Drones for surf fishing - 24hourcampfire

Anyone have any experience using drones to drop surf fishing rigs way out beyond casting distance? Any thoughts?

Thought they used rc boats for that..mb

Originally Posted by Magnum_Bob

Thought they used rc boats for that..mb

I guess that's been done, but drones make more sense. Some of the breakers you need to get out past, it might be an exercise in futility with an RC boat. Also, in theory, with a camera on the drone, you can cruise around looking for something to drop a bait/lure in front of.

I have seen a few youtube videos and been checking out a couple of drones made just for fishing, but wondered if anyone here had actually done it.

We do down here, my brother has one he spent a couple of grand on, it can carry a 5 or 10-lb bait is what I believe he said. Pretty much all the serious shark fishermen use them for taking bait out past the surf, up to half a mile or more, usually over 1000 yards.

Originally Posted by stxhunter

We do down here, my brother has one he spent a couple of grand on, it can carry a 5 or 10-lb bait is what I believe he said. Pretty much all the serious shark fishermen use them for taking bait out past the surf, up to half a mile or more, usually over 1000 yards.

Thanks Roger. Most of the you tube videos I've seen are people promoting something and don't show any down side or any "be careful not to do this" stuff. This place is always a good spot to hear from real people and their real experiences. (Of course you do have to filter through the bs artists and nitwits, but we all know who they are by now.)

The only one I've been looking at is made specifically for fishing and can lift about 7 1/2 pounds. You can get stuff out there a long way, for sure, but one thing I've been thinking is to keep in mind that no matter how far out I can fly it with a drone, I've got to crank it back in manually. Also, the more line you put out, the less you have left on the reel if the fish decides to head for the Canary Islands or something.

It looks like drone fishing works pretty well off the beach.

Originally Posted by stxhunter

We do down here, my brother has one he spent a couple of grand on, it can carry a 5 or 10-lb bait is what I believe he said. Pretty much all the serious shark fishermen use them for taking bait out past the surf, up to half a mile or more, usually over 1000 yards.

In younger -- and maybe braver (stupider?) -- days, we used to do it with a kayak. Not tons of fun in the dark, but worth the fish.

Originally Posted by clockwork_7mm

Originally Posted by stxhunter

We do down here, my brother has one he spent a couple of grand on, it can carry a 5 or 10-lb bait is what I believe he said. Pretty much all the serious shark fishermen use them for taking bait out past the surf, up to half a mile or more, usually over 1000 yards.

In younger -- and maybe braver (stupider?) -- days, we used to do it with a kayak. Not tons of fun in the dark, but worth the fish.

Brings back memories. Shark fishing was popular back in the 70's where I grew up. It was pretty spooky paddling several large shark baits out through the surf on a pitch black night. The movie Jaws was just released. Made you think of the scary theme song when you were out there dropping the bloody baits off the kayak in the dark.

Originally Posted by jc189

Originally Posted by clockwork_7mm

Originally Posted by stxhunter

We do down here, my brother has one he spent a couple of grand on, it can carry a 5 or 10-lb bait is what I believe he said. Pretty much all the serious shark fishermen use them for taking bait out past the surf, up to half a mile or more, usually over 1000 yards.

In younger -- and maybe braver (stupider?) -- days, we used to do it with a kayak. Not tons of fun in the dark, but worth the fish.

Brings back memories. Shark fishing was popular back in the 70's where I grew up. It was pretty spooky paddling several large shark baits out through the surf on a pitch black night. The movie Jaws was just released. Made you think of the scary theme song when you were out there dropping the bloody baits off the kayak in the dark.

When the moon was really lighting things up, you could see shadows swimming under the kayak. They could've been anything but I always imagined it was big sharks. We also used to wade fish in the dark, between knee and thy deep, which looking back now, was way stupider than running the kayaks out past the third bar with a headlamp!

Ironically, the biggest Snook I ever caught inhaled a shark bait off Sanibel. 30 pounds.

headlamp! Damn, I never used a headlamp. That would have been great. I just blundered around in the dark. Well I was 18 years old back in 1975, I did some pretty stupid $hit. But we caught some big sharks. And yes, the occasional big snook was a plus but that didn't happen very often. I lived in Naples at the time. Looks like I was fishing about 50 miles south of where you were.

Originally Posted by clockwork_7mm

Originally Posted by jc189

Originally Posted by clockwork_7mm

Originally Posted by stxhunter

We do down here, my brother has one he spent a couple of grand on, it can carry a 5 or 10-lb bait is what I believe he said. Pretty much all the serious shark fishermen use them for taking bait out past the surf, up to half a mile or more, usually over 1000 yards.

In younger -- and maybe braver (stupider?) -- days, we used to do it with a kayak. Not tons of fun in the dark, but worth the fish.

Brings back memories. Shark fishing was popular back in the 70's where I grew up. It was pretty spooky paddling several large shark baits out through the surf on a pitch black night. The movie Jaws was just released. Made you think of the scary theme song when you were out there dropping the bloody baits off the kayak in the dark.

When the moon was really lighting things up, you could see shadows swimming under the kayak. They could've been anything but I always imagined it was big sharks. We also used to wade fish in the dark, between knee and thy deep, which looking back now, was way stupider than running the kayaks out past the third bar with a headlamp!

Ironically, the biggest Snook I ever caught inhaled a shark bait off Sanibel. 30 pounds.

Buddy of mine lived in Pensacola for about 10 years. Don't know if it was legal then but I'm sure it's not now but he tells stories of gigging flounder at night. Headlamp and a gig while dragging a stringer of bloody flounder behind him. No thanks. He also used to dive a lot of wrecks with spear guns and bang sticks. Saw some huge sharks.

Flounder gigging is legal.

Originally Posted by K1500

Flounder gigging is legal.

Ok wasn't sure. Never done it myself but just sounds like something that would be illegal by now.

Originally Posted by cra1948

Originally Posted by stxhunter

We do down here, my brother has one he spent a couple of grand on, it can carry a 5 or 10-lb bait is what I believe he said. Pretty much all the serious shark fishermen use them for taking bait out past the surf, up to half a mile or more, usually over 1000 yards.

Thanks Roger. Most of the you tube videos I've seen are people promoting something and don't show any down side or any "be careful not to do this" stuff. This place is always a good spot to hear from real people and their real experiences. (Of course you do have to filter through the bs artists and nitwits, but we all know who they are by now.)

The only one I've been looking at is made specifically for fishing and can lift about 7 1/2 pounds. You can get stuff out there a long way, for sure, but one thing I've been thinking is to keep in mind that no matter how far out I can fly it with a drone, I've got to crank it back in manually. Also, the more line you put out, the less you have left on the reel if the fish decides to head for the Canary Islands or something.

We attack a rope with a clip to the line and paddle out in a kayak and pull the leader/weight up and carry it back in if it's not too rough, it sure beats reeling it in.

Originally Posted by jc189

Originally Posted by clockwork_7mm

Originally Posted by stxhunter

We do down here, my brother has one he spent a couple of grand on, it can carry a 5 or 10-lb bait is what I believe he said. Pretty much all the serious shark fishermen use them for taking bait out past the surf, up to half a mile or more, usually over 1000 yards.

In younger -- and maybe braver (stupider?) -- days, we used to do it with a kayak. Not tons of fun in the dark, but worth the fish.

Brings back memories. Shark fishing was popular back in the 70's where I grew up. It was pretty spooky paddling several large shark baits out through the surf on a pitch black night. The movie Jaws was just released. Made you think of the scary theme song when you were out there dropping the bloody baits off the kayak in the dark.

Use to do it on a surfboard back in the day.

Originally Posted by stxhunter

Originally Posted by jc189

Originally Posted by clockwork_7mm

Originally Posted by stxhunter

We do down here, my brother has one he spent a couple of grand on, it can carry a 5 or 10-lb bait is what I believe he said. Pretty much all the serious shark fishermen use them for taking bait out past the surf, up to half a mile or more, usually over 1000 yards.

In younger -- and maybe braver (stupider?) -- days, we used to do it with a kayak. Not tons of fun in the dark, but worth the fish.

Brings back memories. Shark fishing was popular back in the 70's where I grew up. It was pretty spooky paddling several large shark baits out through the surf on a pitch black night. The movie Jaws was just released. Made you think of the scary theme song when you were out there dropping the bloody baits off the kayak in the dark.

Use to do it on a surfboard back in the day.

I did that too, but only once. used a kayak after that. The kayak was OK. but the surf board was just nuts. It seemed fine when you were leaving the beach. But when you got around 600 yds off the beach in the dark you started thinking, what the fugg am I doing out here on a surfboard with blood from the baits dripping off in the water. Nothing like leaving a bread crumb trail right to you. I sure paddled my ass off getting back to the beach.

Here you go

I know this isn't shark fishing, but it's still pretty cool.

Check it out. Its only 3 minutes long.

I know these folks.

That's cool. Thanks for posting. Boy how things have changed. If somebody told me back in the day that one day you could fly your baits out, I would have thought they were crazy.

Talked to my brother he paid 2700 for his drone, it will carry 15#, but he only goes 10# for more range. He's going this weekend, if I can work it out I'll probably go also.

last weekend.