Drones

Im a gadget freak - lets get that out of the way.

I have been looking at drones for fishing, nothing mega expensive but just something a little different for dropping a bait as far as I can - And for fun!

Anyone ever use one? Anyone any recommendations on drones.

As an added bonus they all seem to come with HD cameras mounted and on the control units so you have the ariel photography benefit.

I was watching some great videos on youtube of guys dropping baits on top of shoals of tuna that they found using the drones - very cool - but kinda cheating

Would you / have you used drones for added distance, fish finding??

Ha!

Wondered how long it would take for the tuna fishing exploits to surface here...

Well first of all you need to check if you need to register the drone in question with the Irish Aviation Authority as they have brought in new regulations with serious penalties for anyone caught breaking the rules.

After that you need to think about duration and distance, although a few casting lessons might be much cheaper and far better value long term! ;0)
Some of the better models have automatic return when the battery reaches a certain point, which is a good idea if you intend flying it over the sea...

Be curious to see how you get on...

Registering drones and licencing is to do with weight, as in can they do damage if they fall, I think - most hobby drones are well under the weight limits.

For a couple of hundred quid you can get some serious long range drones with amazing cameras - up to 1km I think. Beyond that and your looking at getting into big money.

Im looking at 1 with 800 mtr range, a payload release mech, HD cam, return to home function, waterproof for €159

That is fantastic value imo.

That does sound pretty damn good!! send on the details plz for that money i could be tempted!

There is a lot of videos on YouTube of drone fishin, it looks like great fun,
Send me the name of the drone your lookin at, I'd like to try it myself

its in ken blacks in carlow - I think its a splash quadcopter - but i will find out exactly next time im in.

If it's for 159 and it's a splash quadcopter, buy a few, they are 1000 on eBay

Probably not then haha - The name stuck in my head as I was looking at one on adverts - I will get the proper name over the weekend!

So I purchased a Walkera 250 racing drone on adverts for €250 - Upgraded transmitter so the range is close to 2 km - lost sight of it when testing it went that far so very happy with my purchase. Apart from when I took it home I buried it into the ground from about 80ft and broke one of the motors!! It will be a while before I take this out over water thats for sure!!! Looking forward to it though!! Powerful little things these gonna be great fun!

Would love to see some footage of the bluefin tuna in donegal bay from above this summer from a drone that would be unreal

how do you locate fish out at sea - is there a live video feed from the camera back to the pilot, or do you have to bring the drone home and watch the footage after it returns?

Some Drones have FPV, first person view, which transmits the Video live back to the user up to 1Km, more on some drones.

Yeah the one I got has FPV so has a live feed back to the controller.

Yeah the one I got has FPV so has a live feed back to the controller.

Have you tried fishing with the drone yet?

Nope

I'll admit I went a bit overboard with my purchase and bought a little belter of a drone, but it was not for beginners. Its now awaiting repair due to mega fails! And I havnt the time to bring it to dublin to fix it!

That said I am still planning on using it for fishing - but certainly not till I get some proper experience with it - and nowhere near water till I know the limits!!!!

Dji drones are well worth a look, cheapest option is to buy from Germany ,a friend got the Dji 3 professional for €800 in Germany and the are about €1200 to buy here,serious peace of kit.

DJI Phantom 3 on aliexpress now for around €450, seen it used, very impressive.
DJI 4 is around €1,200...

Agreed you need to spend a lot of time with it - I'm a bit wary of drones and the like, a small octocopter flew too close for comfort while I was fishing a pier once!