Drone fishing is becoming more and more popular because you can catch impressively sized fish right from the shore without having to invest in a boat or pay for an expensive charter. Drone fishing enables you to not only dropped bait into the water right above the fish that you are targeting but can also use a drone to scout out new angling spots before tracking down onto the rocks. There are a load of awesome reasons why you should consider buying a drone to fish and in this article, we will go over the best drone fishing rakes to catch more fish.
Drone fishing rigs are very similar to your typical shore-based rigs apart from the fact that they have a loop tied into the line to attach the tackle to the drone. This loop can attach to a swivel or be tied directly from the line so that it can be wound in onto the reel when retrieving fish.
There are plenty of variables when creating a fishing rig such as the size of species that you are going after, where they are situated in the body of water, and what sort of movement or positioning you need your tackle to being at any given time.
The best drone fishing rig will depend on the conditions, how many fish you want to catch, the sort of bait or lures that you are using as well as what tackle you actually have available on the day that you go to fish – we have all been caught out by not checking our gear before heading out.
In this article, we will go over the best types of fishing rigs that you can use for your drone and have created simple schematics for you to follow if you are new to the drone fishing.
What is drone fishing?
Drone fishing is simply using a drone to enhance one or more aspects of fishing. For example a drone can be used to:
- scout new angling spots – taking a drone with a camera on the front isn’t just for dropping bait you may want to take the drone before you’ve even sadder fishing location season scanned the beach or coastline for the best fishing locations given the conditions on the day.
- Find school of fish – you don’t even need to drop any bait you could just use the camera to spot schools of fish are moving up and down the coastline.
- Drop bait and tackle – you can buy dedicated fishing drones that drop bait and your tackle into the water when she spotted a school of fish. Another option is to buy an adapter for a commercially available drone such as the Phantom 4. This drone has enough power to navigate the turbulent conditions often found near the coast.
If you want to know more about drone fishing and find out why the best drones for fishing check out my other article – best friend for fishing the top products and information – click here to be taken to article.
Now, let’s take a look at the rigging for fishing.
How do you rig a drone for fishing?
You rig a drone for fishing by attaching the drone’s release system to the main line which leads to your reel. This is either before or after the rig depending on the type of rig that you are employing for your target fish.
The type of reading that you should use will depend very much on type of fish that you are targeting. Also, you need to know at what depth your target species of fish typically sits at two hunt for food. Secondly, you will also need to know the conditions that you will be fishing in. For example, will you be fishing from a boat or jetty or peer and what are the surf conditions, or water conditions, like while you are actively fishing?
All of these questions will enable you to choose the best drone fishing rag for your target species as well as the environmental conditions in which you are fishing that day.
Here are some of the most effective and simple drone fishing rigs that you can use to capture a range of different species.
With all of the different rigs that we will talk about, below, you need to make sure that the knot is far enough away from the metallic components of the rake so that it doesn’t interfere with any of the electronic components of the drone such as the compass.
We recommend making sure that there is at least 30 cm of line between the drone and any other metallic components.
Balloon drone fishing rig
The balloon drone fishing rig is perfect for live bait during certain times of the year. The amount of weight 30 use depends on how you deep you want the fishing line to sink into the water. You can tie the balloon directly onto the line using an overhand knot.
The balloon type that you use should be approximately the size of a tennis ball has too big a balloon will easily be affected by even the lightest of winds at the surface of the water.
Bottom drone fishing rig
this bottom drone fishing rig is incredibly simple. This allows you to target species that are on the bottom of the ocean and with a simple sinker and leader line to the hope you can really in several bottom feeding fish. If you are using live bait like sand worms or cockles this will bring you in a variety of great bottom feeding fish.
Depending on the surf conditions you should use a sinker that will hold your bait securely to the bottom of the ocean. You can also add many more hooks by attaching extra swivels along the line between the drone loop and the sinker.
Float drone fishing rig
The float drone fishing rig allows you a line of sight method of fishing. With this type of drone rake you don’t want to head away too far from the boat or the peer where you are fishing. This rig will allow you to watch the float and strike when you notice that the float has disappeared under the water.
To change the death of the hook and bait you should but about 3 to 10 m of line between the elastic stopper and the swivel underneath the sinker. This will take a fair bit of trial and error for you are able to perfectly position the bait where the fish are striking.
Snapper drone fishing rig
this fishing rig is perfect if you are after snapper. It is recommended that the drone loop goes on the end of the rig and that that there is at least 30 cm between the drone loop and the sliding sinker that sets on the other side of the swivel.
You can add as many hooks to this rig as you wish but keep it to about three or four for best performance in the water. You want to have about 30 cm of lying from the leader to the hook and about 1 – 2 metres between each hook line.
This is a very fun way of fishing as you will be able to potentially pull in many snapper and other fish with one trip of your drone.
You could also put a small float near the drone loop so that it does not drag along the bottom of the ocean as you are reeling in.
The rig of your choice
You can also use any fishing rig that you have used for shorebased fishing by simply putting a loop into the line to attach it to the drone’s release mechanism.
You just have to make sure that the loop is at least 30 cm away from any metallic components of the fishing rig such as swivels, hooks, sinkers, and other metallic components.
If you’re not sure if your rig of choice is compatible with your drone I recommend that you tie a simple loop into the line at either end and make sure that the drone is able to carry it without getting caught up in any of the propellers.
Trial your favorite fishing rig by attaching the loop to the end and also where it attaches to the main line.
How much line do you need for drone fishing?
When you are drone fishing you need 450 – 600 meters of line which is much more line than when you are shore fishing. This is because the drone is able to take your bait further and the bigger game fish may run out your line before getting tired.
If you cannot get this amount of line on your reel you can use a thinner line which means that more line will be able to be spooled onto your reel.
You have to make sure that you use a drone fishing line which has the required strength to handle the fish that you will be catching. The bigger game fish require a much stronger line such as a fluorocarbon mono.
How do you cast with a drone?
Casting with a drone is surprisingly simple.
To cast with a drone you hook your mainline onto the drone release mechanism, flick the arm over or enter free spooling mode and then take off and at a height of approximately 20 m fly slowly out over the ocean where you want to drop the bait.
Top fishing drone
This is a new and rapidly evolving area of drone technology. But here’s a rundown on the best fishing drone that is currently availible on the market.
Gannet pro fishing drone
The gannet drone has been designed as a lightweight but powerful delivery drone. It was designed to carry lifevests for search and rescue operations and was expanded to include other items – such as fishing equipment. The Gannet drone is designed to fly forward better than any other direction – cutting through the wind and getting your bait out faster! When hovering in place, the elongated body is slanting backwards this so that when the body is horizontal the drone is already travelling forward at speed. This results in the smallest possible frontal area cutting through the air conserving battery power as much as possible making these some of the most power-efficient drones on the market.
The color scheme is specifically to match nature – light on the bottom and dark on top. This allows the Gannet to fit into its natural environment perfectly. The black and white are also designed so that it stands out against the blue of the sky – making it easy to spot from shore. Here are some of it’s features:
- Fully waterproof
- Up to 2.5 kg payload
- Water and Sandproof so you can land on the beach with confidence
- LCD display for drone telemetry, battery, and GPS status, use with or without a smartphone (camera is extra)
- Fully sealed electronics, preventing corrosion of electronics, despite needing uninhibited barometric pressure sensing
- Failsafe electro-mechanical payload release that can be mechanically or electrically activated
- Expandable with the option to add external long-endurance batteries and custom payload bays
- Bright onboard lights for easy night navigation
This drone has it all for your next fishing adventure!
Pros
+ Water and Sandproof
+ 2.5 kg payload
+ Rugged design
Cons
~ Camera is an optional extra
You can also buy an adapter for your drone
There are an increasing number of attachments for common commercial photography drones that can carry and drop bait. Here are some of the most popular:
| Product | Link |
|---|---|
| Gannet release systems | Website link |
| O’woda Mavic 2 Drone Airdropper Clip | Amazon link |
| Top Race Drone Clip Remote Control Object Launcher | Amazon Link |
| Sky Rigger | Website Link |
You have to make sure that all of these gadgets are compatible with the model of drone that you are using and that they are fully tested before heading out into the ocean! A couple of dry runs on land will make sure that you won’t have to suffer the pain of watching your drone swimming because of a silly technical error.
Summary
In this article we have looked at the best drone fishing rig for you to safely deploy bait into the ocean as well as giving you the best chances to fish for a wide variety of species of fish.
When you are drone fishing you are able to use pretty much any normal fishing rig that you are used to and that you are confident will give you success with the types of fish you are searching for. You can simply add a drone loop to the fishing line to attach the rig of your choice to the drone all you have to do is make sure that there is 30 cm of line between the loop and the drone so that none of the metallic components of the rig interfere with the drone’s navigational components.
There’s something a little bit scary about sending your drone out over the ocean so I recommend that you do if you practice runs in your garden or in another open space so that you are confident to send your drone out over the ocean to catch some prize-winning fish!
