Any DRONE FISHERMAN out there? Payload drop systems, Techniques for a safe drop without crashing your drone

[cgmaxed]

I use my drone to drop fishing bait into the ocean when surf fishing. I use a servo and pull pin payload drop system. It is activated by a light sensor that opens the pin when the landing light is turned on. The pin is located directly under the drone over the landing light and the drop system's light sensor. I crashed a drone while sending a bait line out with this payload drop system.. I learned my lesson. I came up with a few techniques to safely pull 100s of feet of line out into the ocean without any problems arising. By the way I am using an Air2S. Regarding my crashed drone which was a Mav Air 2 (which I was able to bring back), the wind pushed the fishing line up into a prop. Because I didn't maintain a reasonable degree of constant tension on the line as it went out, the line became lax enough for the wind to blow the excess line up into a prop, and down she went. Also, I didn't have it high enough to reduce the chances of having loose fishing line get pushed up toward a prop by the wind. I noticed the higher the drone is, the more the line gets pulled down and away from the drone. The more tension (to a degree) and higher the altitude, the less chance the line will get caught in the props. When launching I am extremely careful to make sure no line on the ground will get pulled into a prop. I slowly lift the line and bait until it's above the rod, then I go 3 times as high as the rod, then slowly move the drone out over the water while increasing my altitude ever so slightly as I go, but not too high. I'm about 50ft high by the time I drop the line. I think my top speed is about 5 miles per hour while pulling the line out. It's also important to maintain a constant speed, BUT NOT TOO FAST, in case the line gets snagged in the fishing rod or reel. The drone will pull, but you don't want it to pull the rod too hard, so you want to very slowly ease off the forward stick and move it back until the rod isn't bending anymore, then fix whatever kink in the line you have. If you can't, just drop the line wherever it is. On the Mav Air 2 and Air2S the upper left function key is defaulted to turning the landing light on and off. However, if your going to fish at night make sure, you turn the auto toggle for the landing light to off. Otherwise it may come on and it will drop your bait. Sometimes the bait or the objects hanging under the drone are picked up by the drone sensors, making the drone think it's near the ground and the light activates. Also, there is a slight issue if the bait is to close to the sensors during the day, that the drone will think the bait is the ground and go up. I put my drone in sport mode to turn off the sensors, it helps, but not that much with the ground sensors.

If anyone else is using their drones for fishing or just dropping stuff, please add any pointers or stories you can share with me and the forum. Thanks.

 

[danny_2020]

Wow, that's pretty cool. When fishing, I just use my drone camera to spot the fish and cast out in that direction.

 

[Capt KO]

You can use the Gannet Sport that releases with adjustable tension. If line gets tangled it releases but simply stopping the reel while flying will release the bait. Always use a dropper line from the drone to the fishing line to avoid any line getting in the props, 3ft recommended. The dropper remains attached to the line but doesn't interfere. More info on the Gannet site. Good luck

 

[AZDave]

I use my drone to drop fishing bait into the ocean when surf fishing. I use a servo and pull pin payload drop system. It is activated by a light sensor that opens the pin when the landing light is turned on. The pin is located directly under the drone over the landing light and the drop system's light sensor. I crashed a drone while sending a bait line out with this payload drop system.. I learned my lesson. I came up with a few techniques to safely pull 100s of feet of line out into the ocean without any problems arising. By the way I am using an Air2S. Regarding my crashed drone which was a Mav Air 2 (which I was able to bring back), the wind pushed the fishing line up into a prop. Because I didn't maintain a reasonable degree of constant tension on the line as it went out, the line became lax enough for the wind to blow the excess line up into a prop, and down she went. Also, I didn't have it high enough to reduce the chances of having loose fishing line get pushed up toward a prop by the wind. I noticed the higher the drone is, the more the line gets pulled down and away from the drone. The more tension (to a degree) and higher the altitude, the less chance the line will get caught in the props. When launching I am extremely careful to make sure no line on the ground will get pulled into a prop. I slowly lift the line and bait until it's above the rod, then I go 3 times as high as the rod, then slowly move the drone out over the water while increasing my altitude ever so slightly as I go, but not too high. I'm about 50ft high by the time I drop the line. I think my top speed is about 5 miles per hour while pulling the line out. It's also important to maintain a constant speed, BUT NOT TOO FAST, in case the line gets snagged in the fishing rod or reel. The drone will pull, but you don't want it to pull the rod too hard, so you want to very slowly ease off the forward stick and move it back until the rod isn't bending anymore, then fix whatever kink in the line you have. If you can't, just drop the line wherever it is. On the Mav Air 2 and Air2S the upper left function key is defaulted to turning the landing light on and off. However, if your going to fish at night make sure, you turn the auto toggle for the landing light to off. Otherwise it may come on and it will drop your bait. Sometimes the bait or the objects hanging under the drone are picked up by the drone sensors, making the drone think it's near the ground and the light activates. Also, there is a slight issue if the bait is to close to the sensors during the day, that the drone will think the bait is the ground and go up. I put my drone in sport mode to turn off the sensors, it helps, but not that much with the ground sensors.

If anyone else is using their drones for fishing or just dropping stuff, please add any pointers or stories you can share with me and the forum. Thanks.View attachment 130123

The way to keep the line out of the props is to have a weight on the line a few feet from the drone. You should be able to choose a weight that keeps the line below the drone but doesn't affect your lure or bait too severely. And of course you then keep just a bit of tension on the line as you send out the drone.

 

[cgmaxed]

Thanks for the input.

 

[cgmaxed]

The way to keep the line out of the props is to have a weight on the line a few feet from the drone. You should be able to choose a weight that keeps the line below the drone but doesn't affect your lure or bait too severely. And of course you then keep just a bit of tension on the line as you send out the drone.

Thanks for the weight recommendation. I thought the bait alone would be adequate, but it certainly won't hurt if I take your precautionary measure. I will add a weight next time.

 

[AZDave]

Thanks for the weight recommendation. I thought the bait alone would be adequate, but it certainly won't hurt if I take your precautionary measure. I will add a weight next time.

Well, the advantage of the weight is that depending upon where you place it on the line between the bait and the operator it holds the line well below the drone. For example, if you put the weight five feet from the bait (assuming the bait is at or near the drone), the line will be something close to five feet below the drone and well away from the props. You do need to still keep some tension on the line to keep the wind from blowing the line up into the props, but not much.

I've not used this technique for fishing, but I did need to transport a line for ham radio antenna purposes on a very windy day and the weight worked great.