Underwater Drone for Studying Smallmouth Bass Favorite Food & Structure

[Eternal Angler]

I think this new affordable underwater drone technology is not only going start off a whole new hobby itself, but also benefit many other hobbies as well, such as diving, surfing, treasure hunting, camping, and of course fishing. Fishing is my go-to sport, I've been involved with many other hobbies throughout the years, such as the car hobby and video games, but fishing has always been my favorite sport that I keep coming back to.

Being in the Great Lakes State of Michigan myself, I thought one of the best investments I can make for my YouTube fishing channel is buying an underwater drone. What got me really interested in this technology, is when I dropped two of my GoPros in my marina about a couple years ago and filmed numerous of species swimming by this action camera. It was both enjoyable for me to film and watch, so I knew when the underwater drone technology was affordable, I'd buy a drone immediately.

Crayfish discovered by Chasing M2 Underwater Drone
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But I didn't just think this technology would benefit my channel and be fun making underwater videos of fish. I had a hunch, it would also allow me to study the fish, learn the hot spots of a lake, what structure these fish appeal to, and also what type of forage they might be feeding on. Throughout all the four different seasons in Michigan, this can change on a monthly basis, if not weekly and daily as well... So all in all, I also thought the underwater drone might make me a better fisherman.

A great example is this recent underwater video I did at Kent Lake right in the middle of winter! I was expecting to get some northern pike in this area at the mouth of the Huron River meets Kent Lake, but all I ended up filming was just smallmouth bass. Just awesome, I was thrilled! Considering smallmouth bass are kind of hard to catch at Kent because the population has dropped, but I also learned what they like to feed on and what structure they like, along with there whereabouts at Kent Lake. So bottom line, this underwater drone is going to extremely help me target this species, benefiting my sport greatly.

Thinking on the lines that we're still in the infant stage of this hobby and technology in the consumer sector, think on the lines of how having GPS, Sonar, or even 3D mapping could benefit the sport of fishing greatly as well! As you could see, I was having a little bit of a hard time keeping my Chasing M2 steady in the current from the river, what if when Chasing Innovation releases GPS for the M2, I'll be able to lock down on a spot kind of like what you can do with the spot lock technology from the Minn Kota trolling motors or even use the GPS to mark spots where I found fish. Then maybe even upload those spots to my Humminbird fish finder? I've heard QYSEA is already working on the spot lock technology with the Fifish V6 Plus, it's called active distance lock system.

I also expect having sonar, could greatly increase your chances of locating fish in murky water conditions, probably help you also find schools of bait fish as well! And 3D mapping, wow, it would be awesome to basically 3D map your whole favorite lake like this hobbyists did here with the Gladius Mini. You can then study the 3D map back at your house, to help you find new hot spots and learn more about the species you're targeting when fishing.

BlueRobotics Ping360​

Just so much to think about, some of this technology is rather still expensive, however I know a hobbyist recently on the Underwater ROV Community Facebook Group said he just bought the BlueRobotics Ping360 sonar module for their custom underwater drone, which is somewhat affordable, remind you the sonar module for the new Geneinno T1 Pro costs 5x the price of the Ping360.

I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with my new Chasing M2 with the standard technology regardless, if you enjoyed the video be sure to give it a thumbs up on YouTube. I'll definitely be getting more videos up shortly!