Fishing – Fishing under lockdown

Once again, we are being affected by another Covid-19 outbreak. From all accounts lockdown has been a long five weeks, and although a lot of rain and wind plagued us, some enthusiastic fellas did get out and have a fish off the beaches. As we are limited to fishing off beaches only because of safety concerns when people are fishing off the rocks, the good spots are limited on the east coast. Feedback has also been non-existent, so there is not much to report on as we near the midway mark during September.

Having said that, I did get some feedback from a drone fishing enthusiast who has enjoyed his lockdown time getting out and setting a line off the beach near Omaha. He has landed some good snapper and has kept his family eating fresh fish. He simply uses the Splash Drone with a 10-foot beach rod and spinning reel setup. Generally, 600m of 50lb braid is loaded on to the spool. Braid is preferred as the thin diameter of around 0.3mm for 50lb gives little resistance in the air while flying the drone out to your fishing spot. The thin diameter also helps when the line is in the water, resulting in reduced drag in currents. These drones can carry 1kg of dead weight, so generally you can send out up to eight baited hooks plus the sinker.

As most drone enthusiasts will tell you, taking the bait out to 600m and more is all good and well, but remember you have to retrieve all that line. Electric game reels which are sometimes used with drones are not made for this type of fishing and are expensive. They are also not covered under warranty if used for drone fishing. It is advisable to limit the distance you fly your baits out, because it is not pleasant reeling in 600m plus of line with hooks, sinkers and fish.