Best Drone Fishing Gear (The Exact Setup I’d Pick as a Beginner)


Drone fishing has become more and more popular over the years. If it’s something that interests you, I’m sure you’re wondering the same thing I have: what I would need if I were to go drone fishing?

What is the best drone fishing gear? If you want to go drone fishing, you’re going to need a drone. Here is a list of some of the best drones available on the market and their average prices:

  • DJI Phantom 4 Pro ($1000 minimum)
  • 3DR Solo Quadcopter ($900)
  • Upair One (starting at $300)
  • Yuneec Typhoon H ($900)
  • DJI Inspire 2 ($1000 – $5000)

In picking a drone, newcomers to drone fishing will base their selection on if a drone is waterproof, but there is much more to it than that. There is actually a lot that goes into picking the right drone for you.

What is Drone Fishing?

Drone fishing is an extremely broad type of sport. Basically, any fishing action- putting bait in the water, catching fish, or even sending a line down- done by a drone can be considered drone fishing.

Drone fishing became popular when a video of fishermen from Australia went viral. In the video below, the fishermen can be seen dropping bait off the coast where they are fishing.

Not only can the drones be used to catch fish, they can also capture beautiful scenery! I’m sure many of us have seen that when fishing there is often beautiful scenery, whether that be the sunset, the sunrise, or just even the landscape. When you’re out in nature, it’s not hard to find a great picturesque moment.

Drones can also be used to scout the fish that we cannot see off the coast. Many fishermen try to use this as a chance to find where the fish are, but there are some that believe drones take the fun out of fishing, since the drone will take you right to them.

Many people believe that drone fishing is easy; you just attach the fishing line to the drone and send it out to catch a fish. But if there happens to be a bigger fish on your line, if your drone is lightweight, it will fall and sink into the water. Drones are splash-proof, but they’re not completely water resistant; if they plunge into the water, you’ve lost a big chunk of money.

There is a helpful technique that will reduce this risk. In this technique, you use a regular pole to catch fish, but a drone can help drag your pole’s line out to the fish.

It requires a planer board. This technique takes the pressure off the drone; if you catch a big fish, you can release the planer board, return the drone back to where you are, and quickly shift to regular fishing.

How Do I Choose a Drone?

In choosing a drone, three things you should keep in mind is agility, battery life, and stability. Out of these three things, battery life is most important. Most drones have a twenty-minute limit, with some extending to almost half an hour.

You need your drone to have agility and stability depending on what technique of drone fishing you are using. Your drone needs to be able to handle extremely harsh wind, else it’ll be blown all over the place or pushed into the water.

Benefits of Drone Fishing

Many people buy kayaks or other forms of boats because they are trying to get their fishing lines out into the water that they couldn’t reach from the dock or from shore. Although drones can be expensive, they are a cheaper option than a boat.

Not only can you get your line out farther into the water, but you can also fish with confidence since a drone will allow you to see if there are fish in the area.

There is a lot that the human eye can’t see in and of itself. A drone would be able to make up for that. Before you even start to fish, you can take a quick flight around a lake or river and see what’s available.

Not only can a drone go the distance but it also does not make nearly as much noise as a boat does. While boats can scare the fish with how much noise and commotion it makes while it moves through the water, drones above the water and are much more silent.

Disadvantages of Drone Fishing

Even though drones aren’t nearly as loud as a boat or an actual aircraft, they can sound extremely annoying. Some would even say that drones sound like a swarm of bees.

Outdoor people may try to use the drones as hunting gear as well. However, this even applies to fishing. When you are trying to maneuver the drone through trees or large grass/weeds in a pond it is nearly impossible. The grass or the branches would ultimately swat the drone down. Outdoor people may try to use the drones as hunting gear as well. However, this even applies to fishing. When you are trying to maneuver the drone through trees or large grass/weeds in a pond it is nearly impossible. The grass or the branches would ultimately swat the drone down.

Drones do have to stay within sight of the flyer at all times. While it may seem tempting to take it one step further so that you can get a better areal view of the lake if the drone leaves your sight you can be sited by fish and game.

It is likely that as people try to overstep the bounds of using a drone they will push more local governments to create laws banning the use of drones when hunting or fishing.

Currently, there are already punishments and laws being made that prohibit the use of drone scanning the day of a trip.

This law is being used to make sure that no one is trying to find a way to poach or scare of wildlife only in time for them to shoot or catch the animal.

If you do decide to purchase a drone for drone fishing just be sure to use it wisely because these like most objects should be used for good but also have the ability to be used for bad.

Best Drones for Drone Fishing

There are five drones that I have found to be highly recommended. These drones include the DJI Phantom 4 Pro, 3DR Solo Quadcopter, Upair one, Yuneec Typhoon H, and DJI Inspire 2.

DJI Phantom 4 Pro

This drone is really nice because it is so lightweight. It only weighs three pounds meaning it’s easy to take on the trail with you and even can reach a high altitude.

The camera on the DJI Phantom 4 Pro drone has a one-inch sensor and can also have a five obstacle range. It has a max flight time of thirty minutes. However, on average it only lasts for about twenty-five minutes.

This is probably one of the most expensive drones recommended, with a price starting at about $1000.

This is a great beginner drone because it does have such a long flight time. This drone is also extremely stable and can stay on a body of water for long periods of time. Most don’t know this til they purchase this drone but the DJI Phantom 4 Pro can actually be flown by using a phone or a tablet.

The biggest con to going drone fishing with this item is that it has a hard time handling bigger fish. Because it is so lightweight, if a big fish were to latch onto it the drone would almost immediately be pulled into the water.

3DR Solo Quadcopter

This drone is very unique compared to the other drones. This is because the camera is not like the other ones. The camera on this drone is a go pro instead of the typical 4K.

The average distance for this drone is often below average with only being able to fly 0.8 kilometers. The time is also not as high as the other ones coming in at an average of 22 minutes in the air.

This drone also has a controller that will be easy for most new pilots to fly. The controller is almost set up the same as a video game controller. It has the ability to pause in midair and the pilot can start and stop the video or take a picture while in flight.

The controller also has an HDMI port meaning that when you are done with your trip and have a great camera and video footage you can connect it to nearly any device to show everyone the great fishing spots you found.

This drone also comes with an app that you can purchase on nearly any iphone to control what is happening with the drone.

This drone is one of the fastest drones coming in at 55 mph. Even though you won’t need a lot of speed when using it for fishing it’s nice to know that when you are done fishing it can serve two purposes.

This drone does have an extended range so that pilots can fly it at over 1,000 yards away. This drone is also extremely stable so when the high winds come on your fishing trip this drone will be easier to control.

One of the biggest problems with this drone which probably isn’t a big deal for most depending on the technique they use when fishing is that since it’s a heavier drone coming in at 3.35 pounds if you try to add fishing gear to the drone it will only shorten your already extremely short flight time.

Overall, this is a great drone for beginners to drone fishing. On Amazon, the total package for this drone and accessories (batteries, gimbal, backpack) is going to cost about $900.

Upair One

This drone is definitely not my highest recommended drone to purchase. With a great camera on it, the Upair one doesn’t have a very great range or time.

The Upair One drone can only go a range of 0.5 kilometers and spends on average only 20 minutes in the air. If you are there for a quick fish sighting or a really fast trip this could be a good drone for you.

This camera comes with an extremely high resolution allowing for great photos. The controller even has a seven-inch screen for fishermen to clearly see what the drone is seeing.

This drone also comes with a well-working GPS that can tell you the exact coordinates of where your drone is spotting all of the fish. Not only does it have a GPS but the GPS is also incorporated with a button on the controller to return the drone home.

This is a great beginner drone for fishermen because it will send the drone back home as soon as the battery gets low or the signal becomes weak. This will allow the fishermen to not worry about how much time they have left until the drone has to come back in and be able to focus more on what the drone is finding.

When bought on Amazon you can find this drone starting at about $300.

Yuneec Typhoon H

This drone is extremely hard to find. However, it has an amazing flight time and flight range. It was even the winner of the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show.

With a 4K camera, this drone can easily go one full kilometer in distance and can stay flying for 22 minutes before needing to return back home.

The Yuneec Typhoon H runs at about $900.

DJI Inspire 2

As the most expensive drone on this list, it ranges between $1000 and as high as $4000, I would recommend this to more advanced drone fishermen as it comes with a lot of accessories and technology.

This drone has a 4K camera with a traveling range of 6 kilometers. It can also stay in flight for almost 30 minutes.

This drone is one of the heavier drones, weighing about 6.5 pounds, but because it’s heavier, the DJI can catch heavier fish.

One con with this drone is it’s not waterproof or even water-resistant. With the high price of the drone, replacements or extra parts are going to be expensive; batteries alone can run anywhere between $150 and $200 each.

Geoff Southworth

I am a California native and I enjoy all the outdoors has to offer. My latest adventures have been taking the family camping, hiking and surfing.

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