[Devin]

Yes! Geremy strikes again! This man is unstoppable!

@Brett26 hopefully you can replicate this. Good luck!!

[Devin]

Now, it is worth mentioning that flying a Cessna at 500-1000ft works well. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

I have actually done that. I have a pilot buddy who, one day, asked if I wanted to tag along. Once we got in the air he asked where we should go.

We had zero fishing-related plans, I was just planning on a joy ride across St. Tammany.

But then it occurred to me: I looked at him and said one word: Venice.

So we did. LOL

And it worked pretty well.

I forget what we spent on fuel, but IIRC it amounted to a few days of scouting in a boat, so it was “worth it”.

We haven’t done it since, it wasn’t that much of a help. But it was definitely fun.

It felt weird covering that much water and being home the same day. lol

[Devin]

To find clean water for speckled trout, that would be even harder to do with a drone because it would have to fly further for longer.

Really risking a trip to the drink doing that.

Satellite imagery works even better in this case.

[Devin]

My reply posted before I could elaborate. Butter fingered that return button. My mistake.

Anyway, there’s a 128TB DAS on the desk next to me and a good chunk of those terabytes are drone footage.

First, it’s not practical.

I’ve been flying these things since the 2000s and in the marsh since the 2010s.

In order for these things to work the wind has to lay down and the sun has to be out. During the summertime you will run into overheating problems.

Push the envelope on the above and you will watch $4k take a salt bath.

I have a good bit of awesome drone video of redfish swimming through clear water, and the way I got that video was by locating that clear water (here comes the spoiler) using what I have to share in this membership.

What would take you all day to cover in an electric quad copter I can cover in a few minutes using satellite imagery.

Or, on the day of my fishing trip, if I wasn’t sure if water was clean on the other side of a grass mat, I would just go there in my boat and be done with it before a drone would complete fixing it’s home point.

Secondly (and I know you said this wasn’t your intent, but I am putting this here for others) you are blurring the lines of what’s ethical in fishing.

Why not just walk up to bowling pins and kick them over? Isn’t that easier than learning how to bowl?

Why not just shoot dudes in the UFC? Isn’t that easier than mastering jiu-jitsu?

If it’s not okay to burn shorelines…

If it’s not okay to bow fish…

After that, by happenstance, at the same time I was filming B-roll my buddy was in the stand sight fishing. I could see redfish further down the shoreline, and the practicality of using that to put him on redfish didn’t work.

Mainly because I didn’t spot the redfish closer to the boat. He did. And, there’s no point in using a drone to do that because he’s already there in the stand.

It’s just easier (and more ethical, and more productive) to just learn how to fish in the first place.

[Devin]

No.

EDIT: hit the return button by accident, the rest of my response is below. TLDR: a Cessna could work. lol

• This reply was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by  Devin.

[Devin]

Man, look at that broom tail. Geezum.

I’ve got more to unpack here, I’ll come back tomorrow.

Thank you for posting this!

[Devin]

Yup, I’ve ran that umpteen times.

[Devin]

“I saw 24 redfish; caught five”

Not bad, dude.

Consider last time I ran there in October last year I think we caught 1 all day. And we fished a l l d a y.

Then I had a trip in August a couple years ago where I did something like catch 2 and see 9.

But in years prior it was easy 50-100, catch a dozen or more, by yourself or yourself plus one.

This is especially encouraging because you didn’t really cover a wide area.

“I would see redfish on the outward facing shorelines”

Those big shorelines tend to do better.

Pretty much all my sight fishing videos published on YouTube are big shorelines.

IIRC, Gasper Bay last year was beautiful.

I really think you’re onto something down there, especially if you saw all those small pogies.

If I were you, I’d continue to fish that area. In my opinion, you didn’t even hit the best stuff.

I have tons of experience down there, so if/when you need navigational help, I’m here.

[Devin]

Roger that!

[Devin]

I will take 100 reports.

I think you have 85-ish to go. lol

[Devin]

The KANG has spoken!

[Devin]

THAT is what I’m talking about!

[Devin]

Well, if it can be watched on a 4k TV then it can be watched on anything.

And even if people usually watch on their phones, it’d be nice if the TV folks had a chance, right?

Also, check your analytics. You can see where most people are watching.

[Devin]

Ah, I see. Well, that’s doable. We did it back in January. Throw in some red snapper while you’re at it! That can legitimately happen!

[Devin]

Of course, I should have known better!