Outdoors
For decades, this section of the BDN has celebrated Maine as an iconic home for outdoors lovers. It also probes important issues and trends behind your favorite outdoors pursuits. Read more Outdoors stories here.
It started out as a curiosity. Now it brings in a little income and the state’s biologists use it to peek under the water’s surface to see what’s going on in the fishery in some of Maine’s lakes, ponds and rivers.
Jason Smith of Milo grew up hunting and fishing in Maine. He likes to explore the state’s woods and waters to find new places to hunt and fish because it’s part of his enjoyment of the outdoors.
One day, he found himself at a remote trout pond, where he had to hike in to reach it. He fished all day and didn’t get a bite. He walked away from that experience, wondering what he could have done differently.
As a lifelong fisherman, Smith knew that little changes can make a big difference in whether a fish will take the bait or the lure, from choice of those things, to water depth, to the speed or even how the bait or lure moves in the water, the weather and so many other factors.
As he thought about it, he was led to some critical questions.
Were the fish looking at his lures? Was he in the wrong place on the pond? Were there even any fish in there?
He turned to online resources to see if there was technology that could help him. He looked at fish finders and other more traditional fishing aids. Then he saw the underwater drones and his curiosity was hooked.
He knew about such drones. He had seen state fish biologist Tim Obrey use one on Moosehead Lake, but had no idea the technology was available to anyone. It was uncharted territory for him.
Smith, who grew up on the Piscataquis River where the Sebec comes into it, has hundreds of ponds and lakes within easy travel distance from where he lives, he said.
He is a stay-at-home dad who worked in manufacturing for 15 years, and has some free time on his hands when his three kids Hunter, 10, Autumn, 9, and Chase 6, are in school. His wife works outside of the home.
The lure was too much. He shelled out his $4,300 on a drone kit and began his explorations.
He usually goes out alone in his canoe when the water is open, but Hunter is getting old enough to go with him. He doesn’t get to fish on the open water because he’s too busy with the drone controls.
But he can ice fish. Once his traps are set, he can keep an eye on flags and operate his drone, which is on a tether. He plans to participate in the ice fishing derby on Schoodic Lake Feb. 15-16.
The drone camera range is based on the clarity and depth of the water, he said. It also depends on how strong the natural light is. At depths of 30-40 feet, he has to rely on flashes of silver to know if he has fish in the vicinity.
The camera on the drone sends a live feed back to Smith, which he views on his iPad but could also see on his phone. He uses a controller to maneuver the machine in real-time reaction to what is going on, such as repositioning to see a fish better. The drone camera records onto a micro SD card, which Smith downloads at home and edits there.
“This has been a humbling thing,” he said. “I thought I would see fish everywhere when I dropped [the drone] down. It just wasn’t like that.”
He also works with fish biologists from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, he said. Sometimes he finds interesting things he shares with the department and then takes the biologists to see what he found.
For example, he saw an arctic char in Green Lake, and showed biologists using his drone.
Another time, he was on Schoodic where he had filmed an Atlantic salmon earlier. Biologists were setting up trap nets to look at different species of fish for management purposes. They were looking for lake trout and not finding the numbers they needed. Smith found a pocket where more than 100 of the fish were hanging out. The biologists set up their trap nets there, and Smith filmed the process.
He hopes to work with biologist Tim Obrey on Moosehead at some point too.
The MDIF&W confirmed that Chase has worked with biologists, especially on Arctic char, according to department spokesman Mark Latti on Friday. He said there may be other projects as well, but he didn’t have details.
Now Smith finds himself adding to the family budget because he’s been able to monetize his hobby through his YouTube channel Maine Freshwater Exploration Going Deep and other ventures. He has more than 3,200 subscribers on YouTube. He also posts his underwater videos on Facebook, where he has about 3,500 followers.
“It’s all growing,” he said. “I’m barely scratching the surface.”
He tries to get a broad spectrum of what Maine offers under its waters’ surfaces. He has filmed lake trout, brook trout, salmon, arctic char, Atlantic salmon, pike in the Belgrades and muskie in the Crown of Maine.
He is always looking for things he’s never filmed before and the opportunities keep showing up, he said. It’s about learning new things and appreciating all that Maine has to offer.
He also collects old bottles from the bottoms of ponds and lakes with the grabber hook attachment on the drone. Some of them date to the mid-to-late 1800s.
“The more things I see, the more it makes me want to keep going,” he said. “I’m fascinated by it.”
Here are some of Smith’s favorite videos:
Underwater Drone Footage East Grand Lake, Exploring the Deep Hole https://youtu.be/gVPhabXziP4
Underwater Drone Footage Surrounded by Huge School of Lake Trout https://youtu.be/XwWLlrf0h20
Underwater Drone Footage Schoodic Lake Fall Trapnetting 2024 https://youtu.be/qLAQn1AClds
Underwater Drone Footage Sebago Lake Landlocked Salmon Spawning Run https://youtu.be/sa07-OUhj6Q
