Game fishing with balloon and drone...?

[NewToFishing]

Hi all,

I have an idea, to run past you guys to see if it is worth trying or not.

So I would like to rig up a balloon fishing rig, bait on the bottom, balloon on top to help it float and glide across the water.

I would use a drone to fly this rig out and drop it far away from shore, hoping to target pelagic fish.

Would this idea be feasible? I have seen game fisherman use balloons in this manner but relied on the wind to take the balloon out, which I will be replacing with the drone.

If you have any ideas on which bait to use, techniques or experience with balloon fishing, please let me know, I would like to absorb all the knowledge I can.

I am based in Sydney, if you guys know any spots to hit also.

 

Thank you

 

[onearmedfisho]

quite a few people are doing this these days

 

[noelm]

I think you need to rethink the further out the bigger the fish…..balloon fishing is not new, drone fishing is kind of new, combining the two has some merit. Lots of places lend themselves to catching big fish from the shore, old magazine articles and movies are around from the ‘70s (and before) about catching everything from Marlin to big Tuna off the rocks, places like Jervis Bay and Hat Head and to a lesser degree Kiama Blowhole point. Lots of these places have deep water right at your feet, having your line/bait out hundreds of metres might not necessarily be a big advantage, and in popular boating areas, it might get “interesting” when a boat passes way out, yet still catches your line! By all means, go ahead, it’s all about learning what works and what doesn’t, and the only way sometimes is just having a go.

[noelm]

OH, and best bait is live Yellowtail or Slimey Mackeral, set under a balloon about a metre or two.

[JustJames]

44 minutes ago, noelm said:

I think you need to rethink the further out the bigger the fish…

 

Known fact: The fish are always where you aren't. 

This is why, when fishing from the shore, I try to cast to just past the horizon, but when I am fishing from my boat I leave paint marks on the cliffs.

[NewToFishing]

6 hours ago, noelm said:

I think you need to rethink the further out the bigger the fish…..balloon fishing is not new, drone fishing is kind of new, combining the two has some merit. Lots of places lend themselves to catching big fish from the shore, old magazine articles and movies are around from the ‘70s (and before) about catching everything from Marlin to big Tuna off the rocks, places like Jervis Bay and Hat Head and to a lesser degree Kiama Blowhole point. Lots of these places have deep water right at your feet, having your line/bait out hundreds of metres might not necessarily be a big advantage, and in popular boating areas, it might get “interesting” when a boat passes way out, yet still catches your line! By all means, go ahead, it’s all about learning what works and what doesn’t, and the only way sometimes is just having a go.

Thanks for that knowledge mate, yes I agree and understand now that I don't have to go very far to target the bigger fish. I did see some videos of Jervis Bay which is amazing. In your opinion, apart from blowhole around the Wollongong area, which other places are also good around there? 

Also, how would one catch live bait? Would it be better to buy them or catch your own? In regards to rock fishing such as blowhole etc..

I was thinking of camping out there for 2 days and just fishing, would you recommend just the blowhole or any other areas with toilets etc... or would Jervis bay be a better choice.

Edited December 19, 2023 by NewToFishing

[noelm]

You will need to catch your own live bait, then carry them in a bucket with an aerator to your spot, then keep them alive! Kiama would be easy, there’s a camping area right at the point, and Yellowtail can be caught in the harbour. Jervis bay is a bit of a “mission” most places involve long walks, national park restrictions and pretty rough rock climbing and fishing. It’s not easy simply “camping” these days, lots of councils are not too keen on that kind of thing, so check with any regulations first. Some other locations that I have seen some success around here, Windang Island, Port Kembla (hill 60)  but use caution there, lots have been washed in, even the end of Cowrie Island at Shellharbour boat Harbour is OK at times, but it’s very hit or miss, but, it’s easy to get to and reasonably easy access on the rocks.

Edited December 19, 2023 by noelm

[NewToFishing]

57 minutes ago, noelm said:

You will need to catch your own live bait, then carry them in a bucket with an aerator to your spot, then keep them alive! Kiama would be easy, there’s a camping area right at the point, and Yellowtail can be caught in the harbour. Jervis bay is a bit of a “mission” most places involve long walks, national park restrictions and pretty rough rock climbing and fishing. It’s not easy simply “camping” these days, lots of councils are not too keen on that kind of thing, so check with any regulations first. Some other locations that I have seen some success around here, Windang Island, Port Kembla (hill 60)  but use caution there, lots have been washed in, even the end of Cowrie Island at Shellharbour boat Harbour is OK at times, but it’s very hit or miss, but, it’s easy to get to and reasonably easy access on the rocks.

Wow mate, you are a legend thank you for the knowledge, this would have taken me a huge amount of time to find out for myself. I will keep you guys updated on any success or failures lol.

[noelm]

You’re welcome, I have lived and fished in this area for a very long time, and know it well, but…….big fish from the rocks has never been my “thing” though I have caught quite a few in past years by tagging along with mates who lived for that kind of thing. My rock fishing is for Drummer and Bream. Another hint, you will need some method to land a decent fish, a long handle gaff or something will be a must, it doesn’t need to have a big “hook” but a long handle will aid in safety. The biggest tip of all, NO fish is worth your life, be very careful on rock leges and getting down low to gaff a fish, in the excitement it’s easy to forget where you are! Buy yourself an inflatable life jacket, watch the area you intend to fish for a while before getting too close, especially in places with deep water at your feet, the swell will not be like a beach and just break, it will just rise up, slowly consuming the rocks.

[NewToFishing]

1 hour ago, noelm said:

You’re welcome, I have lived and fished in this area for a very long time, and know it well, but…….big fish from the rocks has never been my “thing” though I have caught quite a few in past years by tagging along with mates who lived for that kind of thing. My rock fishing is for Drummer and Bream. Another hint, you will need some method to land a decent fish, a long handle gaff or something will be a must, it doesn’t need to have a big “hook” but a long handle will aid in safety. The biggest tip of all, NO fish is worth your life, be very careful on rock leges and getting down low to gaff a fish, in the excitement it’s easy to forget where you are! Buy yourself an inflatable life jacket, watch the area you intend to fish for a while before getting too close, especially in places with deep water at your feet, the swell will not be like a beach and just break, it will just rise up, slowly consuming the rocks.

Yea the life jacket is a number one priority to get mate, as I'm not the best swimmer. I was thinking of rigging up a harness of rope or something to the rocks to avoid being washed in if a wave does come, have you seen anyone do that and how feasible would that be in a place like Kiama? I would imagine there has to be a place to attach it to the rock, but if not would just have to be super careful and always watch the water.

I remember a few years ago a mate of mine showed me some mackerel he caught in Kiama, they were not huge so maybe they could be used for livebait also. He said they come in schools and you can just get them one after another easy.

[noelm]

Not too sure tying yourself to the rocks would be such a big hit, you get washed in, you want to get away from the rocks first, now you mention not being a good swimmer throws a whole new dimension into the mix, you will need to be EXTRA careful, rock fishing can be very unforgiving, a simple slip can be more than just inconvenient, Barnacles and Oysters will cut you up big time in a jiffy, especially in deep drop off locations.

Edited December 20, 2023 by noelm

[Volitan]

Firstly, think about some way other then a balloon. We have enough plastic pollution in the ocean and don’t need more things that will end up in some sea creatures stomach. Maybe use a fixed float that you get back.

Secondly, the glory days of LBG in southern NSW are long gone. In the 70’s catches of yellowfin tuna were common off places like Narabeen, Avoca Rocks or Winney Bay - people even used to catch them off Sydney’s Northern Beaches by casting out and then running as fast as possible up the beach to get enough speed into the lures. Jervis Bay became the world hotspot for LBG. By the nineties these inshore gamefish populations had largely been wiped out. Nowadays marlin or yellowfin off the rocks are very rare and the yellowtail kingfish makes up the bulk of big fish captures. Nothing wrong with catching a kingfish, but a black marlin it ain’t.

Dont get me wrong, it still happens (I caught a 27kg longtail tuna myself a couple of years ago, off the breakwater at Nelson Bay), I’m just saying temper your expectations to maximize your success.

personally, I think youre better off going north, Nelson Bay or north of, and focusing on longtail and mackeral tuna. These species don’t taste great so have been largely ignored until now. Exciting catches nonetheless. Further north there are spotted and Spanish mackeral which you should be able to target, as well as a whole range of incidental pelagics like cobia. Hat Head and South West Rocks put you in reach as they have very deep inshore water.

I think long range drone fishing will be the best way to target these fish. I’ve pursued pelagics all my life and have spent hundreds of hours on the beach watching pelagics busting up just past the surf line and waiting fruitlessly for them to come in. Perhaps setting one distant bait by drone and one close one by rod is the best way. 

Thirdly, sign up for swimming lessons.

 

[JustJames]

1 hour ago, NewToFishing said:

Yea the life jacket is a number one priority to get mate, as I'm not the best swimmer. I was thinking of rigging up a harness of rope or something to the rocks to avoid being washed in if a wave does come, have you seen anyone do that and how feasible would that be in a place like Kiama? I would imagine there has to be a place to attach it to the rock, but if not would just have to be super careful and always watch the water.

I remember a few years ago a mate of mine showed me some mackerel he caught in Kiama, they were not huge so maybe they could be used for livebait also. He said they come in schools and you can just get them one after another easy.

 

Against the ocean, nobody is the best swimmer; by which I mean if you are fighting against the ocean, you will always lose.  Your first priority is to keep your head above water.  If you are afloat, you can be rescued.  Inflatable PFD's are less than $100 and easy to wear.  

 

A rope harness sounds like a great way to get tangled up and create a whole new set of problems.

[Little_Flatty]

1 hour ago, Volitan said:

Thirdly, sign up for swimming lessons.

Great advice @Volitan.

My kids go to swimming lessons and there’s an adult class right next to them. To be honest the adults class looks much more fun than the kids’ class. Over the course of a term, you see people go from being scared of the water to really quite enjoying themselves and functionally competent swimmers.

There’s no shame in learning to swim as an adult. You might well find yourself a new source of pleasure. I know a few people who started swimming as adults and now have it as their sport of choice. Swimming is one of life’s great joys.

[BaitDropper]

In my opinion. you could be the worlds best swimmer and still come to a whole lot of grief rock fishing. It's all about being smart !!.

 Being swept away with a rogue wave coming in is one thing, but being picked up and smashed against the rocks would be a far more dangerous scenario.

Having the right gear, life jacket, proper foot wear and clothing are all part of it and sensible, but you can't beat experience in a lot of cases, knowing the area your fishing from, understanding the risks of the area. When I was younger, I did a lot of rock fishing, some of it done in some very risky areas where lives had been lost over the journey, we always fished in pairs, had the right gear and most of all researched before we went and seriously paid attention to the weather.

It can be a very pleasurable and productive way of fishing and I have a couple of mates that still only rock fish, but every year you hear in the news about someone coming to grief and even loosing there lives from the rocks.  I feel safer in my boat in all honesty, especially remembering some of the close calls we had years back doing stupid stuff in the quest for that prize fish.  However, if the proper care is taken, it definitely can be an exciting way of fishing.  There's some good sites around who specialize in rock fishing, with good information about locations and safe practices, maybe this would be a good option for you and the chance to meet up with the like minded and gain some valuable experience from.

[NewToFishing]

Thanks for all the feedback and advice boys.

Definitely swimming lessons are first priority, and already have bought a life jacket.

@Volitan Its very sad that the days of LBG have gone, and i assumed as such when thinking about it, because of the state of commercial fishing etc, cant believe that the glory days were 50 years ago.

@noelm, When the weather gets better mate, I will head down to Kiama and gather some livebait and try my luck there and just get some experience. I was tempted to buy a rather expensive reel (Daiwa Dogfight 8000) but to be honest probably will not even need it and the one I have now, 950SSM Penn, would be fine for the job until i can actually learn how to fish.

[Burger]

@NewToFishing can you swim at all?

Swimming in a pool is very different to if you go in off the rocks while fishing . . . . that environment is usually pretty high energy and MUCH more difficult place to be in.

Recently there have been more than a few people who have drowned while wearing life jackets.   They are not a guarantee of safety.  

Sorry to be a negative nancy, but in my opinion if someone is not a VERY competent swimmer, they have no place fishing off the rocks.

[NewToFishing]

11 minutes ago, Burger said:

@NewToFishing can you swim at all?

Swimming in a pool is very different to if you go in off the rocks while fishing . . . . that environment is usually pretty high energy and MUCH more difficult place to be in.

Recently there have been more than a few people who have drowned while wearing life jackets.   They are not a guarantee of safety.  

Sorry to be a negative nancy, but in my opinion if someone is not a VERY competent swimmer, they have no place fishing off the rocks.

Yea agreed, the life jacket will not help me at all mate if i get dragged in, might have to stick to beach fishing or something until i learn to swim... honestly no i cannot swim. I had a drowning when i was younger so that scared me from the ocean.

[mrsswordfisherman]

23 minutes ago, NewToFishing said:

Yea agreed, the life jacket will not help me at all mate if i get dragged in, might have to stick to beach fishing or something until i learn to swim... honestly no i cannot swim. I had a drowning when i was younger so that scared me from the ocean.

Definitely no rock fishing for you.

Members have given you some very good information and tips. 

FISHRAIDER DOES NOT ENCOURAGE ANYONE TO GO TO ANY OF THE SPOTS MENTIONED IN THIS FORUM AND YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK 

Have a look at this link with safety tips https://www.nsw.gov.au/environment-land-and-water/coasts-waterways-and-marine/rock-fishing-safety-tips

 

 

[NewToFishing]

1 hour ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

Definitely no rock fishing for you.

Members have given you some very good information and tips. 

FISHRAIDER DOES NOT ENCOURAGE ANYONE TO GO TO ANY OF THE SPOTS MENTIONED IN THIS FORUM AND YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK 

Have a look at this link with safety tips https://www.nsw.gov.au/environment-land-and-water/coasts-waterways-and-marine/rock-fishing-safety-tips

 

 

That's definitely noted. I know it's my own responsibility and the forum has nothing to do with it. Thank you for the warning.

[Jiggy]

Just a thought on this for you. There is a charter operator in Coffs that does drone beach fishing targeting pelagics and snapper. And from what I've seen on Youtube he does well. Big snapper and longtails, I wouldn't be surprised if mackerel are also caught. Going on one of his charters could teach you a lot about targeting big fish, from the beach, using drones.

To me it's a much safer option than the rocks and also it also seems productive. 

Cheers

Rob

[Volitan]

4 hours ago, Jiggy said:

Just a thought on this for you. There is a charter operator in Coffs that does drone beach fishing targeting pelagics and snapper. And from what I've seen on Youtube he does well. Big snapper and longtails, I wouldn't be surprised if mackerel are also caught. Going on one of his charters could teach you a lot about targeting big fish, from the beach, using drones.

To me it's a much safer option than the rocks and also it also seems productive. 

Cheers

Rob

Didn’t know about that. Might give them a go myself.

thanks

Edited December 21, 2023 by Volitan

[Volitan]

8 hours ago, NewToFishing said:

 

@noelm, When the weather gets better mate, I will head down to Kiama and gather some livebait and try my luck there and just get some experience. I was tempted to buy a rather expensive reel (Daiwa Dogfight 8000) but to be honest probably will not even need it and the one I have now, 950SSM Penn, would be fine for the job until i can actually learn how to fish.

Just noticed your comment about reels. These two you mention are spinning or threadline reels. I don’t think spinning reels are much good for drone fishing, especially if your fishing solo. The problem I find with them is that you can only use them in one of two ways to get the bait out - bail arm off and drag set or bail arm on and drag off. Neither is very good.

Bail arm off and drag set allows the line to pour off the stationary spool unhindered, which is great for the drone but the line is unmanaged and loops of line will come off when you don’t want them too, especially with wind. In fact you’ll find you usually get a few loose loops while setting up the drone and rod. These can snarl around the reel and bring the drone to a stop. Likewise if you can’t get to the rod quickly after the drop then the loose line will be easily caught by wind, waves and dog walkers and continues to pour off unrestrained. The advantage is that you have the drag set throughout, ready to fish, and don’t need to adjust it.

Bail arm on and drag off means the spools is loosened to spin freely, via the drag nut. This keeps the line under better control and you don’t get annoying loops of line peeling off when you don’t want them, but it leaves you fiddling with the drag when ready to fish.

If you are going for big fish you should set the drag mechanically before you leave, according to the line manufacturers recommendations (usually it’s about 1/3 of breaking strain) and not touch it subsequently. Most fishermen loose most of their biggest fish the same way - fish jumps on, line starts screaming out like he/she has never seen before, fisherman panics and tightens drag, ping. Set it, and don’t touch it - there is absolutely no good reason to. Worse is when the fisherman panics and loosens the drag - always by too much - then realises he/she has to tighten it again, but now has no reference point how much to tighten - ping.

A better reel for drone fishing would be an overhead reel. These usually have much larger capacity then a spinning reel, are more robust, can be bought cheaply off the second hand market (my two beauties were $15 and $20 respectively at garage sales) and have better drags. More importantly they have a lever which disengages the spool so it runs freely without you touching the drag. Going from freespooling while sending out the drone to full fishing mode is only a flip of the lever. You can slow down the freespooling reel a bit to prevent overruns with either the ratchet or a knob on the side. The downside is that when you’re not drone fishing these reels are much harder to cast then spinning reels, so not as versatile.

i should also point out that there is a type of spinning reel which will also give you this functionality - the ‘baitrunner’. Personally, I think they are fragile overpriced things and there aren’t many produced now.

cheers

Edited December 21, 2023 by Volitan

[NewToFishing]

4 hours ago, Volitan said:

Didn’t know about that. Might give them a go myself.

thanks

I'm keen too mate, it would be great to learn

[Jiggy]

I hope this is OK to post. There is a couple of clips on YouTube where they chase snapper and longtails from Coffs beaches. This is one where they target longtails and get a few: