Haha, yeah you're right - it was quite nerve wrecking in the beginning. Still is sometimes.
But I've gotten a bit more confident now. I crashed it twice - due to beginner errors.
One time I move the rod tip into the propellors (ouch) and another time the line got jammed because it was wrapped around the reel. The drone tried to pull the stuck line and then crashed upside down into the sand.
I was very lucky the first time. My cheapish rod broke in half, 3 of the propellors were totally destroyed, line was wrapped around the motors and the drone has a bit of a burn mark on the top of the housing. I guess from one of the broken propellor blades slamming into it. I thought the drone was a goner.
Surprisingly it didn't take any other damage and after replacing the propellors all was good again
The second time when it crashed upside down into the wet sand I also thought it would be the end of it.
But I picked it up, cleaned out the sand, used some salt ex spray and afterwards it was all good again.
Pretty tough drone I must say.
But the biggest concern is still crashing it over water as you say.
I had the main drag engage once while I was flying out to about 300 meters.
I noticed it straight away and opened the drag again. So the drone didn't go down. Once you're out over water and have a bit of slack line out, it's easier to keep the drone in the air if something goes wrong or locks up. Still gotta be quick though
When I started out it was quite difficult to control everything, fly the drone, make sure the reel and line is okay, get the bait attached, etc. But now I think I got the process down and feel more comfortable. Haven't made another mistake for a while and caught a whole bunch more fish
I got a release mechanism specifically for the phantom 3. It's basically a little servo motor, a battery and a light sensor.
The light sensor is attached to one of the front lights, which you can switch on and off with the app.
So you fly the drone out with the drop mechanism closed and hooks attached and when you want to release, you just go into the menu and turn the front LED's on. That works pretty well.
I fly my bait out to about 200 - 300 meters off the beach and usually use a two hook dropper rig. Also used a one hook stray line rig without weight and half a pilchard. That worked pretty good too.
When I first got the release mechanism, I stupidly forgot to switch it on. I had to fly the bait all the way back to the beach because I couldn't release it, LOL. So now I learned to always double and triple check everything before flying out the bait.
Still there is a pretty good chance that you could loose the drone over water. Gotta be prepared for that and take the risk.
I bought a cheapish second hand phantom 3. It would still be a real pain to loose it but better than loosing a brand new phantom 4
This is the bait release mechanism:
It's sold here https://www.ferntech.co.nz/fishing-drop-for-dji-phantom-3
I think it's way too expensive for what it is. I got mine second hand for a lot less money.
But you could also easily build one yourself with a bit of electronics knowledge.
a snapper a day keeps the doctor away