Using the DJI Air 2S for fishing

Using a drone for fishing can be an incredibly rewarding and fun experience. The drone allows you to test much further than you could with a rod and get the experience of boat fishing from the safety of the shore. With new drones coming out every year, people wonder if you can fish with the latest model of drones.

The DJI Air 2S is a powerful drone that can be used for drone fishing. It can securely carry approximately 16 ounces (0.5 kgs) of fishing tackle, but the battery life will be reduced by one half. Purchasing a release mechanism is the best way to fish with this drone.

The motors of the commercially available drones are getting much more powerful, and the battery life is also increasing. With the extra power and battery capacity, you will be able to safely fly your drone over water and release your bait and tackle.

You will have two be wary of the reduced battery time. You have two ensure that your drone returns to dry land before running out of power.

Can you fish with the DJI Air 2S?

The DJI air 2S is a 595 g drone that is easy to transport due to the ability to fold the arms into the body. Without any weight on the drone, it can hover for approximately 30 minutes and fly 18.5 km with no wind.

These specs are perfectly suited to drone fishing. The drone has plenty of power and flying time to deliver your bait and tackle far away from the shore and return safely.

To fish with the DJI Air 2S you need to purchase a payload dropper for casting out your bait and tackle. The bait dropper will connect directly to your rod (in free spooling mode) to carry your line out with the bait.

Best Payload droppers for the DJI Air 2S

Once you have decided to use your DJI air 2S for drone fishing, you need to safely release the bait and tackle over the ocean.

The easiest way to carry your bait over the ocean and drop it is with a dedicated payload adapter specifically designed for the DJI Air 2S.

Payload adapters

There are a couple of very good bait release systems and dropping mechanisms for this drone. My favourites are the Sky Clip and Behorse dropper.

Sky Clip

The sky clip is a very small and lightweight, self-contained smart device for drone fishing. It is a durable bait release system designed specifically for the DJI air 2S.

It features a mechanical release system which means that as soon as the reel is jammed, it drops the bait. It does not use sensors or batteries, which means that it will stand up to the rigours of using your drone for fishing. There is nothing worse than technology not working and ruining your fishing trip.

Keeping it simple works wonders for this release system.

Behorse Payload delivery device

This payload-dropping system features a quick-release feature via one touch on the remote control. The dropping system also has a landing gear to prevent the drone from getting wrapped up in your line by increasing the height the drone sits on the ground.

The installation involves attaching a light sensor to the oximetry landing light. You can program one of the buttons on the remote control to turn on and off the axillary LED light. As soon as the light is turned on, the objects will be dropped.

Dedicated fishing drone

there are plenty of dedicated fishing drones on the market and if you are serious about drone fishing, you may want to consider purchasing one.

The DJI air 2S is not waterproof and will be destroyed upon landing in saltwater. To find out the best drones for fishing, check out my other article, where I go through all of the most effective and best fishing drones for you.

Even though the DJI air 2S has plenty of power, you need to make some important considerations before using your drone for fishing.

Important considerations:

Carrying extra weight with your DJI Air 2S puts additional strain on the motors and the batteries of the drone.

The extra strain reduces the battery time and can mean that your drone doesn’t last as long as it means new motors or other components.

Battery life

The reduced battery life is the first and most important consideration of using your DJI air 2S for fishing. If you are going to use your drone for drone fishing, I would recommend getting several extra batteries as you will be reducing the battery lifetime by at least half.

Here are the lifetimes you should expect with your drone carrying extra weight.

You can see from the above table that the drone battery life is very quickly reduced with the addition of extra weight. If you are fishing with light weights, you can expect up to half of the typical battery lifetime.

Factor this into your planning for the drone fishing trip with extra batteries available, and never push a battery to its limits as your drone may take a swim.

Take off with extra weight

Taking off with extra weight is an important consideration. Ensuring that the payload that is dangling below your drone cannot get wrapped up in the propellers during takeoff is an important part of flying safely.

On windy days near the coastline, your fishing line will become less easy to manage and control.

Also, ensure that the weight is attached firmly and securely to the drone’s release system. Any quick changes in the drone’s weight close to the ground can result in a crash. It takes the drone a little moment to adjust the power output to the motors, and closer to the ground, the error bars are much smaller.

Pendulum effect

Any big addition to your drone shifts the equilibrium. When the water balloon is released, it modifies the upward thrust component of the aircraft, which might affect takeoff and landing. The drone requires substantially less power to stay in the air once the line is released.

There is a substantial pendulum effect while the line is attached to the drone. This effect’s size is determined by the payload length suspended underneath the drone. The payload should be as near to the drone as possible.

Momentum

Lastly, momentum plays a large role in determining the flying stability of the drone. For example, the heavier the drone is, the longer it takes to get up to speed and come to a complete stop.

Factor this into your flight when drone fishing with the DJI Air 2S.

Maximum DJI Air 2S payload

If you overload the DJI Air 2S, you will get a warning on the screen telling you that the drone propellers’ maximum power output has been reached.

Different YouTube creators have investigated the maximum DJI Air 2S payload, and they have come up with a safe range of payloads to carry.

This YouTube video increases the amount the drone carries until they receive the maximum power warning.

As a quick overview of the video, here is what they discover for the DJI Air 2S.

• 2 Ounce Mechanism
• 2 Ounce Mechanism + 8 Ounce = 15 minutes
• 2 Ounce Mechanism + 16 Ounce weight = 10 minutes
• 2 Ounce Mechanism + 20 Ounce = Max power reached

Summary

This article has been through everything you need to know about using the DJI air 2S for fishing. You will need to purchase a dedicated release system and fly diligently, knowing that the battery flight time is reduced significantly and that the drone will act unpredictably when carrying heavy payloads.

Purchasing a dedicated drone for drone fishing may be the best option if you are going to be drone fishing regularly.