drops the line by pressing a switch on the transmitter

4.Improvised hook release — use an improvised hook to hold the line when the drone is facing away from you and rotate the drone the other way to release the line from the hook when you reached your fishing spot.

3.Test everything on the ground

Fly the drone away from you if it’s a mechanical release, or press the corresponding button if it’s an electronic one.

Test it at similar distances to what you would do in the water to make sure you practice.

In real life scenarios, make sure to monitor the battery of the drone and how close it is to water.

Longer life battery drones can stay for a while and watch the bait, but if you’re on a lower budget you might not afford this luxury, so you need to return the drone back pretty much as soon as you dropped the bait.

4. Bonus tips

TIP: If you plan to press the automatic return to home and you’re on a boat, remember it will come back at the point it initially left from, so by floating away from that point it won’t be necessarily landing on the boat, so you should guide the drone manually after some point.

TIP: practice flying the drone a few times before heading for the sea (even though nowadays GPS drones are easy to maneuvre

TIP: if you plan to take off or land on a boat, make sure you do so from a flat surface as the drone might tip otherwise